The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled [pdf] that the state cannot ban the carry of firearms. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the 7th Circuit issued a similar opinion in December. This one supplements the Moore decision.
After reviewing these two lines of authority–the Illinois cases holding that section 24-1.6(a)(1) is constitutional, and the Seventh Circuit’s decision holding that it is not–we are convinced that the Seventh Circuit’s analysis is the correct one. As the Seventh Circuit correctly noted, neither Heller nor McDonald expressly limits the second amendment’s protections to the home. On the contrary, both decisions contain language strongly suggesting if not outright confirming that the second amendment right to keep and bear arms extends beyond the home. Moreover, if Heller means what it says, and “individual self-defense” is indeed “the central component” of the second amendment right to keep and bear arms, then it would make little sense to restrict that right to the home, as “[c]onfrontations are not limited to the home.”
In other words, section 24-1.6(a)(1) amounts to a wholesale statutory ban on the exercise of a personal right that is specifically named in and guaranteed by the United States Constitution, as construed by the United States Supreme Court. In no other context would we permit this, and we will not permit it here either.
Illinois is already working on a licensing framework for concealed carry in response to Moore, so this ruling may not seem all that important. However, it’s a high-level confirmation that Posner’s opinion isn’t an outlier, and that helps us push forward on the national scale.