Politics & Government

House, Senate Approve Concealed Carry Bill

The state had until June 9 to create regulations to allow concealed firearms.

By Shannon Antinori (Editor)

The Illinois General Assembly had until June 9 to create rules on carrying concealed weapons.

On Friday, lawmakers approved compromise legislation on who can carry concealed firearms and when they can be carried, with the House voting 89-28 to approve the bill and the Senate voting 45-12, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The legislation makes Illinois the last of 50 states to have some form of legal concealed carry. A federal court ruled late last year that Illinois’ ban on conceal carry was unconstitutional and mandated that the state institute a program by the June 9 deadline.

The legislation would ban concealed weapons in schools and on public transportation (including the CTA and Metra), along with government buildings, stadiums and casinos.

Under the plan, the Illinois State Police would be required to issue a concealed carry permit to gun owners with a valid Firearm Owners Identification Card who pass a background check, pay a $150 and undergo 16 hours of training.

Other provisions required gun owners to:

  • Be at least 21 years old
  • Not have any convictions for violent misdemeanors in the past five years
  • Not have two or more DUI convictions in the past five years
How local representatives voted:
  • Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park): No
  • Christine Radogno (R-Lemont): Yes
  • Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago): No
  • Sen. Steven Landek (D-Bridgeview): Yes
  • Rep. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale): Yes
  • Rep. Michael Connelly (R-Naperville): Yes
  • Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego): Yes
  • Rep. Larry Walsh Jr. (D-Joliet): Yes
  • Rep. Natalie Manley (D-Joliet): No
  • Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora): Yes
  • Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood): Yes
  • Sen. Pat McGuire (D-Joliet): Yes
“The opinions of state lawmakers about the issue of concealed-carry are as diverse as the 177 men and women who represent the citizens of Illinois in regions as varied as the city of Chicago, Mississippi River towns in western Illinois and communities that share borders with Kentucky,” said the bill's co-sponsor State Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-Sugar Grove). “House Bill 183 has provisions that many people support and sections that many people oppose. No one person got everything that he or she wanted, as is the true nature of a compromise." 

Read more at the Huffington Post and Chicago Tribune


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