The Illinois legislature has complied with an appeals court ruling that their concealed carry ban was unconstitutional. Governor Quinn hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill or not, but the bill had enough votes to override a veto.
The new law instructs the Illinois State Police to issue a carry permit to law-abiding Illinois residents who pass the required 16-hour training and pay a $150 fee (shall-issue law). Gun owner must also have a state-issued Firearms Owner Identification card (FOID) to buy a gun in Illinois. Recently, there have been a record number FOID applications each month, leading to a backlog as police try to process them all. Meanwhile, the University of Chicago ignores their own back yard and continues insisting that gun ownership is declining.
Adding up the expense of buying a carry gun, $10 FOID fee, training class, and $150 application fee, Valinda Rowe, of the group Illinois Carry, expressed concern that this law will deprive poor people from the ability to partake of their civil right of self-defense.
It’s this latter group of people who may need concealed carry the most. Despite inclement weather, Chicago gangs shot eight more people between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. According to BET:
Chicago’s murder rate is widely considered to be fueled by the drug wars that are fought between the city’s network of gangs. The homicide rate has been largely confined to the city’s south and west areas, African-American bastions of Chicago.
The new carry law is a step forward, but it nevertheless is a gun control law, controlling how and where law-abiding citizens can legally carry. It contains a clause saving Chicago’s “assault weapons” ban. It raises the financial bar for those who want to carry legally, maintaining the imbalance of power in favor of those who ignore laws.
Once again, gun control is shown to be racist. These gangsters didn’t wait for a law to be passed before carrying concealed firearms. Blood’s already running in the streets of Chicago, despite it having the strictest gun control laws in the country. Those suffering the most, poorer American’s of African descent living in Chicago, risk being barred once again from their right to keep and bear arms.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member