I hear all sorts of things every day from fellow instructors, students and people on the street about all the changes that could be coming.  The fact is that nothing major is expected.  That comes from the experts in Springfield, like our NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde.

Here is the deal.  “Our side” has enough votes to improve the concealed carry law for us and lessen the restrictions.  However, the leadership in Springfield (Senate Majority Leader John Cullerton and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan) don’t want to allow those bills to get a vote.

Meanwhile, the anti-gun crowd continually proposes all sorts of crazy laws to restrict our Right to Bear Arms and the bills will go nowhere, because they don’t have the votes.

So we can all take a deep breath – what we have is what we’ll have for a while.  That is not to say that the NRA, ISRA and Todd Vandermyde and IllinoisCarry.com and all of our advocates are not working hard for us!

So far, the Illinois State Police website for applying for the License to Carry is functioning alright.  Yes, there are some glitches (like you can’t use a “Mac” and you need to use Internet Explorer instead of Google Chrome), but on balance, this has been pretty smooth.

More details / updates to come!

Mike

This is the big question on the minds of all the Instructors, as the Instructors were allowed to apply Dec. 18th as part of a “beta test.” After about 30 days, a great number of Instructors noticed that their online application status changed from “Under Review” to “Approved.” There was even an issue date and an expiration date.

However, within 4 days, the statuses all changed back to “Under Review” as this was apparently just a de-bugging.

Then, in the first days of February, many instructors got an email saying that their licenses were approved and would be mailed within 30 days. However, a couple hours later, another email was sent telling them to disregard this “test.”

Rumors abound, but most of us believe that no licenses will be issued until the first batch of instructors receive theirs, a full 90 days after their application date.

We will stay tuned!

We’ll know more (possibly) after December 17th***, but right now the (ISP) Illinois State Police is saying that the 4-hour credit for previous training that resulted in getting a non-resident CCW permit will NOT be given without a “training certificate.” Merely possessing the permit from another state is not good enough they say, as the 4-hour credit is awarded for training. So does that make sense?  How could you have obtained the permit without the required training?

It is simple.  Many outfits have long been offering a 5-hour, combined Florida/Utah class that gives you enough training to qualify for both states’ permits.  The problem is that the training is only 5 hours and should not be counted for 8 hours, merely because you qualified for two separate state permits.

As of today, the ISP will require you to submit the “training certificate” from Utah (which is actually the instructor-stamped and signed application given at the end of the class) in order to claim the four hour credit.  The other very popular non-resident CCW permit that many Illinoisans have gotten is the Florida permit, which requires that you submit a training certificate to obtain it.  This is less problematic than the Utah “certificate” since people are more apt to keep an actual certificate than a copy of the “application” that they sent off to Utah.

If you did not save a copy of your Utah application, which doubles as the “training certificate,” you can print and mail the form here and submit it with $5.00:

http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/documents/BCIGRAMARequestForm10222012_000.pdf

Mail the form and your payment to:

Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification

3888 W 5400 S

Taylorsville Utah 84129

If you need documentation from your CCW course for another state, contact your instructor or the gun range that provided the training.

*** December 17th is when the JCAR (Joint Committe on Administrative Rules) meets to approve or deny these rules that the ISP is proposing.

There are differing opinions about how credit for previous training for the Illinois Concealed Carry License is to be applied.  While 16 hours of training is required to obtain an Illinois License to Carry, the first 8 hours of training can be waived for military service or having taken an NRA course like the Basic Pistol Shooting Course.  In addition, 4 hours of credit is given for having taken the Illinois Hunter Safety Course, the Chicago Firearms Safety Course, or for having training used to obtain ccw permits from Utah, Florida, Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan and Nevada.

The problem is that many people have taken a 5 hour Utah/Florida course (for example) and used the training to obtain both a Utah and Florida ccw permit.  This is perfectly acceptable, unless you are trying to claim 8 hours of credit for having two permits obtained with only 5 hours of training.

Currently, the Illinois State Police is saying that they will require copies of “Training Certificates” from each ccw course in order to obtain the credit. Almost no Utah instructors, however, issue certificates.  Instead, they issue a stamped and signed application that you then send off to get your permit.  So we are awaiting word on how the Illinois State Police will deal with the lack of certificates….

