By Michael Higgins
Tribune Staff Writer
November 28, 2000
A growing number of registered Illinois gun owners believe they’ve found a legal loophole that allows them to carry concealed handguns and ammunition in public, tucked in specially designed fanny packs.
Fanny pack proponents say the trendy gun pouches, some of which are designed to look like day planners or cell phone cases, are a breakthrough for personal security. Gun control activists see their use as a legalistic ploy that threatens public safety.
Legal experts, police and prosecutors are debating the novel gun-law interpretation, which has gained adherents—and critics—across the state in a matter of months.
The fanny pack advocates have latched on to a long-standing clause in state law that permits a registered owner to carry a gun that is unloaded and “enclosed in a case … or other container.” The idea that specially designed fanny packs meet that standard has not been tested in court, and the question is apparently unique to Illinois, one of only seven states that bar most people from carrying concealed firearms.
It is both a strange new wrinkle in the ongoing struggle over guns in society and a twist on the use of fanny packs, formerly associated with such innocuous cargo as car keys, diaper wipes and light snacks.
Christopher Morley of Forest Park believes his new fanny pack is essential to his safety: If threatened, he can unzip the pack that rests on his hip, pull out his .45-caliber Glock pistol, slap in the ammunition clip and shoot, all in a few seconds.
“I basically make it a habit never to leave the house without my gun and my fanny pack,” said Morley, a 33-year-old advertising designer. Police “do tend to zoom in on the fanny pack. But I’ve never been stopped.”
Morley is a member of Concealed Carry Inc. of Oak Brook, one of the groups promoting the use of fanny packs as gun cases. That group and the Champaign County Rifle Association said they are sending letters to police chiefs around the state, telling them about what they perceive as a “de facto permit to carry” a concealed weapon.
On the home turf of the Champaign County Rifle Association, Urbana police say the statute is ambiguous enough that they’ve decided against making arrests for now. If officers encounter somebody with a gun in a fanny pack, they will note the incident and leave any decision on charges up to prosecutors.
“Our policy is that we’ll write a report and we’ll see whether the state’s attorney brings charges or not, because [the law] is arguable both ways,” Lt. James Page said.
Other law enforcement officials are prepared to take action.
The gun-case exception to the concealed-weapon ban was meant for people on their way to the shooting range, said Lt. William Schneider of the Des Plaines Police Department, not fanny packers.
“I’m pretty sure we would charge them,” he said. “I would say they’re taking a risk.”
“The fanny packs are basically like holsters” and probably not at all what the legislature had in mind when it demanded that guns be put in a case, said Cmdr. Tom Murphy of the Palatine Police Department.
A spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office said lawyers there are prepared to prosecute gun owners who carry firearms—loaded or unloaded—concealed in fanny packs. The law “means that you can transport a gun from one place to another, not carry the gun around like a pistol in a holster in the Wild West,” John Gorman, the spokesman, said.
Both the Illinois State Police and the attorney general’s office declined to discuss the fanny pack issue. Few court decisions on record in Illinois involve cases for carrying guns and none settles the fanny pack issue directly, experts say. And until a pertinent case arises, many agencies will not offer an opinion on how a hypothetical case might be handled.
Gun owners stress that their fanny packs are not like the flimsy nylon packs that people use to carry wallets, or even like a purse or gym bag.
These fanny packs usually feature holster pouches or straps inside the pack, designed to cradle a handgun. Many gun owners believe the design of these pouches allows them to meet the legal definition for a gun case.
“The fanny pack is nothing more than a case—a case for a firearm that meets the state law,” said Richard Pearson, president of the Illinois State Rifle Association. Although the association does not actively promote the use of fanny packs, Pearson said the interpretations by the Champaign County Rifle Association and Concealed Carry are correct.
Gun owners must check their local ordinances before assuming they can carry a concealed gun legally in a fanny pack, he said.
In Chicago, local law bans possession of a handgun in almost all cases, said Jennifer Hoyle, spokeswoman for the city’s law department. There is a limited exception that allows someone who lives outside the city to transport a gun through the city in a vehicle, if the gun is in a non-functioning state. But merely keeping the gun unloaded wouldn’t make it legal, Hoyle said.
“In Chicago, you can’t have it on your person like that,” Hoyle said.
Hoyle said it would be up to police to decide whether to arrest someone with an unloaded gun in a fanny pack.
