Peoria residents will have to wait to participate in a test of concealed carry in Illinois.
A Senate committee on Tuesday declined to consider a bill that would have set up a pilot program to see whether a law allowing people to carry concealed handguns would work in Illinois.
The Senate Public Health Committee voted 9-0 to send the bill, sponsored by Peoria Republican Sen. Dale Risinger, to a subcommittee on “special issues.”
Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis told the committee Peoria residents were “overwhelmingly in favor” of the legislation.
“We are average American citizens who want to protect our families, our homes and our businesses,” he said.
Risinger said the legislation will be brought up again next year.
“We think it’s very important to our city to make it safe,” he said.
Illinois and Wisconsin are the only two states that do not allow some form of concealed carry. Efforts to do so regularly are blocked by disputes between downstaters who support looser restrictions and Chicagoans who want tighter ones.
Tuesday’s measure would have allowed someone with a permit to carry a concealed handgun within Peoria for two years. Applicants would have to be at least 21 years old, live in Peoria for at least one year, be a U.S. citizen and have a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card.
Applicants would be denied if they had served more than one year in jail, were convicted of a violent crime, had a history of mental illness or had been treated for drug-related issues.
Permits would have cost $100 each.
Risinger said the committee’s makeup made it clear the idea wasn’t going far.
“If you look at the make up of the committee, the majority of Democrats are from Chicago,” Risinger said. “I think they have true feelings that it’s the wrong way to go.”
John Guidroz can be reached at 782-6882.
Read the original article from The State Journal-Register.
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