Illinois Becomes Last State to Legalize Concealed Carry

Today the Illinois legislature overrode Gov. Pat Quinn's veto of a bill allowing state residents who comply with certain objective standards to carry concealed fireams. Illinois, the last state to impose a blanket ban on concealed carry, is complying with a December decision in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit said that policy violates the Second Amendment. Under the new policy, which will take effect in nine months or so, people 21 or older who have state-issued firearms owner identification cards can obtain licenses to carry concealed weapons provided they have clean records and complete 16 hours of training.

That is known as a "shall issue" policy, as opposed to a "may issue" policy, which gives local law enforcement officials broad discretion to reject applications. Eight states have such a discretionary policy. Of the rest, 39, now including Illinois, have "shall issue" laws, while three states do not require permits for concealed carry. The new law gives the Illinois State Police six months to make applications for concealed-carry licenses available. It has to issue a license within three months of receiving a valid application, so it could be nine months before the first Illinois gun owner is licensed to carry.

Previous coverage of concealed carry in Illinois here.

[Thanks to Jason Imboden for the tip.]