Illinois Gun Pros does offer a four-hour course for those who have 4 hours of training, so that they won’t have to do the entire 16 hours.  This course is also available to those who have two ccw permits that were obtained with less than 8 hours of training.

Stay tuned for more updates about how the Illinois State Police will recognize multiple ccw permits for up to 8 hours.

The Illinois Gun Pros state-approved curriculum for Illinois Concealed Carry Classes is an 8 hour course that teaches the following:

 4 Hours of Gun Handling

In addition to the shooting qualification at the range, you will participate in hands-on drills to teach you exactly how to draw your gun safely, and reholster safely. (Drawing and reholstering are the things that cause the majority of accidental discharges and you DON’T want to accidentally shoot yourself.

4 Hours of Legal Training

We will teach you how to carry legally without accidentally bringing your concealed gun onto the property of a “Prohibited Area” (which is a Class B Misdemeanor).  This is critical. Instead of just listening to a lecture about where you can and cannot carry, you will be actively involved in filling out worksheets so that you KNOW how to stay legal.  You will work as a class and also break out into small groups so that you can learn from the questions that others ask, which you might not have thought of.

In addition, you will be taught the FOID Card Act, Justifiable Use of Deadly Force, and all other laws that are required for you to know to carry a concealed gun.

If you want to register for an Illinois Concealed Carry Class,  you will need either 8 or 12 or 16 hours of training.  Don’t know how much training you may require?  You can find out how many hours do I need for an Illinois Concealed Carry License.

With the approval of our curriculum, Illinois Gun Pros has now begun scheduling Concealed Carry Classes!

We have many people who have already satisfied the first 8 hours of the 16 hour training requirement.  They have either taken the NRA Basic Pistol Course, are either military veterans or Active / Reserves, or they have taken other courses approved by the Illinois State Police that add up to 8 hours.  These individuals are filling up the “second 8 hour” classes we have scheduled.

What if you have only 4 hours credit, from another state’s ccw permit or an Illinois Hunter Safety Course or the Chicago Firearms Safety Course?  Well, then you will need 12 hours of training.  You can click here to see how that will work.

If you have no training and require the full 16 hours, we will be offering the NRA Basic Pistol Course to take care of the first 8 hours. This class will be offered in November and will automatically get you a preferred spot in the 2nd 8-hour class.

The Chief Instructor at Illinois Gun Pros – Mike Bius – has now been approved as a Certified Concealed Carry Instructor and is listed on the Illinois State Police website.

This means that as soon as the curriculum is approved — which we expect on September 30th — classes can begin.

We have tentatively scheduled our first two classes for Saturday, October 5th and Monday, October 7th, subject to curriculum approval.

If you are on the waiting list for an Illinois Concealed Carry Class, you will be notified by email as soon as the curriculum approval comes through so that you can get a seat in a class!

On Friday, August 30th, the Illinois State Police released the curriculum requirements for the full 16 hours of training to get an Illinois concealed carry permit (Illinois License to Carry).  In addition, they began accepting the fingerprints and applications for instructors to receive their credentials.  Word is that the approval process will take about two weeks.  It seems that the State Police feels like it has a black eye from the FOID card wait times, and is content that the livescan fingerprints will expedite their approval process for instructors.

The curriculum guidelines finally give us the detail so that we can ensure that our own curricula will satisfy the legal requirements.  Illinois Gun Pros has submitted an affidavit that our curriculum satisfies the legal requirements, and is confident that the “Illinois Gun Pros Illinois License to Carry Class” will appear on the State Police website as approved very soon.

We have received word that the Illinois State Police may start approving instructors a little bit ahead of schedule. All indications are that they were actually ready to start the online application process August 23, but halted it due to a minor glitch. That’s great news.

Additionally, it seems that the curriculum approval process may not be nearly as cumbersome (and time consuming) as many of us had feared. Without a crystal ball, it is impossible to know for sure, but I would not be shocked if we could start offering the class in October.