By Todd Wineburner

State Representative Jason Barickman says yesterday's decision from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals endorses an idea that downstate lawmakers have been expressing for years: that 2nd amendment rights aren't limited to household environments. Barickman's future in the General Assembly will be in the Illinois Senate, but his move to the upper house doesn't affect his hope that the question of concealed carry will be on the floor during the lame duck session that starts January 3rd. 

In a ruling yesterday (12/11), the court stated that the Supreme Court has already ruled that the 2nd amendment provides a right to bear arms for self-defense. The circuit court said that, in order to be constitutional, the state had to show that its ban on concealed handguns siginficantly promoted public safety. According to the court, the state failed to make that case.

The court has stayed its own decision for 180 days in order to allow the General Assembly to address the deficiencies in current laws.