STATE—Permit and licensing rules, along with no plans in place whatsoever, mean that it could take months before the first permits can be issued for gun owners to legally carry concealed.
Gun owners cannot carry concealed without a permit from the Illinois State Police, which have been given 180 days to develop a process.
ISP officials say a Firearm Owners Identification Card is NOT sufficient to carry concealed.
The price for a concealed carry license would be $150 for five years along with the license holder being required to undergo a 16 hour firearms training course.
ISP has been given 60 days to license the instructors who will be teaching the course.
Many are wondering why ISP has waited until the last minute to figure out how to deal with the permit process seeing how the Supreme Court rule mandated some kind of concealed carry law months ago.
Senators did approve a separate bill from that, bringing Illinois out of the dark ages allowing for concealed carry.
The separate bill contained three minor changes Gov. Pat Quinn had been asking for including anyone carrying concealed and stopped by law enforcement to immediately declare they were possessing a concealed firearm; no signage in most public places where firearms are forbidden including mass transit, public schools and government buildings; and a requirement to people adjudicated as mentally ill to the Illinois State Police, which is in charge of the licensing of issuing carry permits.
The measure awaits a House vote.