State lawmakers in Illinois are considering legislation to “fine tune” the Prairie State’s concealed carry law, expanding where licensed individuals can carry, including public transportation and municipal parks, according to the Springfield Journal Register.
Illinois became the last state to adopt concealed carry, and that only happened after the state was sued individually by the Second Amendment Foundation in a case known as Moore v. Madigan and a National Rifle Association lawsuit known as Shepard v. Madigan.
Now, lawmakers in Springfield are talking about expanding concealed carry rights to interstate highway rest areas, and athletic facilities controlled by a park district or municipality, the newspaper said.
Interestingly, the push is supported by members of both parties.
State Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion), told the newspaper that the carry law “is a work in progress in terms of making sure our Second Amendment rights are protected in Illinois. When you have something that big of a landmark and that important, you want to make sure you get it right.”
A surprising argument in favor of concealed carry expansion came from another Democrat, Rep. Jerry Costello. He suggested that people riding the bus should be able to carry their concealed sidearm, and he sees no sense penalizing those people because they use public transportation.
But an official with the Chicago Transit Authority is against the idea. He asserted that allowing private citizens to legally carry would increase the safety risk for other passengers, and that it might also result in higher insurance rates.
But Harrisburg Democrat Rep. Brandon Phelps was quoted by the newspaper noting, “With where we are at in the middle of the country and with all of the trains, rails, air traffic and car traffic, I don’t want people who are able to concealed carry to skip Illinois, because then more people will leave the state.”
The gun prohibition lobby is against any expansion of concealed carry, the newspaper said.
