SUN CITY – Illinois became the last state in the union to allow concealed carry of firearms, as the state General Assembly voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of a concealed carry bill on July 9.
In 2012, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Illinois’ ban on concealed carry was unconstitutional, setting up the state legislature to create a bill allowing it. Quinn’s proposed changes to the original bill included limiting carriers to one firearm at a time with no more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
The veto was overridden, easily earning the two-thirds majority vote with 77-31 in the House and 41-17 in the Senate. With the bill passed, the Illinois State Police has 180 days to establish licensing procedures for concealed carry permits.
Guns will remain prohibited in places including: schools, parks, government buildings, public transportation, hospitals, public gatherings, and restaurants that make over half their income through alcohol sales.
The Sun Day sought opinions from two local political groups: the Huntley Area Tea Party and Huntley Seniors for Progressive Action on the concealed carry bill and gun owners’ rights.
While much of the debate is centered around safety and crime, Huntley Area Tea Party board member Jim Nelson says the focus should be on rights.
Nelson believes the Bill of Rights is “intended to protect citizens from government,” which includes the right to bear arms.
As evidence, he points to the preamble to the Bill of Rights, which states: “The conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added.”
Williams disagrees with the idea, saying the 2nd Amendment was more likely meant to give Americans the right to protect themselves from the British or Native Americans.
“I don’t think that the people that were writing those amendments had a real concern that the American army was going to turn around and attack them,” he said.
David Williams, communications team member for Huntley Seniors for Progressive Action, further questioned whether today’s concealed carry laws were even imaginable when the Bill of Rights was written.
“I don’t think they had a real concept of concealed carry; if you look at the kinds of guns that they had, you didn’t put it inside your jacket, so I don’t think they really thought about that,” he said.
While he is glad to see Illinois’ concealed carry ban lifted, Nelson was hesitant to call the law an outright victory for gun rights advocates.
“It’s a prevention of another loss of our freedoms,” he said.
Both residents agree on the idea that a concealed carry law will not likely have an impact on Chicago’s violent crime.
“They’re not concerned about obeying the law, the people who are going to commit violence and crime,” Nelson said.
“Nothing we’re going to do is going to eliminate the guns in the hands of the criminal or the madmen,” Williams said.
Williams said he now may feel more nervous knowing people around him have the option to respond with guns.
“If people now are going to be walking around with a gun in their pocket, who knows how they’re going to react to things?” he said.
Both agreed that a more effective way of solving gun violence lies in addressing the way mental health is handled in the state.
According to data from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Illinois ranked 36th of all 50 states in spending on mental health services, with a rate of $80.43 per capita in fiscal year 2010, the latest data available. The average among the states in 2010 was $120.56 per capita.
Illinois is also among the top states in cuts to mental health funding. A report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness shows that Illinois cut $187 million from its mental health budget between 2009 and 2012, bringing its total spending to $403.7 million last year.
The change of -$31.7 percent was the fourth highest in the country. Between 2011 and 2012, Illinois led all states in cuts, dropping $62.2 million or 13.4 percent of its mental health budget in one year.
