Politics & Government

Anticipation ... Concealed Carry Wait Gets Longer

Applications not taken until January now. And it will be six months before you can carry a concealed weapon.

In July, Illinois finally became the 50th state to allow people to carry concealed weapons. But you will need to wait for January before the Illinois State Police will accept concealed-carry applications.

And it will be April 2014 before anyone gets a permit.

The wait just keeps getting longer.

Find out what's happening in New Lenoxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

State Rep. Brandon Phelps, the Democrat author of the concealed-carry law, said fingerprints will be the biggest factor in determining eligibility.

“If (the State Police) have to manually check each set of fingerprints, they’re going to have to check each name,” Phelps said.

Find out what's happening in New Lenoxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The State Police are pushing people to submit fingerprints electronically.

State Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said, “Obviously electronic fingerprints are going to be a little more efficient,” but Bond didn’t want to “speculate” on how long any part of the process will take.


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