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Concealed carry all about ‘may,’ ‘shall’

Concealed carry all about ‘may,’ ‘shall’

Our elected officials in Springfield are working to implement exactly how the concealed carry of firearms will work in Illinois in compliance with a previous Supreme Court ruling. At this writing the two general options they are considering are, “may issue” versus “shall issue.”

“Shall issue,” means that a person who is not disqualified from receiving a concealed carry permit shall be issued one. “May issue,” means that a person who is not disqualified from receiving a concealed carry permit may be issued one if local law enforcement officials choose to issue it.

The law is supposed to be impartial and fair to everyone. Illinois has a long legacy of governmental corruption and “pay to play,” politics. The danger of the “may issue” version of the law is that it would create an incentive for more corruption. Illinoisans who are “connected” to law enforcement in some way, either through profession, friendship, or business dealings would have an easier time obtaining the coveted concealed carry permits than will everyone else.

It would place law enforcement officials in the position of being influence brokers, some of whom might even be tempted to engage in the old “pay to play,” politics for which Illinois is so famously known.

I hope the officials in Springfield opt for the, “shall issue” version instead of the “may issue” version. If not, it will only be a matter of time before the news media has some more juicy corruption stories to write about.

Brian Van Dine

Carol Stream

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