Nationwide, 29 states allow non-felons to carry concealed handguns. Another 14 states allow residents to apply for permission to carry a concealed weapon.
Illinois’ law was intended to be more restrictive, experts say. But the “gun case” exemption muddies the waters and makes it difficult to predict how courts might rule on the fanny packs.
Pat Reardon, a criminal defense lawyer who also teaches at John Marshall Law School, said the law was “poorly worded.” He said that as a practical matter, he would not advise a gun owner to treat a fanny pack as a gun case, at least not in Cook County.
“I think a judge [in Cook County] would consider that more of a pocket or a purse than he would a gun container,” Reardon said.
But David Meyer, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, said that under a common legal rule, ambiguity in criminal statutes tend to be resolved in favor of the accused.
“As it stands now, my guess is the courts would be inclined to construe it in favor of people carrying concealed weapons,” he said.
Jack Rimland, president of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said that although he personally favors gun control laws, he believes the fanny pack carriers may have found a valid exception to the concealed-weapon law.
That exception has been Illinois law for at least 18 years. But gun advocates say the provision went largely unnoticed until last spring, when the legislature put the same language into the state’s new gun law, the Safe Neighborhoods Act. This time around, gun advocates paid attention, and some began to carry concealed weapons.
Steve Rainbolt, a 29-year-old computer consultant from Lake in the Hills, started using one of the packs this summer.
He said he carries it mostly on weekends, for example, “If I’m going out to a restaurant or to a mall—basically anywhere I feel I may end up having to defend myself or my family.”
Ken Lally, 45, of Lockport takes his gun and fanny pack on his commute to Blue Island, where he is a maintenance mechanic at a chemical factory.
“For 20 years before that, I just carried the damn thing loaded and stuck it in my belt,” Lally said. Now, he’s “trying to be a little more legal. … It’s not as quick as a regular holster would be. I guess it’s the best we can hope for in this state.”
John Boch, vice chair of the Champaign County Rifle Association, said he carries his fanny pack practically everywhere except for places such as schools and liquor stores where guns are specifically prohibited.
“It’s very discreet,” said Boch, who does public relations work for police unions. “Ninety-nine people out of 100 have no idea that fanny packs are made for carrying firearms.”
Morley, the advertising man, said having a weapon is important because he has cerebral palsy and uses a cane. He said he was mugged twice before he carried a gun. Since he armed himself, he said, he has scared away two potential assailants by grabbing for his gun, but he has never fired it.
“I know that as a disabled person, I am a preferred victim,” he said.
Gun control advocates say even suggesting the idea of carrying a gun in a fanny pack is irresponsible.
“I think they’re … inviting people to break the law,” said Dennis Henigan, legal director of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in Washington, D.C.
“Anytime you introduce a gun into a tense situation, you are increasing the risk of lethal violence.”
I have one question if Chicago is so safe with the right to bear arms taken away (a VIOLATION of your rights)? Why is it that Mayor Daily wants police protection 24/7 when leaves office.I have been around guns all my life and so have my sons and daughters and they know when to and when not to use a gun and how to use it and two of my sons are police officers. I have asked police officers from all ranks and 80% of them are for conceal and carry even more now because of the cut backs and layoffs and there is allot of people out there that say Communism is being practised in chicago and Illinois.
WHAT NONSENSE, AND WHAT FOOLS ARE THE LIBERALS OF THIS STATE ARE. LOOK UP THE LAWS AND YOU WOULD FIND THAT NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO SAY TO ANOTHER PERSON HOW THEY CAN OR CANNOT PROTECT THEIR LIVES. NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL ME HOW I CAN OR CANNOT PROTECT MYSELF.
I think this state needs to give the conceal carry rights to any gun owner that has been checked and cleared by legal law. I come from Wyoming where I received my conceal cary permit so I could cross state lines with my 10mm but I have grown up with firearms and have always carried a pistol where ever I go. I have run through the south side of chicago twice in semi trucks and both times I have had punks jump on trailers and start unstrap loads while moveing and stopped and because of illinois handgun laws I couldn’t do a dang thing about it because I knew every one of them had an illigal gun but I woulda been the prossicuted so to sum up I can carry in 44 states but the criminals swarm to illinois and the other 5 states where they know that the leagal law abbiding citizens. Don’t have the right to defend themselves with leathal force if need be. Ill needs to give the rights back to the law abbiding citizens and the anti gun crybabys need to get there head outa there butts and wake up to the world we live in
One more thing. Our founding fathers set forth our rights after this countrys revolution from british tirany
And the right to bare arms is one of those laws now we have a bunch of s’not nosed suits telling us that right is no longer ours well I got news it is our right and I personaly am going to cary any where and everywhere I think my family or I will be thretend I have no problem useing leathal force where nessicary
If anyone believes that banning concealed weapons makes the world safer they are nuts. Do the fools actually believe that the man(or woman) who legally purchases a handgun and goes through all the background checks and training to carry is going to commit a crime with it? when i lived in chicago there were more people with guns looking to commit crimes than politicians and some police let on. I could go to 63rd and western and buy a gun from the guy in the alley for $100 bucks.
