Illinois right to carry conceal ban shot down by US Appeals

Right to Carry by state map: [link to www.gun-nuttery.com]

link to story: [link to www.chicagotribune.com]

The state of Illinois would have to allow ordinary citizens to carry weapons under a federal appeals court ruling issued today, but the judges also gave lawmakers 180 days to put their own version of the law in place.

In a 2-1 decision that is a major victory for the National Rifle Association, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said the state's ban on carrying a weapon in public is unconstitutional.

"We are disinclined to engage in another round of historical analysis to determine whether eighteenth-century America understood the Second Amendment to include a right to bear guns outside the home. The Supreme Court has decided that the amendment confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside," the judges ruled.

"The theoretical and empirical evidence (which overall is inconclusive) is consistent with concluding that a right to carry firearms in public may promote self-defense. Illinois had to provide us with more than merely a rational basis for believing that its uniquely sweeping ban is justified by an increase in public safety. It has failed to meet this burden.

"The Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment compelled the appeals court to rule the ban unconstitutional, the judges said. But the court gave 180 days to "allow the Illinois legislature to craft a new gun law that will impose reasonable limitations, consistent with the public safety and the Second Amendment as interpreted in this opinion, on the carrying of guns in public."

David Sigale, an attorney who represented the Second Amendment Foundation in the lawsuit, called the decision by the appeals court in Chicago “historic.”

“What we are most pleased about is how the court has recognized that the Second Amendment is just as, if not at times more, important in public as it is in the home,” he said. “The right of self-defense doesn’t end at your front door.”



In the opinion, Posner wrote that “a Chicagoan is a good deal more likely to be attacked on a sidewalk in a rough neighborhood than in his apartment on the 35th floor of the Park Tower.”

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat, is giving itself time to examine the ruling before deciding whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The court gave 180 days before its decision will be returned to the lower court to be implemented,” said Natalie Bauer, Madigan’s spokeswoman. “That time period allows our office to review what legal steps can be taken and enables the legislature to consider whether it wants to take action."

Illinois is the only state in the nation not to have some form of conceal carry after Wisconsin recently approved law.

Any takers on this bet:

$1,000 says that the new Illinois concealed carry permit (this summer) will be the most expensive & restrictive in the nation, with no reciprocity to other states.

That is Fucking HUGE!

I already open or conceal carry in Illinois legally. There's a little known provision in the law which the police are even unaware of that goes back many decades.
When I am stopped I inform them I'm well armed and racked. They freak out for a few minutes.
I show them the law and they immediately stand down. I've tested this about 50 times.
Illinois already allows this BUT the citizenry is woefully unaware. I'm glad for this ruling however, BUT I'm very worried about being on a list. Bottom line, this will save lives and criminals will be scared and that's a good thing.

Any takers on this bet:

$1,000 says that the new Illinois concealed carry permit (this summer) will be the most expensive & restrictive in the nation, with no reciprocity to other states.

Interesting. Does it involve the Sheriffs Department?

Heck no. No law enforcement agency. On the contrary, they hate it. It involves the state handing me a document stating I have this right to all who would question it under the understanding that I won't broadcast it.

Heck no. No law enforcement agency. On the contrary, they hate it. It involves the state handing me a document stating I have this right to all who would question it under the understanding that I won't broadcast it.

Any takers on this bet:

$1,000 says that the new Illinois concealed carry permit (this summer) will be the most expensive & restrictive in the nation, with no reciprocity to other states.

You have a right to carry on the condition you not tell people about the 2nd Amendment and what it says? LOL