In some areas of Illinois, things have gotten terrible, to the point that law abiding citizens are ashamed of those in state legislature. I wholeheartedly believe that each and every politician has a responsibility to every citizen of Illinois. Not a responsibility to create dozens of wasteful new laws, not an obligation to make budget cuts in order to decrease deficits, but a responsibility to improve our way of life, sometimes being that it is simply left alone. When a government is big enough to give you anything and everything you need, it is also big enough to take away everything you have. I don't want healthcare forced upon me, I don't need a million new laws to govern every minute of my day and every step in my walk of life. I have rights given to me in "the bill of rights" and any politician, Democrat or Republican, should protect them. The United States Constitution should not be a legal document that is "void where prohibited by law", as it PRECEDES ALL LAW. Remember that Americans.....even if your ancestors didn't fight for that flag......someone's dad did. Someone's grandfather or uncle did. Someone's mom or grandmother was widowed for that Bill of Rights.

If no CCW like the rest of the states then it will come to the point where people will just not give a crap about the laws...When you walk out of your house and are immediately threatened due to the fact e crime rate is rising in states where CCWis not allowed..People will arm themselves to protect themselves...It comes down to Damned if you do and damned if you don't..at least with CCW the citizen has the rot to shoot back...Comes a time where you ask yourself.........Judged by 12 or Carried by 6......I would rather be judged by a jury of 12 than carried by 6 to the grave..

YES to concealed carry!

Concealed carry works in all the other states, why not Illinois? I have carryed a firearm concealed for many years in a bunch of states. I will not spend a dime in Illinois and I live next door to it, until they change the law. There are over 8 million of us and our numbers are growing every day!
Concealed carry for Illinois, now! Illinois is the only state that does not allow the ctizens to protect themself in public with a firearm.

People wear seat belts and people have fire extinguishers in their houses. In fact we require businesses to have fire suppression systems in place. The incident of house fires and auto accidents are thankfully rare but we as thinking people make decisions for ourselves that help negate and protect ourselves from this risk. Why does the state prevent us from carry violence extinguishers? It's TIME for concealed carry.

I wonder how many Illinois Rapes could have been avoided/stopped IF ILLinois allowed law abiding citizens to carry firearms for lawful defensive purposes???
ILLinois is the ONLY state that does NOT allow law abiding citizens to carry firearms for lawful defensive purposes!!!
I'm gonna guess all those Rape victims wish they would have had a firearm with them to possibly prevent the Rape from occurring!! Illinois State police suggest women remain calm and that they attempt to talk their way out, or that that they yell "fire" or attempt to defend themselves with their "keys"!!!!!!!! Think I'm kidding?? Check out their web site!!! http://www.isp.state.il.us/docs/1-150.pdf See page 2 under "Confrontation". Hey all you rape victims - did you follow police procedure????

Not that we should have to vote on a CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT, but yes, of course we should have concealed carry.

If you have left the state of Illinois for any reason and were in a public place, chances are you were around someone who was carrying concealed. Now, how many of you saw the blood running in the street? OK, now lets look at a particular area of Illinois, Chicago. See any blood running in their streets? Joliet, see any blood? Rockford, Champaign, Springfield, blood. Criminals already carry the guns in each of these locations. I just want the ability to have the same fighting chance they are giving themselves. The difference is that I follow the law and right now I am just a sitting duck for those criminals.

The only people running around our streets with guns are the bad guys and the politicians. Hmmm, I wonder if there's a correlation there? The hypocrites only think their lives are worth protecting? WTF is with that??

Nanny State is the new name for totalitarian government. Instead of controlling the population with the militart and secret police the way the Soviets did it - the people are controlled by keeping them dependent on government money.

Personal firearms ownership and personal responsibility flys in the face of this and threatens the very livlihood of carrer politicians who stay in power by convincing the public that the individuals are too dumb to spend their money wisely and make their own choices to better their lives, but rather - only politicians with their superior thinking can make life better for everyone.