I carry legally and have my “Card”. I have been through many safety courses and training environments. I have been in combat. I know how to use a weapon safely and so does my family. I carry the card because it is the law and it protects me from being harassed by law enforcement. (never happened) I carry all the time and you can bet when i come back to Chicago i will be carrying.
on a final note. I have used my weapon to protect myself once. never fired a round but the individual that wanted my wallet found out I was the wrong mark. he is in jail serving 7+ for attempted armed robbery.
Strange everybody wants to carry a gun. Even stranger is NOBODY wants to address GUN OWNER Responsibility. Maybe its time the gun lovers GOT ON THE GUN OWNER RESPONSIBILITY bandwagon. I read too many stories of my right to use lethal force. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO USE LETHAL FORCE, you have an OBLIGATION to use the AMOUNT OF FORCE needed to protect yourself.
Time to subject EVERY SINGLE GUN in America to this standard. That includes the one’s carried by law enforcement.
I own em, fix em, and have 12 patents on designs for em. I don’t think I have the right to use em just because they are there. I have an obligation to temper and humble myself because once you use one you have a lot of consequences to live with. And that ARROGANT mindset of I did what I had to do DON’T CUT IT.
I live in the chi and its SO easy to get a gun around the city.. $100-$150.. if you want a lazer beam or an AK47 its more expensive, but not hard to find. All these gangs have guns and we have the most gang members ANYWHERE in the country (100,000 active gang members). You democrats are hilarious with your legislation.. you’ve solved nothing and many innocent people’s lives have been lost due to your ignorance.
About time we all just marched on the State Capitol and told them to “Kiss off” I won’t say what I am really thinking. Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
Rockford is smaller than Chicago, but just as dangerous. People get messed with here a lot for no reason. These bullies get away with too much… they know people cant defend themselves so they start trouble. When they see people can defend themselves, they will look for other means for getting what they want. ILL need to get there stuff together. They need to stop stealing from tax payers and help us out!
I just think that we should be able to carry because that has been our right for many years .i am 55 years old and i think its time we all get togather and fight for that right .i have my card to own and carry and i want to right.i have a mossburg 835 12 ga single barrel shotgun and i have a archery bow. i intend to buy a pistol and i will carry it until the law is oassed.
Gun Control:
The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.
Remember the police do not protect you… they come after the crime as been committed.
As I get older, I see more and more a need to bolster my presence when young people and people who would take advantage of older people. I believe our right to protect ourselves in Ill. has been usurped. I believe that is more resposible people were allowed to acquire concealed weapons permits in places like Chicago, it would make the criminal element think twice if not three times about mugging someone that could possibly have a gun on his or her person.
I for one would carry no matter what if I thought I needed to. There’s an old saying. Its better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. The only thing I would say is, there are certain training tecniques that would need to be passed before allowing too many people to acquire a concealed carry permit.
Hey we could always vote them out that don’t like it and within two to four years we would have people in government that would vote the way we want on these issues.
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. THIS IS THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND THE LAW OF THE LAND!!! PERIOD.
I live 3 hours south of Chicago and we’ve had alot of criminals so called “shipped are way”. This town now has a Pro-active Unit dedecaded to gang activity. Most people will not even walk down the street, esp on the west side at night. I have been harrassed many times, but never actually harmed. I am now appling for my foid card. It’s about time Ill has a gun law that works for law abiding citizens. I will carry in ill in a legal manner, everbody without a felony should have this right, and Guess What We Do!!
I believe that i should be able carry my gun on me whenever i want to i have a right to protect myself what if i get mugged how would i protect myself?Or if i get threatened with another firearm I could be killed just because of some stupid law that Illinois makes well i don’t think that all these lawmakers have even been outside without a hundred bodyguards and armored cars around them.
