DefenseReview.com (DR): An online tactical technology and military defense technology magazine with particular focus on the latest and greatest tactical firearms news (tactical gun news), tactical gear news and tactical shooting news.
By David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com
Photo Credit: <i>The Next Right</i>
July 9, 2013
This one's hot off the presses from the Associated Press (AP), via The Drudge Report, and it's a biggie. The Illinois State Legislature has just overriden a veto by Gov. Pat Quinn to pass Illinois first concealed carry weapons (CCW) law (HB183) by a 41-17 vote in the Senate, and a 77-31 vote in the House, meeting the three-fifths (3/5) threshold needed to "set aside the amendatory veto". And, BAM, just like that, law-abiding Illinois firearms owners, that's anyone and everyone with an Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID) card, to obtain a concealed carry weapons (CCW) permit/license after passing a background check, 16 hours of gun-safety training, and paying $150.
It's about time. The Land of Lincoln is, according to reports, the last state in the USA to pass a concealed carry law. According to the AP, the Illinois State Police has six months to get to the point where they can start accepting Illinois CCW applications. Law enforcement's prediction is approximately 300,000 applications in the first year, says Illinois State Police Spokeswoman Monique Bond, but DefenseReview (DR) is curious as to how many of those will be from Chicago residents.
DR has family in Chicago, and the author grew up there (city, not suburbs), so we want them to be able to avail themselves of their Second Amendment and (now) concealed carry/self-defense rights inside the city limits, especially now that the overall crime and murder rates our exploding in that city.
It would seem logical that as this is written, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (Note: Don't let the friendly picture on Wikipedia fool you.) is having a full-blown conniption fit in his office (or wherever he is, at the moment), since Illinois CCW's will be allowed to carry their legally-concealed pistols into restaurants (that serve alcohol) with them, so unless Mayor (and rabid gun-control enthusiast) Emanuel can figure out a way to stop the new Illinois state law from applying to Cook County and/or Chicago, his future restaurant outings are probably going to cause him a bit of stress. Rahm prefers his constituents to be disarmed and helpless, so the new law should make for some interesting and possibly even entertaining public statements by him. Like his anti-Second Amendment predecessor Mayor Richard M. Daley before him, Emanuel would greatly prefer that Chicago residents rely on the Mayor and police for their personal protection, rather than themselves.
DefenseReview of course hopes Emanuel is unsuccessful in any and all attempts to block the law from applying to his jurisdiction, as we believe Chicago residents need and deserve the ability to carry concealed for the purpose of self-defense, since their are simply not enough police in the city to protect everyone, nor would we want there to be, since that would require a cop on every corner, and a police-state environment.
It will be interesting to watch what happens to Chicago's violent crime rate if/when a large number of Chicago residents become CCW's and actually carry in the city. Our guess is that all violent crimes, including murders will go down significantly south of the Board of Trade Building (Jackson Street).
You can read the full AP story at this link
Hat Tip: The Drudge Report
Related Articles:
