My wife and I will be going though Illinois in June. Can anyone. who is familiar with the handgun laws there, know if it is legal to transport a handgun through the state in a concealed carry mode or ANY mode whatsoeva????? Thanks for the intel. Semper-fi MIke
Illinois Laws for travel w/C/C
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only mode is disarmed, unloaded, maybe disassembled(cant remember), in a locked box out of reach. illinois doesnt acknowledge any states carry permits. thankfully the fed govt has a safe passage law that lets you take it with you as long as you can have it in the state you are starting and ending in
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What is this "safe passage" law of which you speak?
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It's best to stay on the interstates, stop only if you have to, and if you have a destination within the state of Illinois, leave it at home.
Of course stowed away as suggested above.
Of course stowed away as suggested above.
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You can transport any handgun you want through Illinois as long as its a picture on your cell phone.
Beyond that its a gamble. The fly in the ointment with Illinois is that there is no state pre-emption of firearm laws.Each county, city, village, and township in Illinois can enact, pass and enforce any gun laws it wants to without restriction. I am not discussing Chicago either, not yet. Ill get to that place in a moment.
An example of how this can nail you in the backside is this. The Illinois State Police states that a concealed carry permit from your state of residence serves as a FOID card, and that locked and unloaded travel with the gun in the trunk is legal. If you follow that advice and drive on I-94 through the Village Of Highland Park, Illinois, you can be jailed for Unlawful Use of a Weapon because you don't possess a Village of Highland Park firearm permit. They will not care that your gun was locked up and unloaded, and you can wail to the cop as you're being put in his cruiser that the State Police said it was legal.
Another example is Vernon Hills , IL. Nice mall. But all firearms in that village must be secured with a gun lock inside the action or a trigger lock. No trigger lock on that cased firearm?You have the right to remain silent, etc.....
Speaking of 'Rights', this brings me to Chicago. Their county has a local assault weapons ban that isn't enforced , because if a Chicago police officer sees a gun it, and you will be in for a semi-permanent stay at the local Area Station. Chicago law states that any firearm that is NOT registered with the city police department is illegal and will be confiscated as "contraband", to be used by the Chicago Police Department as the Chief sees fit.(It is literally written into the law that any gun seized can be used by the Department. Don't take your Kimber Desert Warrior through Chicago )
Any ammo that is NOT permitted by the city can be confiscated as "contraband", and the ammo will be seized for use by the Chicago Police Department.
Long guns cannot be registered and thus will be seized by Chicago Police for use by the department.
Firearms with laser sights are considered "contraband" and the laser sight & gun will be confiscated for use by the Chicago Police Department.
Oh, and in addition to losing your weapons and ammo you will be charged $500 and your vehicle will be confiscated and towed, so you will need to pay another $500 to get your car out of the city impound lot plus storage fees. Take it from me, you do NOT want to go to the impound for any reason. Carrying large amounts of money into those parts of Chicago unarmed is a great way to end up on the Channel 7 News.
As for the FOPA, heh. That's a good one. Chicago law has a 24 hour exemption in the city statutes, so if the OP spends 24 hours and 1 second in city limits consecutively the FOPA no longer applies and the CPD is authorized to jam him up. This INCLUDES O'hare Airport, so visiting the airport and staying in a hotel before driving or flying out counts.
If that doesn't change your mind about driving through that state with your weapons, keep this in mind:I have family in Illinois and I refuse to visit. If I had to drive across to the east coast id travel around Illinois. If you have to layover in the region stop at Mitchell Field in Wisconsin, otherwise Crook County's assault weapon ban makes you a felon if you land at O'hare or Midway with a standard capacity mag or AR15 in the checked baggage.
Thanks for all the replies. Dammit-man!! Silver-Tauron, especially thanks for the write-up. I will be headed to your neck-of-the-woods to visit Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding areas from the great state of North Carolina. Me-tinks I may have to deprive Ill. of any of my dead-presidents!! Semper-fi Mike
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Ahh good ole Illinois. It's like one big Venus flytrap for legal gun owners.
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My GPS came with United States map only, think Illinois will be on there?
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I fled Illinois to Georgia for political asylum. It should be red flagged and I am not referring to red as in a Republican state. If you do drive through disarm and continuously hum that good Beatles tune that is a oh so appropriate road song for Illinois.
Well the Cicero girls really knock me out
They leave the westside behind
And Chicago girls make me sing and shout
That Geogie's always on my my my my my my my my my mind
Oh, come on
Hu hey hu, hey, ah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm back in the illinois
You don't know how lucky you are, boys
Back in the illinois
Well the Cicero girls really knock me out
They leave the westside behind
And Chicago girls make me sing and shout
That Geogie's always on my my my my my my my my my mind
Oh, come on
Hu hey hu, hey, ah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm back in the illinois
You don't know how lucky you are, boys
Back in the illinois
You can transport your unloaded, cased handgun through Illinois. You may NOT concealed carry anywhere in the State. Ammo can be in the same case as the unloaded firearm.
I put my cased firearms in the rear of my minivan - if in a car, the trunk is always a good choice, but not mandated by law. The case does not have to be locked.
The FAQ site for the Illinois State Police answers many questions:
http://www.isp.state.il.us/foid/firearmsfaq.cfm
I put my cased firearms in the rear of my minivan - if in a car, the trunk is always a good choice, but not mandated by law. The case does not have to be locked.
The FAQ site for the Illinois State Police answers many questions:
http://www.isp.state.il.us/foid/firearmsfaq.cfm
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True:AS LONG AS YOU VERIFY THE LEGALITIES OF EVERY TOWN OR COUNTY YOU PLAN ON DRIVING THROUGH.
See my post on page 2 for reasons why this advice can get you in a heap o' trouble.
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Trust us on this. Most of us have traveled in Illinois and they actually target cars with gun friendly plates. You will not get a break and they will take it to the limit. Chicago jails are not fun and they enjoy out of state visitors. After being robbed in Chicago in the 70's I was yelled at by the cops for walking down the road that most of the entertainment meaning bars are on. And not knowing I would be robbed. They refused to take a report and told me to leave the city. I used to go there often as I had friends there . But gave up after the being robbed.
Guys, remember geographically, the Chicago metro area is a very small part of the state of Illinois. If you are travelling through any other part of the state, just have your weapon of choice in a case, unloaded, in the trunk. No one else in the rest of the state cares, only certain citizens of Chicago. South of I-80 you will not have trouble if you follow the above guidelines.
Mike
Mike
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