Big win for gun-rights groups: Federal appeals court tosses state ban on carrying concealed weapons

[Draggingtree]

Chicago Sun Times:

 

Big win for gun-rights groups: Federal appeals court tosses state ban on carrying concealed weapons

 

 

By Dave McKinney on December 11, 2012 11:21 AM

 

SPRINGFIELD-In a huge win for gun-rights groups, a federal appeals court in Chicago Tuesday tossed the state's ban on carrying concealed weapons and gave Illinois' Legislature 180 days to craft a law legalizing concealed carry.

 

"The debate is over. We won. And there will be a statewide carry law in 2013," said Todd Vandermyde, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association.

 

In a split opinion, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling in two cases downstate that upheld the state's longstanding prohibition against carrying concealed weapons.

 

"We are disinclined to engage in another round of historical analysis to determine whether eighteenth-century America understood the Second Amendment to include a right to bear guns outside the home," Judge Richard Posner wrote in the court's majority opinion.