SAF Asks SCOTUS to Intervene in Illinois’ Ban on Non-Resident Concealed Carry

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is asking the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to intervene against Illinois’ ban on concealed carry law for non-residents.

SAF posits that Illinois’ “ban on concealed carry by non-residents” deprives non-Illinois residents of their Second Amendment rights, in effect denying “virtually all Americans…of their full Second Amendment rights while in the state of Illinois.”

SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said:

This is a case that literally begs for Supreme Court attention. When the Court ruled in the 2008 Heller case that the Second Amendment protected a fundamental right, it was clear that this right belongs to everyone, not just the residents of an individual state. The Seventh Circuit held in Moore v. Madigan that the carrying of firearms in public for self-defense is a fundamental right, but under existing Illinois restrictions, that right has been limited to Illinois residents and citizens from only four other states.

On December 11, 2012, Breitbart News reported the Seventh Circuit ruling that brought concealed carry to Illinois.

Judge Richard Posner wrote the court’s Majority Opinion, saying:

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. The Supreme Court has decided that the amendment confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside.

SAF’s pursuit of a SCOTUS review is joined by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), Illinois Carry, and nine private citizens.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.