Politics & Government

Illinois Legalizes Concealed Carry; Local Residents React

Find out if local legislators were among those in the House and Senate to vote to override Gov. Pat Quinn's amendatory veto of concealed carry regulations.

Darren McRoy contributed to this article

Illinois became the last state in the country today to legalize concealed carry after the House and Senate voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn's amendatory veto of concealed carry regulations, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The Senate voted 41-17 to override after the House of Representatives voted 77-31. The support of 36 senators and 71 representatives was needed for the General Assembly to successfully override Quinn's veto, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Locally, State Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, voted in favor of overriding the veto as did State Rep. Mike Tryon, R-Crystal Lake and State Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills. 

Find out what's happening in Algonquin-Lake In The Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To see the House's full roll call on the concealed carry vote, click here. For the Senate vote, click here.

The new legislation requires a background check and 16 hours of firearms training to purchase a $150 five-year concealed-carry license; as a "shall-issue" law, Illinois State Police must grant the license to anyone with those credentials.

Find out what's happening in Algonquin-Lake In The Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Illinois faced a Tuesday deadline to adopt a concealed-carry provision after a federal appeals court ruled in December 2012that the state's ban on concealed-carry was unconstitutional.

A law was approved on June 1 by the state Senate, but Gov. Quinn refused to sign it July 2 without several amendments, including limiting carriers to a single firearm with a limited magazine and banning guns from any establishment serving alcohol.

The override vote returns the law to its original form passed in June, which has fewer restrictions, but does include several prohibitions against carrying in certain places like bars, schools and government buildings.

Senators did approve three of Quinn's smaller changes in a separate bill, such as mandating carriers to declare to police that they are possessing a concealed weapon, the Chicago Tribune said. (As of this writing, the House had not yet voted on that bill.)

It was unclear exactly what the consequences would have been if a measure had failed to pass by Tuesday. Many gun-rights advocates said it would result in zero-restriction concealed carry, while gun-control advocates said local governments could start making their own superseding laws.

The Illinois State Police now have 180 days to develop a concealed-carry licensing program, and 60 days to license instructors and training courses, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Local residents sounded off Tuesday on Patch Facebook pages regarding the concealed carry law.

"I am outraged...there is no reason, in my opinion, to be walking around with a gun unless you are police or military,” said Wendy Carter Pierzchalski on the Algonquin Patch Facebook page. 

Others were happy to see concealed carry in Illinois.

“This is good news. History has shown that crime rates will decline,” said Mike Shorten on the Crystal Lake-Cary Patch Facebook page.

Share your thoughts on the concealed carry law by joining the conversation on the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Patch Facebook page and/or by commenting below. 


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