Gov. Pat Quinn is not a fan of concealed weapons, but he says he’ll follow the law.
“We live in a nation of laws. We understand the judicial branch. We’ll work with our legislature and fashion something that protects public safety,” the governor said today (Wednesday), responding to the federal appeals court decision that Illinois’ outright ban on concealed carry is too restrictive.
The court gave Illinois lawmakers the winter and spring to come up with a law that comports with the constitutional right of citizens to keep and bear arms.
Quinn says he expects a law with some restrictions, which the three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said would be permissible. The governor says people who are mentally ill or who have a history of violence shouldn’t be allowed to carry weapons in public. He says he’ll look at laws in other states and see what works.
The attorney general has not yet decided whether she will appeal the decision, but the governor is proceeding as though the ruling will stand.
