Two more Illinois law enforcement officials are acknowledging that last year’s legalization of concealed carry has been a “non-event” for the state, despite dismal expectations.
“I really wasn’t sure on expectations, but I do think that it’s probably worked out better than some people thought it would,” McLean County Sheriff Joe Sandage told the Bloomington Pantagraph.
“We haven’t seen any abuses of (the law) or people carrying into places where they’re not allowed to,” Sandage continued, adding that “by and large, the people getting concealed-carry permits are responsible gun owners, and they’re going to follow the law as it’s written.”
Gun control advocates opposed legalizing concealed carry in the Land of Lincoln, claiming that it would lead to more crime. After a protracted legal battle, Illinois became the last state in the U.S. to allow citizens to legally carry some firearms in public.
Approximately 91,000 concealed carry permits have been issued since last March.
Legalization has not caused mass chaos, according to Decatur Police Chief Brad Sweeney.
“It’s been such a non-event,” Sweeney told the Pantagraph, adding that the possibility that Illinois would devolve into the “wild, wild west” did enter his mind.
“We were worried these firearms may start to turn up in cases, but I could not find any report of an incident all of last year.”
Sandage’s and Sweeney’s assessments match those of other top cops in the state.
“For us, it’s been a non-event,” Champaign police deputy chief Joe Gallo told The (Champaign-Urbana) News-Gazette earlier this month.
“I think people were so concerned about it in the beginning, because there was a lot of media hype and speculation,” Urbana Police Chief Patrick Connolly told The News-Gazette.
“But quite honestly, we have often said the people who are law-abiding and take the time to go to class and register and understand the concept, hopefully, are going to be smart enough to handle the firearm appropriately. So, I don’t think this was something out of the ordinary.”
Illinois’ concealed carry law requires permit holders to undergo a background check and 16 hours of training.
“When you’re talking concealed-carry, it’s mostly your law-abiding citizens, who don’t cause problems anyway,” Danville police Sgt. Josh Campbell told the paper.
Those observations are far different from predictions made by state leaders like Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, then-Gov. Pat Quinn, and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy who all opposed allowing concealed carry.
“When people say concealed carry, I say Trayvon Martin,” McCarthy said in Jan. 2013, shortly after the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals had ruled that the state’s ban on concealed carry was unconstitutional.
He was referencing the February 2012 shooting death of the 17-year-old in Sanford, Fla. by George Zimmerman.
“The answer to guns is not more guns, and just simply putting guns in people’s hands is going to lead to more tragedy,” McCarthy said at the time.
There has been some debate over whether concealed carry legalization has led to reduced crime in the state — with a focus on Chicago.
The Windy City saw homicides fall from 419 in 2013 to 407 last year, according to the Chicago Tribune. While some research has found a link between the expansion of concealed carry and falling crime rates, others have argued that the general decrease in crime is attributable to other factors, such as increased policing technology.
McCarthy is in latter camp, chalking up the improvement to data-based policing strategies. He noted that the overall number of shootings increased from 2,272 in 2013 to 2,599 in 2014, a 14 percent increase.
Crime statistics for the rest of the state have not been released.