In a Rush for a Concealed-Carry Permit? Hurry Up and Wait

As a practical matter, if you are in a rush to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun under Illinois’ new law, you’ve got at least a six-month wait ahead of you.

That’s because Illinois has no procedures in place to begin issuing the permits and must set up a process from scratch. St. Charles Police Chief Jim Lamkin said the new law gives Illinois State 180 days to complete a laundry list of things that need to be in place before the first application is filed.

At the very least, the State Police will have to establish an application process, which would include determining the information applicants must provide and the procedures the state must follow in vetting each applicant.

The law also requires a statewide database that is accessible to local law enforcement agencies. The database would include information about those who are granted permits, as well as information about those who are applying.

Regardless, local police would need to have some way of accessing the state database on applicants, and that database has not even been developed yet.

In conjunction with the application process, the new law requires applicants to receive training before they are issued a concealed-carry permit. The State Police must establish a curriculum for the training—and the training process likely means that the first concealed-carry applicants won't be packing handguns until well into 2014.