Judge strikes down Illinois’ concealed carry ban on public transit

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A federal judge has ruled that an Illinois law banning the concealed carry of firearms on public transit is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston in Rockford ruled last Friday with four gun owners who filed a lawsuit in 2022 contending that their inability to carry weapons on buses and trains violated their Second Amendment right to self-defense.

Johnston relied on a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case from 2022 that established that gun laws must be consistent with conditions found in the late 1700s when the Bill of Rights was composed. No regulation on where weapons could be carried existed.

Illinois became the nation’s last state to approve concealed carry in 2013. The law established a number of places that were off limits to guns, such as public arenas, hospitals, buses and trains.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul said through a spokesperson that he was reviewing the decision and would likely appeal.

He noted that until there’s a final judgment in the matter, gun owners should continue to abide by concealed-carry provisions; Johnston’s ruling currently applies only to the four plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit.