Illinois now only state to ban concealed carry

Illinois now only state to ban concealed carry
Gun owners and supporters show their support for concealed carry at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois AP File/Seth Perlman
Illinois now only state to ban concealed carry
Gun owners and supporters show their support for concealed carry at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois AP File/Seth Perlman

Illinois now only state to ban concealed carry

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Illinois is now the only state in the union to ban people from carrying concealed weapons. Wisconsin’s governor signed a law Friday allowing concealed carry. With the governor’s signature on the bill, Wisconsin became the 49th state to allow concealed carry.

Richard Pearson is with the Illinois State Rifle Association, a group lobbying Illinois legislators to also approve a similar measure. He said the city of Chicago and the entire state would be safer if people were allowed to secretly carry weapons.

“They predicted all kinds of horrible things would happen in every other state if you passed concealed carry: people fighting over parking places,” Pearson said. “None of that’s happened in the other 49 states and it won’t happen in Illinois, either. The only thing that will happen is less people will be raped, maimed, robbed, raped and murdered.”

Earlier this year, Illinois lawmakers rejected a measure to allow concealed carry. Last month, Gov. Pat Quinn said there is a violence epidemic in the state and allowing people to carry concealed weapons isn’t the best way to deal with it.