Ill. Supreme Court Gives Gun Owners a Small Victory

The Illinois Supreme Court has affirmed a decision by the Third District Appellate Court that ruled that the definition of a “case” for transporting a firearm does, indeed, include an automobile’s enclosed front seat console.

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The current law provides for several ways that a firearm can be transported:

(4) Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person except when on his land or in his own abode or fixed place of business any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection (a) (4) does not apply to or affect transportation of weapons that meet one of the following conditions: (i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or (ii) are not immediately accessible; or (iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case,firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card

IllinoisCarry.com celebrated the decision as a “huge win” for Illinois gun owners.

The case in question, People vs Diggins, involved the transportation of two unloaded firearms and two loaded magazines in the console of a vehicle driven by an individual in possession of a valid FOID card. In unanimous agreement the justices ruled the trial judge erred in denying defense the right to argue that a console is considered a “case” or “other container” under sec. 24 -1.4(c)iii and for instructing the jury that the console is not considered a “case”. This ruling would also seem to resolve the question as to the legality of transporting unloaded hanguns in the glove box of a vehicle by IL citizens in possession of a valid FOID card. Of course, the law still states that firearms must be carried outside of a vehicle in some sort of case specifically built for a firearm so one wonders exactly how practical this new interpretation of the law will be?

Still, this is a step in the right direction for curtailing the capriciousness of our absurdly strict gun transportation laws.

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