Yesterday, we wrote about an incident on I-55 between Bloomington and Chicago where a young woman was pulled over for a traffic violation. As a CCW holder, she did everything she could to make the event as safe and non-threatening as possible for the Illinois State Trooper. Late yesterday, I spoke at length to the coed and had a chance to ask for clarification on some things and there’s more to the story.
She was pulled over by a courteous ISP Trooper. She informed him right out of the gate that she had a carry license and was packing. He seemed unconcerned. After he took her driver’s license and insurance info back to his squad for a minute or three, he returned.
He gave her back her paper and asked to see her gun.
“Why?”
He then explained that the governor signed a new gun law that limits handgun magazines to 15 rounds. According to the CCW holder, he then said that the Illinois State Police were starting compliance checks when they encountered concealed carry license holders. As such, he wanted to see her gun to ensure her compliance with the law.
The young lady, let’s call her Abby, replied that she knew of the new law. She told him she also knew that she had 90 days to come into compliance with its provisions on magazines.
Yes, she’s pretty sharp.
Mr. Trooper acknowledges that Abby is correct, but he says they still want to get familiar with this new compliance check program, and as such asked again to see her gun to assess her compliance with the new law.
A sharp young woman, she asked him how he would like that to happen.
He asked if she could remove the holstered gun and hand it to him. She did. He unloaded the gun, checked the magazine for capacity then placed the gun, mag, loose round and the holster on her front seat and told her she could put it all back together once he left.
He did NOT issue her a citation or a written warning.
I emailed my contact at the Illinois State Police and asked if this was a rogue Trooper or if the ISP indeed is rolling out a new program to demand CCW firearms when they are encountered to check them for “compliance” with the magazine provisions.
I’m working on a story and I’m seeking comments from the ISP officially either from you or if you could forward it to the correct individual.Here’s the background after I spoke with the individual in question yesterday on my way to Pontiac: A CCW motorist was stopped on I-55 this past weekend. They disclosed the CCW and its presence on their person after the officer introduced himself and explained the reason for the stop. After the initial infraction was dealt with, the Trooper asked to see the driver’s carry piece. The driver asked “Why?”The trooper said something to the effect of “We’re ramping up a compliance check program following the new gun law enacted in January. We want to make sure people are complying with the new magazine capacity limits.”The driver, very savvy about the new law, pointed out that the magazine provisions don’t take effect for 90 days after enactment. To which the Trooper said they’re beginning this new compliance check program ahead of time. Again, this is second hand but captures the gist of the conversation.My query: Is there a new program to have “compliance checks” (or something similar) on the side of roads for CCW holder magazine capacities, either currently or planned for rollout on or about April 10th? Or, if ISP wants to parse it, *was* there a compliance check plan before the Macon County court ruled the new law unconstitutional last Friday?Secondly, did I miss something in the new law that gave ISP authority to conduct inspections of CCW guns looking for out-of-compliance magazines without probable cause or RAS to suspect an out-of-compliance magazine?Aside from twice demanding to see this person’s CCW gun (in a nice way) and what I believe is violating this CCW holder’s right to privacy and maybe other rights, the officer was professional and courteous. I’m just trying to figure out if this was a rogue trooper or if this is a more formal policy ordered by the Governor’s office.
That was shortly at 9:06am this morning. As of this writing, they haven’t replied. I’ll update this if/when they reply.
Now, probably first and foremost, without probable cause, he shouldn’t have been asking to see her gun to check it for lint, much less a magazine capacity. And without Reasonable Articulable Suspicion that a crime was afoot, he had no justification to not once, but twice ask to see her handgun.
Secondly, Pritzker’s new Illinois Gun Ban Act was ruled unconstitutional on Friday. (Stories 1 2 3)
And if all that wasn’t bad enough, the restrictions on magazines aren’t due to kick in until April 10th by my public school math – 90 days after Pritzker signed the bill into law. (See the magazine section starting on page 95).
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