Gun Owners File Motion, Want Immediate Concealed Carry

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 11, 2013 2:10PM

Illinois may have become the last state in the nation to allow concealed carry this week but the pace with which the law will be implemented isn’t enough for Prairie State residents who want to take their guns outside now, by God!!

Downstate gun owner Mary Shepard and the Illinois State Rifle Association filed paperwork in federal court Wednesday seeking authority to carry firearms immediately. The law now on the books after the state Legislature’s override of Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto gives the Illinois State Police six months to make concealed carry permits available to gun owners. It could take another 90 days to process the applications to gun owners who provide fingerprints and four months for those who don’t. The earliest that gun owners would be able to obtain a concealed carry permit would be March 2014.

The motion filed by Shepard and the ISRA Wednesday claimed there would be “no threat to public safety” because gun owners with valid Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Cards have already been screened to own their weapons.

“The state’s proposed denial of Second Amendment rights for another 270 days is an unacceptable perpetuation of the state’s … infringement of Ms. Shepard’s and Illinois State Rifle Association members’ Second Amendment rights..

“Furthermore, plaintiffs are not asking for an unfettered right to carry firearms in public; rather, they are requesting an injunction that would allow them to carry firearms in a manner consistent with the limits imposed by … the Firearms Concealed Carry Act,” the gun-rights advocates stated in their filing.”

Shepard and the ISRA made a separate filing asking that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan be blocked from being able to pursue having the original December 2012 appeals court ruling that found Illinois’ concealed carry ban unconstitutional dismissed. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Madigan her extension request because she wanted to see if the General Assembly would be able to draft a concealed carry law. Now that the bill is law, Madigan doesn’t need to move forward with the appeal, but the gun rights proponents filed the motion, in part, to possibly ensure those fighting for gun owners in the courts to collect reimbursement for some or all of their legal bills accumulated fighting the concealed carry ban.