Illinois politicians have failed. It is one of the very worst run states in the Union and when it comes to crime, Rahm Emanual and Madigan blame the crime on their not being able to pass 100% of their policies - including gun control. A thug does nt need a gun to rob or rape someone but the average person doesn't stand a chance going one on one with a violent felon in unarmed combat. The Illinois politicians have completely failed to deal with crime, but they still want to deny Illinois citizens their right to defend themselves. They'd rather have people be victimized than have people not need them.

It does my heart good to see so many comments defending our Constitutional rights that were not meant to be subject to vote or the whim of corrupt politicians.

A woman's Right To Choose is a huge campaign issue for the left, but they mean right to choose an abortion after a woman is raped. What about a woman's right to choose a 2nd Amendment option of self-defense to prevent the rape in the first place? Denied by Illinois bureaucrats.

God made man, but Samuel Colt made them equal. Ironically, the nanny state hates that concept, since it undermines the billions of funding they require for "fast response teams" that will never be there in time to protect your family or property.

I can see it now, a million people in Illinois running around with guns in their pockets. Most of them with no training and without care about where the bullit might go if it misses the intended person. Just think about Chicago and Joliet . How many people killed in drive bys were the intended person, its going to get worse if you allow everyone to walk around with guns in their pocket shooting at anything that scares them. I don't even want to think about what is going to happen on the highways, there will be a lot of cars with bullit holes in them. As far as robbers are concerned if they think you have a gun they may shoot you first then robb you or check for a gun during the robbery, purse snatchers will get a lot of guns and sell them to other crooks, car breakins will give guns to kids who are uaually just looking for a little change or an electronic device they can sell. Putting more guns on the street will not solve the gun problem, more needs to be done to rid towns and cities of the gangs and drugs that are causing all the problems . More guns will only create more bodies, most of them just because they were in the wrong place , criminals will not be affected by this at all.

Since I posted my last comment, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has just, within the last 30 minutes, released a ruling stating that the ban on carry outside the home is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The state of Illinois has exactly 180 days to get a carry law on the books, or any FOID card holder can carry if they don't.

Thank you, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, for respecting the Constitution, as this state has NOT done for so long now. I look forward to applying for my carry permit within the next 6 months.

Thank you Dan for posting that! Tony, it is very apparent that you are clueless about concealed carry.

Well tony we will see how you feel when someone has a gun pointed at you!! I am a victim of violence and I'm sure if I was allowed to carry I wouldn't be a victim. Its sad when people can't leave their homes and feel safe. Their is a difference between law abiding citizens and thugs on the street. Law abiding citizen aren't walking around trying to rob or steal from people we go to work and take care of our families and all we want is to feel safe. So I feel if I should be allowed to protect myself and my children. I live in rockford and its way worst then chicago and Joliet put togehter.

I think it was Thomas Jefferson that said, In a nation that allows people to own and bear arms, the people are called citizens.
A nation that does not allow people to own and bear arms, It's people are called SUBJECTS.

I know a lot people that have Florida CCW to be legal in most places but they are criminals in their own state. These are good and responsible people and it's about time their rights are not infringed on. For the people who hate guns and give you every excuse why you shouldn't have one, most of them have never been around firearms and fail to educate themselves about them. If they don't want own one I respect that but they still need to educate themselves and their children the truth about firearms.

Reflecting the geographical divide, Democratic Rep. Eddie Acevedo, a Chicago police officer, said there's potential for certain areas of the city to become "the wild, wild West."

"I fear that honest, law-abiding citizens are going to get themselves into predicaments where an individual has a weapon, and they unload on someone else they think may be armed, when in fact they may just be reaching in to their pocket for a cellphone," Acevedo said.

I just had to chuckle at this in the trib cause how many times has the Chicago PD done this.

I'm super exited that this is finally making noticeable headway

YES! I do believe that if the law Is passed people will think twice..... I have a conceal and carry, the only state it's not recognize is Illinois...

If you have any questions regarding the CWP law or training contact www.e2c.us or 1-866-371-6111 and the Instructors at Equip 2 Conceal will be happy to help you.

When seconds count, 911 is minutes away. Why are the gangs and thugs the only ones who carry. When is Chicago going to realize they have a crimnal problem not a legal gun owner problem.