EDITORIAL: Reject concealed carry bill that would make Illinois less safe

A gun bill in Congress that would make Illinois less safe has picked up a dismaying number of co-sponsors. Every member of the Illinois congressional delegation, along with Gov. Bruce Rauner and other state leaders, should join in opposition.

The proposed federal law would allow people who live in states with no safeguards for concealed firearms to bring their weapons into Illinois without regard to the laws here. It would do that through “reciprocity,” meaning that as long as someone has a concealed carry permit in one state, they can use it anywhere in the nation. The bill, which has a House and Senate version, has 212 co-sponsors in the House and 38 in the Senate, numbers edging too close to majorities for comfort. The National Rifle Association is pushing the bill strongly.

Last Sunday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and 16 other state attorneys general wrote a letter saying such a law would “lead to the death of police officers and civilians, the proliferation of gun traffickers and acts of terrorism and other mass violence. … [T]he House bill would override some state laws that prohibit carrying concealed weapons in bars, schools, shopping malls, movie theatres, subways, or parks.”

In Illinois, lawmakers negotiated a series of sensible restrictions. For example, people who want a concealed carry permit must first get training. But as the attorneys general point out, someone from Arizona, where no permit is required, could under this bill ignore those restrictions while carrying a concealed gun in Illinois.

A study released Oct. 19 by the Boston University School of Public Health concluded that states that regulate who can carry concealed firearms have significantly lower rates of handgun homicides than states that pay no attention. The study undercuts the gun industry’s argument that more guns make us all safer.

The gun violence on the streets in Chicago and the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas are reminders of the folly of the nation’s lax gun policy. Congress should reject this idea.

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