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Illinois conceal-carry law unconstitutional, says 7th Circuit

By: Pat Murphy, BridgeTower Media Newswires//December 14, 2012//

Illinois conceal-carry law unconstitutional, says 7th Circuit

By: Pat Murphy, BridgeTower Media Newswires//December 14, 2012//

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An Illinois law prohibiting individuals from carrying loaded guns outside the home violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the 7th Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.

An Illinois law generally forbids the carrying of loaded guns by individuals other than police, security guards, hunters and target shooters. The law provides an exception for those who are in their own home or residence. Gun rights advocates sued to overturn the law, contending it violated the Second Amendment.

The state argued that the law was constitutional because it did not run afoul of the holding in District of Columbia v. Heller (554 U.S. 570) that individuals have a constitutional right to bear arms in defense of the home.

But the 7th Circuit observed that Heller left open the question of whether the Second Amendment creates a right of self-defense outside the home. The court concluded that it did and that the Illinois concealed-carry law violated that right.

“The Second Amendment states in its entirety that ‘a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.’ The right to ‘bear” as distinct from the right to ‘keep’ arms is unlikely to refer to the home. To speak of ‘bearing’ arms within one’s home would at all times have been an awkward usage. A right to bear arms thus implies a right to carry a loaded gun outside the home,” the court said.

It stayed its decision for 180 days to give the Illinois legislature the opportunity to pass a new gun law consistent with the Second Amendment.

U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit. Moore v. Madigan, No. 12-1269.

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