A few months ago the house bill that would have allowed the citizens of illinois to carry a firearm was not passed; It was only a few votes shy. I believe that when the state police says that a woman can defend herself by carrying a rat tail comb is sufficent enough is crap. I am a woman and honestly I would not want any person with the mind of assult to come close enough to me to commit battery. I live alone with my young son and we have a security system ….that is a pit bull to persuade any person with with ill will in mind to stay out, but if they come in my home they will be more than sorry. I have had peeping Toms and poronographic notes put on my vehicle. Sure I feel safe inside of my abode, but what happens when I leave the house? I do not feel safe in my neighborhood. ( I dont live in a shady town) Our state is failing us where it matters most. If I leave my house with the intention of getting in my vehicle ( where I can not carry a ready firearm) and I get abducted who is going to answer to my parents? my child? Should I break the law just like the real criminals just to keep myself safe? Why should I have to break the law to keep myself safe? We need answers, we need reform!
I am a 28 year old gun owner in dixon illinois if you have a gun card you should be able to carry your weapon anywhere you feel you need to. when I was 23 I had a gang of thugs try to come in my house broke windows, trew a brick on my dog, and scared my sister and her 3 kids to death the cops barly mad it in time I will not ( god for bid) wait the next time… only one was taken to jail out of at least a dozen! will they come back for revenge? hope not ! but if they do ill gladly go to jail to protect my family, every since I carry 24/7…
Having owned and shot guns all my life I can tell you that the gov, does not scare your average citizens, There are so many concealed guns moving about from day to day owned by responsible folks that if the powers that be knew just how many there actually were they would probably crap in their pants. One thing you dont hear is the approx. number of legal defensive gun uses in this country, which is curently about 2.5 million. Isnt it amazing that all the news regarding shootings is illleagle gun usage by criminals. I personally look at guns the same way i look at the fire department, you hope you never need to use it but its always there should you need to.
Gun control laws have not affected the South Side of Chicago where Guns are out of control, and nobody is doing nothing to stop what is going on. Seems to me White Illinois are more concerned with getting into altercations while out and about with their families, and are itching to use thier guns and being justified. Moreover Police have lost their zeal to protect and serve the communities they took oathes to do just that, yet instead our communites are patroled with platoons of goons who care less about the people and fellowship with arrests and overtime- forgetting the service they were designed to provide. Indeed society needs law and order, but at what costs and what have we created for our youth that are all pounded and profiled by these sharks?
Why not join all the remaining States and allow everybody in Illinois to Carry their Firearms since the gun range got people trigger happy, and looking for the hunter living like the prey- but also spend some money for training our Police, and reprogram these programs to work for the people again. In short these gun laws and everything else that come with it have forgotten the people- the people who are not living the fanny panic pack life, but are everyday sorrounded by gun violence- where little babies are losing their lives and everybody just forgets they read that or heard that on the T.V.
Well I think that this is bs how they can just come and take any thing from us just becz they are wearing a suit well I say I have my cfp foid and ive been well train I also got sertifications so this is how I feel I have a glock 21/ 45 and I’m gonna carry it weather they like it or not my friend got killed right in front of me by some gang bangers and I couldn’t do any thing becz of this stupid law how do u think I feel seeing my best friend die in front of me YEAH IT SUCKS BUT DO U GUYS CARE HELL NO U GUYS JUST WONNA USE THA EXCUSE THAT ILLINOIS WON’T BE SAFE IF U GUYS LET US CARRY WELL TELL ME THIZ THERE’S OTHER STATES OUT THERE THAT HAVE LOTS OF KILLINGS AND VIOLENCE AND THEY ARE ALLOWED TO CARRY….ALSO TELL ME THIZ ANY TIME WE WOULD GET BEAT UP ROB AND DO U THINK JUST FOR A SECOND THAT…..THAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE WHERE ALLOWED TO CARY EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE HELL NO BECZ THEY WILL BE AFFRAID BECZ THEY WOULDN’T NO WHO IS ARMED SO TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT YOUR BUTS AND SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE WHAT NOW YOUR GONNA TAKE MY FREEDOM OF SPEACH….OOOH WAIT U MIGHT WILL BECZ U HAVE A SUIT ON WELL I DNT CARE DO WHAT U GOTTA DO…BUT JUST REMEMBER THEZE FAKE COPS AIN’T DOING NOTHING BUT BOTHER AND MESS WITH PEOPLE WELL I’M GONE BYE……
Things are getting out of hand here in IL. we need someone to step in and help. the state is crooked, and dont know what to do but take take take. All these crimals are have a field day with us law biden citizens. They talk slick at the mouth, act so tuff because they are carrying guns and we are not. My girlfriends son was walking down the street at 9 pm with one of his friends about two mounths ago, and two guys walked up to them… told them if they run or yell they were going to kill them. the two guys made them give them all their money, and jewelry then ran off. Now hes scared to be out at night. people are getting robbed in parking lots, outside their homes, car washes, and everywhere else. If New York and these other big cities can do it, chicago can do it too.
