Illinois Remains a Battleground of Personal Freedom v. Suppression

The Illinois Legislature may still be divided on legally allowing
residents to carry concealed weapons, but Fox Valley police chiefs
and sheriffs are much less split. Of the dozen area law enforcement
leaders contacted by The Courier-News, none said they opposed concealed carry.
For Sleepy Hollow Police Chief Jim Montalbano, carrying guns and
defending oneself strike very close to home. Last fall, Montalbano
was attacked by a man trying to break into his home and ended up
grappling with the would-be intruder. “Actually, I was carrying a gun
at the time, but I didn’t need to use it and he had no idea I was armed,”
Montalbano said. “The guy was high on drugs and had no idea I was
a policeman, but if he had gotten inside the house and was threatening
my wife, maybe I would have used the gun.”

Montalbano said he sees a gun as a “precision instrument,” a tool
that can be used for good or bad. Therefore, he said, he supports
legally allowing concealed-carry so long as anyone licensed to carry a gun
were required to through proper training about how to work this tool,
and about when and how deadly force can be used.

“We don’t have problems with legal guns owned by responsible, trained people.
We have problems with irresponsible and criminal people who have guns,” Montalbano said.
“I don’t have a problem with cars or airplanes, either. Are guns dangerous?
Of course they are, but so are cars and airplanes. You don’t let someone
drive a car or fly an airplane without training them to do that safely.
Even police officers are required by state law to shoot (on a training range)
at least once a year. “I’m not going to go out and campaign for the law,
but done responsibly, with proper training, I’m not opposed to it.”
The Sleepy Hollow chief was reminded about a recent Elgin case in which
a middle-aged man found a group of teens burglarizing his car and
fired several shots in their direction, which he reportedly has said
were meant only to scare the boys away. A bullet hit one teen in the head,
killing him, and the car owner now is charged with manslaughter.
Firearms training will tell you that “there’s no such thing as a warning shot,”
Montalbano commented. If you’re ready to fire a gun toward someone,
you had better be prepared to see him killed, he said.

“Shooting the bad guy in the hand or the foot, that’s Hollywood stuff.
It doesn’t happen. Save it for the movies.” Changing stance Montalbano
is in the majority locally. While some department leader’s felt more
strongly than others, all who were contacted would at least consider
supporting concealed carry legislation and that response probably is
not surprising. The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association long has been in favor
of legal concealed carry. Last year, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police
went from “against” concealed carry to “neutral” — a significant change
after years of opposition.

Law enforcement’s opinion on any potential legislation likely will weigh heavily
as the debate continues in Illinois. Since Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
signed that state’s concealed carry bill into law in July, Illinois is
the last state with a complete ban on carrying concealed weapons.
That makes it the next big prize in the fierce national contest over
gun control, with the National Rifle Association and its allies targeting it.

“We never give up,” said Andrew Arulanandam, public affairs director
for the National Rifle Association. “We’ve been around 140 years as an organization.
If we don’t get something this time around, we’re going to work until we get it.”
Despite the obstacles, gun-rights advocates believe time and political momentum are on their side.
Pro-gun groups expect to make another push this fall or next spring.
They’re also pursuing at least two lawsuits.
A hearing on one of those suits, filed by a Champaign resident and the
Second Amendment Foundation, a gun-rights group, against Illinois
Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office and the state was held Thursday
in U.S. District Court in Springfield.


Local reaction

South Elgin Police Chief Chris Merritt said that while he is not opposed
to concealed carry in theory, he does have reservations about
people acting as vigilantes.
“My concern would be that those with conceal carry believe they
have some implied right to be law enforcement and involve themselves
in situations that they should not be involved with and cannot handle,”
Merritt said. “In those situations, they should be calling police and
not try to deal with a criminal act on their own,” he said.

At the same time, he added, the police are given training and
testing to ensure that they can handle the stress of shooting someone
and know how to handle their weapons.
“We go through a lot of psychological and skills testing so that we
can handle it — so that we can emotionally handle it if we have to,” Merritt said.
Pingree Grove Police Chief Carol Lussky said she has no problem
with Illinois changing its law.
“I know it’s going to happen in Illinois, because we’re the only
holdout state in the country,” she said. “As long as the law is
worded properly and the proper things are required to get a license,
it should be all right.

“The law-abiding citizens who will get the licenses are probably
people we never have any contact with anyway and they’ll all have training
in what to do with a gun.”
Leaders of the Elgin Police Department could not be reached for comment Friday.

Geneva Police Cmdr. Eric Passarelli said without specific legislation
to look over, the department has a “wait-and-see approach.”

“If there were legislation that was well-crafted and assured for
strict standards for implementation and compliance, we would
definitely take a look at it,” Passarelli said. “In regard to whether
or not it would make our town safer, I do not believe it would.
We have the privilege of providing police services to a wonderful
community with a fairly low crime rate and a low volume of violent crime.”

Leaders from other departments openly support concealed carry,
offering similar arguments. If bad guys have guns, then citizens
should be able to protect themselves, officials said.

Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez said in departments like his, which cover
large territories, backup sometimes can be far away. If an officer were
being threatened by a suspect with a gun and a licensed resident came
to help, “I don’t know too many officers that would say, ‘No, go away,’ ” Perez said.

Some states still restrict concealed weapons in certain areas, like
government buildings or schools. Local chiefs were split on what,
if anything, should be exempt from concealed carry.



Illinois’ gun history

Nobody can be confident about what will happen in Illinois without
knowing why it has clung to a policy that every other state rejects.
There’s no single explanation, however. Illinois has held out for a
long list of reasons: A strong gun control movement. A dynasty of
powerful Chicago mayors. A lineup of state leaders who oppose
expanding access to guns.

In much of the state, guns are commonplace, used for hunting and
target-shooting, but in Chicago, guns are associated with crime.
People worry that concealed guns will mean more shootings, but
plenty of states have legalized concealed carry despite having large cities
where gun crimes are a major concern: New York, Michigan,
Pennsylvania and others.

Harry Wilson, a gun control expert at Virginia’s Roanoke College, suggested
the difference could be that the major cities in those states don’t
have the same political muscle as Chicago — home to two legendary
mayors named Daley, both who served more than 20 years. Both
Daleys emphasized gun control. The city’s new mayor, Rahm
Emanuel, who took office in May, certainly won’t abandon the issue,
but might not consider concealed carry to be a top priority.

The state’s most powerful politicians come from Chicago and
collectively dominate the Illinois Legislature. The governor, Senate
president, House speaker and attorney general all are Chicago
Democrats. Gov. Pat Quinn has promised to veto concealed carry
legislation if it were to reach his desk.

Changing demographics

Quinn’s role might not matter if concealed carry were to win legislative approval,
which would require a three-fifths vote under procedural rules.
When the Illinois House voted on the issue in June, concealed carry had a 65-32 majority
but still failed. It needed 71 votes to pass, but that means if it ever reaches the governor,
it would have enough votes to overcome Quinn’s veto.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Brandon Phelps, a Democrat from Harrisburg
in rural southern Illinois, said support is inching up because of the
state’s new legislative districts. With Chicago’s population declining,
many of the city’s districts have been redrawn to stretch out into
the suburbs. So some city-based politicians may wind up running
partly in areas that are more sympathetic to legalizing concealed weapons.

“I see more Chicago legislators opening up to talk,” Phelps said.
If every other state lets people legally carry concealed guns, it’s no
longer possible to argue the idea is radical and dangerous, gun rights
advocates say.
Phelps hopes to hold another vote during the Legislature’s brief fall session
or when they resume normal business next year.

Correspondent Janelle Walker and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[All emfasis has been added by David.]