Politics & Government

Yorkville Reacts to Illinois' New Conceal Carry Law

Yorkville residents sound off new conceal carry law.

Illinois officially legalized private carrying of concealed guns on Tuesday as both houses of the legislature voted convincingly to override Gov. Pat Quinn's veto: the House by 77-31, and the Senate by 41-17.

The new legislation requires a background check and 16 hours of firearms training to purchase a $150 five-year concealed-carry license; as a "shall-issue" law, Illinois State Police must grant the license to anyone with those credentials.

Illinois faced a Tuesday deadline to adopt a concealed-carry provision after a federal appeals court ruled in December 2012 that the state's ban on concealed-carry was unconstitutional.

Yorkville Patch readers took to our Facebook page to give their reaction to the legislation. Here's just some of what they had to say:


  • Melissa W. The criminals had guns without this law, they will still continue to be criminals . The only difference is now we will be able to protect ourselves!!
  • Nathan H.  It's about time I think crime rate will go down now if we could pass the drug test for well fair!
  • Lyle H. If NY and CA (both anti-gun states) allow concealed-carry, then why not IL? The more restrictive the gun laws for law-abiding people, the more brazen the criminals, who follow no law.
  • Kevin L. Every state that passed CCW saw a minimum 18-25% drop in Violent crime. If you think Law abiding citizens being allowed to legally carry a firearm with proper training and class-time, background check and no priors is a bad thing....you need to get a clue.....real quick.
  • Jill H. Dislike
  • Tim G. People against this new law are misinformed of the huge responsibilities that comes with carrying a gun. This or any other state with this law has not and will not become the wild west. Just the fact that it is now legal makes unarmed people safe simply because criminals will not know who is armed and who is not.
  • Kristen R. Outraged and embarassed pretty much sums up my feelings on this nonsense.
  • Alan L. just the thought that someone may have a gun will make some think twice.

Now it's your turn. What do you think of Illinois' new Conceal Carry law? Will it make us safer or does it invite more gun violence? Tell us in the comments section below.


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