This stupid law about not letting us carry concealed is crazy…WE THE PEOPLE NEED STAND UP FOR OUR RIGHTS WE CAN’T JUST LET THESE ASS HOLES TAKE ALL WE GOT LEFT LIKE OUR RIGHTS THEY ALREADY TAKING OUR MONEY AND MAKING US PAY FOR THEIR FUCK UP’S I’M SORRY FOR SAYING BAD WORDS BUT HONESTLY IT’S OUT OF CONTROL AND AIN’T NOBODY DOING ANY THING ABOUT IT…IS SAD TO SAY THAT THESE SRE THE PEOPLE WE ARE VOTING FOR…WHY DON’T WE ALL GET TOGETHER AND SHOW THEM WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT..WHAT ARE THEY WAITING FOR….FOR MORE AND MORE FAMILIES TO GET HURT AND KILLED BEFORE THEY EVEN CONCITER LETTING US HAVE WHAT WE WANT WELL COME ON THIS IS CRAZY I HAVE KIDS AND I WILL BE DAM IF I LET A GANGBANGER ROB OR TRY TO KILL ME OR MY FAMILY…WE NEED TO PROTECT ONE AND OTHER WE THE PEOPLE HAVE TO PROTECT OUR FAMILYS AND WE HAVE GREAT NEIGHBORS THAT ARE ON THEIR OWN AND HAVE NO ONE AND WALK IN THE STREETS….I HEARD ABOUT THIS GIRL THAT GOT KILLED AND RAPE IN THE ALLEY AND COULD NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO CARRY HOW SAD IS THAT…THATS SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER,FRIEND,SISTER,CUSSIN WHAT EVER YOU WONNA CALL HER BUT IS NOT RIGHT….DOES ANY ONE AGREE WITH ME PLEASE LET ME KNOW SO WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND SHOW THESE GUYS WITH SUITS THAT WE DISERVE THE BEST AND NOT LET THEM TELL US WHAT’S BEST FOR US STANT UP FOR OUR RIGHTS…GOD BLESS TO EVERYONE AND PLEASE PROTECT YOUR FAMILIES AND SPECIALY KIDS…THANKS
I like to read all the comments before posting so that I can gauge the temperature of the page. It would appear that the overwhelming majority support concealed carry in Illinois.As do I. There needs to be training and a REASONABLE FEE for the ID card. I have 4 CCW permits, a Chicago Permit and several handguns.
Chicago is a HOT BED of VIOLENCE. There are not nearly enough police officers on the street at any given time. And there are more and more shootings EACH DAY. These victims do NOT have a means to protect themselves. The criminal knows this. I say EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US on this blog FLOOD SPRINGFIELD with a DEMAND FOR CCW.
And no,it wont make blood run in the streets. No it wont turn Chicago into the wild west. No it wont leave bodies laying in a heap or any other vivid graphic the anti gunners and anti rights (usually called DEMOCRATS) people want to force upon you. Illinois is the ONLY STATE in the ENTIRE COUNTRY that does not allow some form of CCW. THIS MUST CHANGE. Quinn,Madigan,Cullerton,Burke,and any other Democratic Politician need to be VOTED OUT.
While it is your RIGHT to keep and bear arms, try it in chicago. Seriously. I mean, yes i risk it and carry my .45 to and from the grocery store because ITS DANGEROUS OUT HERE.
The Illinois politicians seem to think that the police can handle the crime. They cannot. They come AFTER the fact and rarely during the fact,this and the fact of the restrictive gun laws in this communist state make you a,,,,VICTIM. Im sorry, I REFUSE to be a victim. I fight each day to push these politicians out and to get CCW passed for Illinois. Ask Otis McDonald about gun rights. He stepped up. I urge ALL OF YOU to step up. Get your FOID CARD, take a safety course offered by the NRA and last but not least do not EVER fall into the rut of the one poster proclaiming “responsibility” which is simply masked rhetoric from an anti gunner. I hate to sound cliche but you can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead hand. Residents of Illinois have a fundamental RIGHT to self protection. You also have a right to keep and bear arms. You NEED to remove those from Office that are a threat to that right. We need to,as a united State,DEMAND our right to bear arms.We need to,as a united State,take BACK our neighborhoods from the dope man and the gang banger.
