Despite the speculation by TTAG that Illinois is now a constitutional carry state with the Illinois Supreme Court's decision in Aguilar v People, Thirdpower at Days of our Trailers has a warning about not to tempting fate.
Even though TTAG is claiming that IL is a 'Constitutional Carry' State, you can still get your @ss arrested.Given that Thirdpower is a lifelong Illinoisian and is active in Illinois gun politics, I'm going with him on this one. You might beat the charge of unlawful use of a firearm but you'll probably never see your gun again.
If we find somebody carrying a weapon, we’ll likely write a report and hand it over to the state’s attorney and let him use the facts of the case to decide whether he wants to prosecute. If we feel it’s necessary, there’s a very good chance we’ll seize the weapon.”
There's a reason I removed TTAG's RSS feed from my newsreaders.
ReplyDeleteI really don't see how they figure you can even beat the charge. There are counties where the State's Attorneys have pledged not to prosecute (but they all set different circumstances) but that was nothing to do with the Aguilar case; those SA's made those announcements in July.
ReplyDeleteThe Aguilar decision, as I understand it, overturned Aguilar's conviction under Illinois' former "Unlawful Use of a Weapon" statute. That statute, though, has been overturned by the 7th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. That means it's not there anymore, and it's not the statute you'd be charged under for carrying a loaded firearm without a permit today. Today the statute is still referring to "Unlawful Use of a Weapon," but it refers to carrying the thing without a permit. Per the Illinois State Police FAQ, which I believe is accurate:
"Generally, an Unlawful Use of Weapons first offense is a Class A Misdemeanor and a second or subsequent offense is a Class 3 Felony; however, there are penalty enhancements for certain locations (for example on or within 1,000 feet of any school, public park, courthouse, public transportation facility, or residential public housing). Further, an Aggravated Unlawful Use of Weapons first offense is a Class 4 Felony and a second or subsequent offense is a Class 2 Felony."
That's under current law, which was NOT overturned in the Aguilar decision as far as I can tell. Now, if you were arrested for carry without a permit, could you raise the Aguilar ruling to support an argument that the 2nd Amendment allows you to carry outside your home without a permit? You could try, and I think a lot of judges would let the argument in (I am NOT a lawyer) but whether it would convince anyone is an open question.