Y'all,

I know these questions get asked regularly, but I haven't been able to find exactly what I'm looking for in the Illinois hometown subforum.

I'll be traveling through your state in late August and intend to stay in the state for a night and stop at a few places for sightseeing (avoiding Cook County, FWIW).  Doing my research, I came across the Municipal Ordinances Relating To Firearms page on the Illinois State Police Firearm Service Bureau website, which links to various cities' ordinances, which says "This site will be periodically updated as needed."  For example, looking at the link to Peoria's ordinances, it says in Section 20-188:  Carrying Concealed -- Prohibited.  Should the links on this page be taken as the most up-to-date info?  If not, what would Y'all suggest?

Also, I know that having a Georgia permit (Weapons Carry License, to be precise) does not allow reciprocity, but (put in an over-simplified manner) it's my understanding having one does allow vehicle carry, but also mandates I unload and lock my firearm in the trunk when out of the car.  If Peoria does still ban concealed carry, can I transit the city so long as I don't stop within city limits?

Thanks,
Scrappy

Those Peoria ordinances were published April 2012, right before the state got concealed carry(not up to date). Also, no need to unload and move to the trunk when you exit the vehicle.

From here: https://isp.illinois.gov/StaticFiles/docs/FSB/General%20Information/1-154%20-%20Transporting%20Your%20Firearm.pdf

A non-resident who has a valid Concealed
Carry License from their home state may carry
a concealed firearm within a vehicle traveling
through Illinois. If the non-resident leaves
the vehicle unattended, the firearm must be
stored concealed in a case inside the locked
vehicle or locked container within the vehicle
out of plain view. For the purpose of subsection
430 ILCS 66/65(b), a “case” includes a glove
compartment or console that completely
encloses the concealed firearm or ammunition,
the trunk of the vehicle, or a firearm carrying
box, shipping box, or other container.


If you remove the firearm from the vehicle then it's supposed to be unloaded and in a case(carrying it to your motel room, etc). Hope that helps.

Also, if you're staying near Peoria consider Morton. It's a quick drive to Peoria and has several motels/restaurants with easy access to I-74/155/474.

Thanks, spurg!  That clears up what I need to do when not in the vehicle.  I suppose I'll simply have to take care of storing it before I get into the city limits of anywhere that has a concealed carry ban.  I don't care for all the extra handling (i.e. unloading and loading), but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Thanks for the suggestion of Morton, I'll keep that in mind as I finalize my plans.

Hopefully someone else will chime in but I don't think there are any towns that prohibit concealed carry. (Maybe) around Cook county but I don't know much about that area.

Just to make sure I was clear, the only time you need to unload is if you take the weapon out of the car. If you go into a restaurant or something just put it in a case/console/glovebox(so it's out of plain sight) and lock the car.

Got it -- thanks!

We have state wide preemption.  No carve outs for any cities.

hey OP - Swan is 'THE' guy on this topic. As in he literally helped write some of this stuff and advocated against nonsense tried by Dems during the 'IL legal sausage making process' which yielded current law.

FWIW (IANAL) - generally in IL as long as you don't give people a reason to ask, you shouldn't have to worry about people asking :)  Also, after Uvalde I decided that I need more training with my pistol and that I need to only worry about metal detectors - because I will not be the guy who is unable to defend his family. YMMV

Regarding your question about Peoria - A couple months ago I took a family with small kids to Peoria for an event at a large, major educational institution in Peoria. My role was to manage logistics, finance, and little people while another family member attended the event at the large, major educational institution. I carried everywhere. I gave no one a reason to suspect and even less of a reason to ask. I had no issues. Again, IANAL and YMMV.

Good luck!

That's about as authoritative that I'll need -- thanks!


Thanks, I'm a pretty nondescript guy and will be in a nondescript car w/o any stickers, so I won't stand out either of those ways.  The only thing that might get me noticed is the plate is Georgia and is a charity/donation plate featuring an animal on it (and no front plates in Georgia, so that's noticed by some folks).