Bill would fix loophole in concealed carry law

When Illinois passed its law permitting the concealed carrying of loaded firearms last year, its advocates stressed that to get a permit an applicant would have to complete 16 hours of training.

Well, maybe not.

In one of those loopholes that no one noticed as the bill was being put together in the closing days of the legislative session, it’s possible for someone to get a concealed carry permit with no training at all.

That’s because there’s no penalty for certifying an applicant got the training even if, for example, the applicant never showed up.

A state-certified instructor could qualify a friend for a license even if the friend was too busy to attend the training.

Or maybe someone actually showed up for the training, but failed the live-range test — and a sympathetic instructor gave them the green light anyway.

To deal with such scenarios, four legislators are pushing a bill that would make falsely certifying that an applicant has completed firearms training a Class A misdemeanor. No one convicted under this law would be eligible for probation.

The House sponsors are two Republicans, Ed Sullivan Jr. and David Harris, and two Democrats, Mike Smiddy and Brandon W. Phelps.

The bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee’s Firearms Subcommittee.

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