General Assembly Overrides Veto, Legalizing Concealed Carry in Illinois

By Darren McRoy

Illinois officially legalized private carrying of concealed guns on Tuesday as both houses of the legislature voted convincingly to override Gov. Pat Quinn's veto: the House by 77-31, and the Senate by 41-17.

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 2012 that 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 tat 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.

“There’s no more time,” Chicago Democratic Sen. Kwame Raoul told the Chicago Tribune. “We are here on July 9 and if the members of this chamber have the interests of public safety at their heart, they would vote ‘yes’ to override.”

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

Legislators' votes can be found here: HOUSE / SENATE