Lake Zurich Residents React to Illinois Legalizing Concealed Carry

Written by Editors Amie Schaenzer and Darren McRoy 

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. Dan Duffy voted in favor to override the veto as did State Rep. Ed Sullivan. 

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.

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 the Lake Zurich Facebook page regarding the concealed carry law.

"Time and again, 2nd Amendment rights have proven to reduce violent crimes. Illinois, being the only state (until now) to NOT allow its citizens the right to protect themselves where they stand, and Chicago previously having outlawed all gun ownership, have proven the opposite. There's a sad irony, when Chicago has more loss of life by guns than troops killed in Afghanistan. As one friend has put it... "Welcome to America, Illinois!" IT'S ABOUT TIME!" a Facebook fan wrote. 

"Look for a lot more people getting shot in the hot summer ahead," another Facebook fan wrote. 

Share your thoughts on the concealed carry law by commenting below.