While the governor hasn’t signed or vetoed HB-183, the carry bill overwhelmingly approved by both the Illinois House and Senate, it is virtually certain that sooner or later this bill will be the law of the land in Illinois.
Here are some of the specifics of the bill to give you an idea of its provisions.
Permits Illinois will honor: NONE.
There are no provisions for reciprocity of out-of-state carry permits.
How to apply:
The Illinois State Police (ISP) will create an application form within 180 days of enactment of the law. The application will ask for basic information, a head and shoulder photograph, plus a host of affirmations that the applicant is eligible to receive a carry permit. One of the unusual affirmations is whether or not the applicant has failed a drug test within the previous year.
Fingerprints may be submitted with the application, or if the applicant does not submit fingerprints, the state has an additional thirty days to process the application (for a total of 120 days).
Sixteen hours of training are required as is successful completion of a qualification shoot. (more on this later)
The fee is $150 for a five year license.
Non-resident permits: YES
Non-residents will be eligible to secure an Illinois permit if they meet the eligibility requirements of Illinois residents. It is likely non-residents will have to take an Illinois-approved training course, probably inside Illinois (we can’t imagine a great market for such training outside of Illinois).
The fee is $300 for a five-year license for non-residents.
Prohibited locations:
* Schools, public or private, including property and parking areas
* Pre-schools and child-care facilities, including property and parking areas
* Any building or portion of building under control of government: federal, state and local
* Jails… including property and parking areas
* Hospitals, mental health facilities nursing homes, including property and parking areas
* Public transportation, including property and parking areas
* Liquor serving establishments that derive more than 50% of gross receipts from alcohol sales, including property and parking areas
* Any public gathering or special event requiring a permit from a unit of local government
* Building or property issued a “Special Event Retailer’s license” for alcohol sales.
* Any public playground.
* Any public park or facility under control of a municipality or park district, trails excluded
* Cook County Forest Preserve property.
* University property, including parking areas
* Riverboat gambling facilities or off-track betting facilities, including property and parking areas
* Stadiums, arenas, any college or professional sporting event, public library, airport, amusement parks, zoos and museums, including property and parking areas
* Nuclear-related facilities, including property and parking areas. No safe storage of firearms or ammunition in or on the street, driveway, parking area, property, etc of these facilities.
* Any area where firearms are prohibited under federal law.
* Owner of private property that posts their establishment with a conspicuous 4” x 6” signage at the entrance.
“Safe Harbor”
A licensee may carry a concealed firearm in most of the above-mentioned parking lots for the purpose of locking the firearm in the trunk, provided the firearm is unloaded before exiting the vehicle. The firearm must be cased if left in a locked vehicle or locked within a container or trunk of a vehicle if the vehicle is unlocked.
Violations of Prohibited locations
First time: $150 fine & Class B misdemeanor
Second time: $150 fine, six-month license suspension and Class B misdemeanor
Third time: $150 fine, revocation of carry license and a Class A misdemeanor.
Do “No Guns” signs have force of law: YES.
Duty to notify police officer: NO.
Licensees are only required to disclose the possession of a concealed firearm if asked by a police officer. There is no “duty to inform” at the onset of a police contact. (Section 10(h)).
Open carry: NO.
The firearm must be concealed or “mostly” concealed.
Carry in restaurants that serve alcohol: YES
So long as they derive 50%+ receipts in food.
Back-up guns: NO PROVISION.
The bills has no provision for those carrying a second firearm, although it doesn’t specifically prohibit it.
Applicant firearm training.
Within 60 days of the enactment, the ISP will begin approval of training courses and list them on their website.
Sixteen hours of training is required and shall cover firearm safety; principles of marksmanship; care, cleaning, loading and unloading of a concealed firearm; legal issues and interaction with police.
Qualification: Applicants must successfully complete a 30-round qualification on a B-27 silhouette target (24” wide by 45” tall), with 10-rounds fired from each 5, 7 and 10 yards. 70% hits are required anywhere on the black silhouette.
Previous training: Applicants will be credited with up to eight of the sixteen hour requirement with a) previous firearm training or b) honorable discharge from military.
If you want to read the text of Illinois’ new carry bill, go to the ilga.gov website and type in HB0183 into “Search by number” field and hit enter. You’re looking for “Amendment 5”.
Photos courtesy Oleg Volk. Used with permission.
Comments are closed.