Prospects For Concealed Carry In Illinois Improve

In the past, concealed carry bills have tended to have more support in the Illinois House than in the Illinois Senate. CCW bills have in the past been sent to the Senate Public Health Committee which is dominated by Senators from Chicago. They have died in committee as a result.

This year may be different.

Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said in an interview Tuesday with WSIL-TV in Carbondale that if concealed carry passes the House and there is enough support in the Senate the bill would get a vote.

Tuesday in Carbondale, Cullerton indicated that even though he is opposed to “people having loaded weapons on them,” he would consider assigning the bill to another committee.

Noting that concealed carry has not fared well in the Public Health committee, Cullerton said, “If it does pass the House, if we have enough folks that want to have a vote on the Senate floor we can have that vote.”

While the Illinois House just defeated state pre-emption by not passing that bill with a great enough majority, concealed carry looks it might have enough to pass. Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg) is quoted in the same Chicago Tribune article about concealed carry.

Also today, Rep. Brandon Phelps said he is close to pulling together 71 votes to pass his proposal to allow people to carry a concealed weapon. But Phelps, D-Harrisburg, said he doesn’t plan on calling the bill for a vote until the House returns from its break in late April, giving him time to refine the measure.

"We're three to four votes short right now,” Phelps said. “But now that all the law enforcement groups are for it, they're talking about it more and more. But there is definitely a big push from the city of Chicago right now trying to beat this - a huge push."

Again, as with all things concerning guns in Illinois, it is Chicago versus the rest of the state.