The letter from Meghan Sheehan on June shows just how truly uninformed the public is about Illinois’ concealed carry law.

First, the law was enacted almost a year ago by the Illinois General Assembly; there is no “appeal.” Concealed carry is the law in Illinois, as it was in 49 other states before us.

Second, the Illinois concealed carry law has nothing to do with access to guns. It does not make it easier or harder to acquire a firearm; the law is all about allowing law-abiding citizens who meet the background requirements, training and live fire qualification to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm. 

Third, police officers do not use firearms to enforce the law. The job of the police is to investigate crimes and arrest those who break the law. Police have firearms to protect themselves, not to protect the public. The police do not “rule” over the citizens. They are merely empowered to enforce laws, not have power over us. 

Finally, I am really sorry Sheehan seems to have so little faith that her fellow citizens will control their emotions. Based on her letter, she seems to believe anyone who carries a firearm legally under the Illinois law is prone to becoming enraged and engage in some kind of mass killing spree of other motorist or the police. 

This is the same argument used before in all the other states when they passed their concealed carry laws, but the predicted “return to the Wild West” and the streets running red with blood from all the shootings did not happen in the other 49 states with their laws, and it hasn’t happened here in Illinois either. Are Illinois citizens somehow less in control of their emotions than the rest of the U.S.? I don’t think so.