Chicago City Wire

One of the state’s leading Second Amendment advocates called last Friday’s ruling by a federal judge—that a state law prohibiting concealed carry (CCL) on public transportation is unconstitutional—is a “small win” that nonetheless could turn into something more as the case winds its way through the judicial system.

“Unfortunately, while a small win for all CCL holders, this ruling only applies to the 4 named plaintiffs [who brought the lawsuit],” Mandi Sano, spokesperson for the Illinois Gun Rights Alliance, wrote to Chicago City Wire in an email. “It could still be overruled by the 7th district court of appeals.”

In the lawsuit filed over Illinois' ban on carrying concealed weapons on public transportation, U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston ruled the defendants, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, "failed to meet their burden to show an American tradition of firearm regulation at the time of the Founding that would allow Illinois to prohibit Plaintiffs—who hold concealed carry permits—from carrying concealed handguns for self-defense onto the CTA and Metra."

Sano said that the case could still “provide a path to a federal injunction which would apply to all Illinois CCL holders. That would likely go the same route as the federal PICA litigation that FFL-IL [Federal Firearm Licensees of Illinois] is currently involved in. An injunction prohibiting enforcement was granted, the decision appealed, appellate court overturns prior decision, then the long slog to SCOTUS [Supreme Court of the United States].”

PICA, the Protecting Illinois Communities Act, signed by Gov. JB Pritzker in 2023, banned the sale of so-called assault weapons in Illinois.

The ban includes all semi-automatic guns, their attachments, and .50 caliber rifles and cartridges are also banned under the law.

People who already owned guns subject to the law before January 10, 2023, were allowed to keep them if they registered them with the Illinois State Police by the end of 2023.

Arguments in the FFL-IL case against the law are expected to be heard in front of Judge Stephen McGlynn of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in two weeks.

Sano is optimistic for a favorable ruling from Judge McGlynn but also expects the decision to be appealed to the 7th District.

“If / when the 7th district court stays McGlynn's ruling then we proceed to SCOTUS on merit and we anticipate this to be in the 2025 session,” she said. “So likely a ruling this time next year.”

The ruling against the law prohibiting concealed carry on public transportation came just days before the shooting deaths of four on the CTA Blue Line. On Tuesday, Forest Park Police announced they arrested 30-year-old Rhanni Davis for the murders.

“The ban on carry on public transportation seems ridiculous,” Sano said. “Isn't that a place one would want to be able to defend themselves? I understand banning carry in court buildings, state buildings, police departments, etc. but the public transit ban seems to be in place just to discourage certified CCL holders from carrying. Really, are they certified or not? One of our instructors jokes that there are more places an Illinois CCL holder CAN'T carry than they can.”