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Ill. ruling on guns in cars
The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that a car console can be considered a case.
Apparently ILL has an offense called aggravated misconduct with a weapon, that involves carrying concealed, uncased, either loaded or with ammunition readily available. There's an exemption if the gun is cased, unloaded, and carrier has a Firearm Owner ID card. Must be treated pretty seriously -- this defendant got 2.5 years for it.
Good to live in AZ. Here, officers stopping a car with guns in the console would regard it as normal. And legally it wouldn't be CCW. And if it was, the penalty would be a modest fine and forfeiture of the firearm.
Hat tip to reader Bill Zeller....
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"The Court ruled that if the console was "ajar" then the guns (there were 2 of 'em) would not be "enclosed" in a case, as required by the law, and a felony would have been committed."
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Does this reasoning imply that opening the console - even if closed and locked - to retrieve his drivers license for display to a police officer would instantly place the driver in violaton?
The state attorney's basis for disagreeing with the ruling makes no sense. Kevin Lyons argues it makes police officers less safe and that officers will feel uneasy knowing every driver they stop could have a gun "at their fingertips". Earth to Lyons but does he believe a truly bad person (ie. murderer, armed robber, etc.) would give a rats behind about a gun law of this sort?
As a police recruit, I was taught to approach every situation with caution, assuming there could be a weapon in any car I stop, any house I go into, etc.
Along the lines of what Mr. Hardy said, I'm glad to live in the state of Georgia where we have at least somewhat sensible gun laws.
Kyle,
I agree, my LEO training and SOP was to assume that every person I contacted could have a gun "at their fingertips" until I was positive that they did not.
Do you know any cop who assumes that "well there are no guns allowed here where I am so I don't have to worry about that issue."?
If there are any, I suspect that their names will soon be engraved on the department's memorial wall.
In order to conclude that a center console constitutes a "case" for purposes of the IL law, the Supreme Court agreed with the lower appellate court's overruling of an earlier decision which held that a car's glove box was NOT a "case." So in effect, both consoles and glove boxes now become acceptable places to carry ammunition and (unloaded) guns in cars in IL. They only have to be closed, not necessarily locked.
Sadly, the defendant faces a retrial because although both he and his passenger testified that the console was locked and that the passenger had to retrieve keys from the glove box so the driver could unlock the console to retrieve his driver's license, the arresting officer testified that the console was unlocked and "ajar." The Court ruled that if the console was "ajar" then the guns (there were 2 of 'em) would not be "enclosed" in a case, as required by the law, and a felony would have been committed.
Chicago gets the headlines for its rabidly anti-gun local ordinances, but the statewide laws are pretty gun-hostile as well. While the attitudes of most of the public outside the Chicago area seem to be pretty pro-gun, the peculiarities of the Illinois legislative process keep the state near the top of the anti-gun list.
Nonresidents of IL must be aware that this decision applies ONLY to residents of IL. Nonresidents must comply with the FOPA rules for traveling with guns, which requires storage outside the passenger compartment. If the vehicle has no trunk guns and ammo must be in a locked container which may NOT be the glove box or console.