Challenge To Ill. Non-Resident CCW Prohibition Gets Backing From State AG’s

Illinois Concealed Carry License
Challenge To Ill. Non-Resident CCW Prohibition Gets Backing From State AG’s

BELLEVUE, WA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Eighteen state attorneys general have joined in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a Second Amendment Foundation petition for writ of certiorari seeking high court review in the case of Culp v. Raoul, which challenges the refusal by Illinois to take applications from non-residents for an Illinois carry license.

Plaintiffs are asking the Court to determine “Whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms requires that the State of Illinois allow qualified non-residents to apply for an Illinois concealed carry license.” SAF is joined by the Illinois State Rifle Association, Illinois Carry and several private citizens. They are represented by attorney David G. Sigale of Wheaton.

The amicus brief, submitted by Missouri Attorney General Eric S. Schmitt, is joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

While Illinois statute says the State Police “shall by rule allow for nonresident license applications from any state or territory of the United States with laws related to firearm ownership, possession, and carrying, that are substantially similar to the requirements to obtain a license” in Illinois.

“However,” the petition for review says, “that right to concealed carry is denied, in a discriminatory and arbitrary manner, to the law-abiding and qualified persons in 45 states, who are prohibited from even applying for an Illinois concealed carry license (“CCL”), regardless of their qualifications. Therefore, Illinois’s prohibition on virtually all non-residents obtaining a concealed carry license for self-defense violates the Petitioners’ rights under the Second Amendment.”

“We’re grateful to the 18 attorneys general for joining the amicus, on behalf of the residents of their respective states,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The right to bear arms does not end at the Illinois state line, and untold numbers of citizens from other states have occasion to travel to or through Illinois and they should not be expected to leave their right of self- defense at the border.”


Second Amendment FoundationThe Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

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Savage

I really don’t know why this is even an issue, all CCW licensing is illegal. The Supreme Court has already ruled on this. “No state shall convert a liberty into a license, and charge a fee therefore.” (Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105) “If the State converts a right (liberty) into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right (liberty) with impunity.” (Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, Alabama, 373 U.S. 262) Under federal law, 18 USC 242, it is illegal for anyone under the color of law to deprive any person of the… Read more »

StWayne

The state of Illinois has always been a kind of sore thumb. As an owner-operator that used to drive semi cross country, you were allowed by agreement of reciprocity with all other states in the interest of commerce to weigh in at 80,000 lbs. That is, all but for Illinois, who decided 76,600 would be their limit. Not because they did studies about load damage to roads, because there is none above the usual, but because they could hit out of state truckers with excessive fines as they rolled through their various truck scales. This is their thinking. This is… Read more »

Circle8

We all know the state has been a cesspool of criminals for over 150 years. Why go there? Let them starve.

Charlie Foxtrot

This is the correct path to nation-wide reciprocity, not federal legislation that is further abusing the Interstate Commerce Clause and opening the door for nation-wide restrictions on carrying firearms.

Rock

If I can’t carry (I have had a Pa. CCP for 55 years) I do not go their, it’s their loss, not mine. I spend thousands in states/cities that allow me to carry due to reciprocity. You KNOW there are tens of thousands or MORE of others that feel and do the same. The places I do not visit are basically, thanks to Dems/libs killing fields for the always armed criminals. You see and know these high murder states-cities-places from watching the news nightly. I refuse to become a victim, calling 911 after the fact is NOT an option for… Read more »

Don Moran

Big thank you to Alan at SAF and the Illinois State Rifle Association!

I retired and moved away from Illinois last year. It would be nice to visit occasionally to see my Daughter, my sister, and my Mom and Dad, without being defenseless the moment I step out of my vehicle.