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Monday, February 16, 2015

Why only 90,000 licenses in first year of Illinois Concealed Carry?


I will speculate that

A) Many of the fine people of Illinois find that the application process is daunting (beginning with that infernal online digital ID).

B) The whole process is cumulatively expensive.

C) Finding the time to fit the classroom sessions into your life can be challenging.

D) Some have concerns about the live fire qualification.

E) Some folks do not yet own a handgun (a few individuals in my class did not own their own handgun and had to borrow or rent one, so I'll assume that to be fairly common).

F) Some folks fear disqualification via some arcane legal issue from their past.

The State of Illinois gets $150 for each application, and many applicants will pay in the neighborhood of $250 - $350 for the required classroom and range training; that $400 - $500 total is not an insignificant amount to most of us.  To speed things up, you can pay for non-requisite fingerprinting (~$55), and some training outfits such as GAT Guns will do the online registration for you as well for an additional fee (~$30).   Anyway, should a husband and wife each apply, the $800 - $1000 total investment could make a noticeable dent in the family's discretionary income.


I often wonder if Illinois made this process difficult and expensive to insure handgun carriers were qualified or if the whole thing was intended as an obstacle to deter folks of modest means from carrying handguns.

8 comments:

  1. Having left the PRI a few years ago, I would venture to guess the latter. Even in downstate IL, the thought of carrying kinda puts the shivers in the populace, and I'll guarantee that the ISP don't like the idea of the proles packing heat.

    Here in the Commonwealth of KY, we have open carry and CCDW. While not ubiquitous, you do see people carrying openly fairly regularly, and nobody bats an eye. Drivers are allowed to conceal weapons in their glove box or center console without a permit. Concealed permits require a class and payment of 60 bucks. The class usually costs about 75 bucks.

    If I want LEOSA credentials as a retired AF cop, I have to come up with $165...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey man! It sure is great to see ya again. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your insight.

    Stay warm.

    Best,

    Zack

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is also possible that they are routing the approvals through the IRS. If you want a CCL you must be part of the Tea Party.

    Grace and peace.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heh. The machine politics in Illinois would have loved to make concealed carry part of the "system."

    One reason for the $150 Illinois wants for each application is because Illinois is in financial ruins. This may be the only program Illinois has that pays for itself.

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  5. I personally think that 90,000 the first year in a state like Illinois with the hurdles put in place is very good. After all, you're starting from a dead stop.
    And now with all of the kinks out of the system and some momentum in place a goal of an even quarter million would be reasonable for the end of year two....

    ReplyDelete
  6. You make good points.

    Thanks for stopping by, and thank you very much for your Military Service!

    Best wishes!


    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with the SSG, 90,000 residents from a dead stop is a great start! That's 360 people every day, five days a week. I believe once those interested learn of a friend or family member who got a permit without issues it will spur more people to action, or at least spur them to begin saving money!!

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  8. I, for one, am in no great hurry to spend that kind of money. I will get my permit eventually. If I felt that I needed to go about armed, I would have done so without the state's blessing in the past.

    ReplyDelete

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