What would it really do?

HB 462 and HB 5221, both sponsored by Representative Phelps, would repeal Illinois’ prohibition on carrying concealed firearms, including loaded firearms, in public. These bills would require law enforcement to issue a concealed weapon permit to any person meeting certain minimum and in some cases arbitrary qualifications, with limited discretion to determine who is fit to carry a gun.

How do the bills affect home rule authority?

These bills preempt the home rule authority of local governments to regulate concealed weapons. In fact, a local government would be required to pass an ordinance just to restrict guns in its own buildings.

What are the costs?

In this time of economic crisis, when our cash strapped state is looking for ways to save money, these bills would impose a financial burden on the Department of State Police who is tasked with implementing and administering the CCW system.

What is the history of concealed carry in Illinois?

Year after year, Illinois policymakers reject concealed carry legislation. Why? Because concealed carry endangers the public and is strongly opposed by Illinois voters.

Who else is opposed to CCW in Illinois?

Illinois State Police (ISP), Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, Cook County State's Attorney, American Academy of Pediatrics – Illinois, League of Women Voters – Illinois, Voices for Illinois Children, National Council of Jewish Women, Northwest Municipal Conference, Children’s Memorial Hospital, and the Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network (UCAN).

What are the facts?

From May 2007 to February 2010, at least 139 people were killed nationwide by concealed handgun permit holders.  These victims include law enforcement officers, family members, friends, and strangers.⁴

• Nine law enforcement officers were shot and killed by CCW permit holders.
• CCW permit holders murdered at least 130 private citizens.
• 13 mass shootings were committed by CCW permit holders.

The evidence does NOT support the claim that CCW laws reduce crime.

Numerous academic studies by respected researchers, including the University of Chicago and John Hopkins University, have systematically criticized the methodology and faulty conclusions of studies cited by gun rights advocates who claim CCW laws reduce violent crime.⁵ Studies published by the Stanford Law Review and the Journal of Trauma concluded that there is no statistical evidence that CCW laws, like those introduced in Illinois, reduce crime.

The studies found that the adoption of such laws generally will increase crime.⁶  

A 2005 National Academy of Sciences report found that there is no evidence to support the claim that CCW laws have a causal link to crime rate reduction.⁷

Investigations in Florida and Texas found large numbers of criminals are CCW permit holders. 

An investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel found that Florida CCW permit holders in the first half of 2006 included more than 1,400 individuals who had pleaded guilty or no contest to felonies, 216 individuals with outstanding warrants, 128 people with active domestic violence injunctions against them, and six registered sex offenders. ⁸    Some specific examples of individuals with criminal histories that the Sun-Sentinel identified as obtaining Florida concealed handgun permits, include:

• Garth F. Bailey, of Pembroke Pines, pleaded no contest to manslaughter in 1988 for shooting his girlfriend in the head while she was cooking breakfast. Eight years later, the state gave him a concealed weapons permit.

• John P. Paxton, Jr., then a resident of Deerfield Beach, pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse in 1993 for grabbing his four-year-old nephew by the neck, then choking and slapping him for flicking the lights on and off. Eight years later, he was issued a concealed weapons permit.

• John M. Corporal, of Lake Worth, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 1998 for putting a chrome revolver against his roommate's head during an argument.  In 2002, he pleaded guilty to grand theft.  In February 2006, he was issued a concealed weapons permit.

A Los Angeles Times investigation found that more than 400 criminals – including rapists and armed robbers – had been issued CCW permits in Texas.  Thousands of Texas CCW permit holders had been arrested for criminal behavior or found to be mentally unstable.  Many of these criminals committed crimes after getting their CCW permits.⁹  From 1996 to 2000, Texas concealed handgun permit holders were arrested for hundreds of weapon-related offenses, which included:

• 279 arrests for assault or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon;
• 671 arrests for unlawfully carrying a weapon; and
• 172 arrests for deadly conduct/discharge firearm.