We are all in this fight together but some times when I step up to that line and look around, I dont see too much back up. But STILL I STAND THE LINE. Its easy to enjoy the rights some fight for. Its harder to fight for the right that all can enjoy.
Cort D Chubko
ARMED CHICAGO CITIZEN
“The law “means that you can transport a gun from one place to another, not carry the gun around like a pistol in a holster in the Wild West,” John Gorman, the spokesman, said.”
I would like to personally invite John Gorman to come down here and visit Arizona, where we have Constitutional Carry. That means anyone who is legally able (not a convicted felon) may carry a firearm without a license.
Before Arizona passed this law, opponents were wringing their hands and crying about ‘blood running in the streets’, ‘shootouts on every corner’ and also used that worn-out line about the ‘Wild Wild West’.
Well, come on down to the ‘Wild Wild West’ and you’ll see people of all ages and from all walks of life open carrying firearms. Guess what? The crime rates have dropped across the board and no guns are running down the streets randomly shooting at people. Our homicide rate for the year is what Chicago racks up in ONE MONTH.
Now, you may point out Congresswoman Gabby Giffords shooting in Tucson, and I will tell you this common-sense TRUTH: A criminal will ignore a ‘No Guns’ sign. A criminal won’t care how many gun laws you pass. A criminal is not going to obey the Law no matter what you do, that’s why they are called ‘criminals’.
Allowing responsible people their God-Given Right to Defend themselves WORKS, gun control does not.
i feel as if we should be able to carry i live in danville which is bout 2 hrs south of chicago which was flooded with criminals and all sorts of gangmembers when caprni greens closed. i am 21 and i be that if we have a ccw we should be required to have a small fee for each year and that we should be required to take a gun saftey course at least once a year. a gun is a very dangerous but at the same time can save lives at the same time lets ban together to get congress to pass a ccw in ill.
I just moved back to Illinois from Missouri. Missouri has a carry conceal law and it is working well from what I have read. It’s also another way for the state to make money. Something Illinois is desperately in need of at the moment. However, the fear I’ve seen in women’s faces when they are simplying walking to their cars in Rockford is a big reason this state needs to pass a carry conceal law. I’d bet a winning powerball ticket if any of those women were the wife, mother, sister of a state rep, that law would get passed PDQ. Get with it Illinois. I grew up in Chicago 50+ years ago, and have lived with guns my entire life. I’m sick and tired of the fear these gang members pose to the average AMERICAN citizen.
So this article appeared in 2000. Has there been any test cases in the courts on the fanny pack issue? Any decisions?
I know that legal gun owners no matter where they may reside do not wish to have a shootout or shoot at anyone or anything other than a target at a gun range.Legal gun owners in Illinois want a regulated conceal carry law for peace of mind,and to be able to protect themselves and their loved ones if need be.I live in Chicago where a GUN BAN existed for many years and it never deterred gun violence one bit.Chicago,s politicians are given the right to carry a handgun and THEY DO and the one,s that don,t HAVE BODYGUARDS and isn,t it amazing no alderman has been shot or killed.What has happened in Chicago with police protection not through any fault of the police officers is when you need the police in a minute they are only five minuets away accept for THE POLITICIANS .Victims of violent crimes need to hold the city of chicago and the state of Illinois accountable for not allowing it’s residents to protect themselves.I wonder if victims start to file lawsuits against the city and state for not being able to protect themselves from DEADLY VIOLENCE if the state and city will continue to drag their feet on the issue.
We live in the most corrupted state as far as leaders go so what is the big deal if they take away our rights as gun owners. Nothing about Illinois makes any sense anymore. It is a huge deal with me because I live in Illinois and work in Missouri in St. Louis and am constantly on edge when I walk to the parking garage after work. I have encountered strange characters after work and wish I had the legal right to carry protection because I know that they are carrying illegally…
I’ve posted a comment all ready. I just think its time to protest. It would be good to go to Springfield, and do so. We need people in numbers to go down. We the people can do it.