Culp v. Raoul

The Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act requires an applicant for a concealed-carry license to show that he is not a clear and present danger to himself or a threat to public safety and, within the past five years, has not been a patient in a mental hospital, convicted of a violent misdemeanor or two or more violations of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or participated in a residential or court-ordered drug or alcohol treatment program, 430 ILCS 66/10(a)(4), 66/25(3), 66/25(5); 430 ILCS 65/4, 65/8. These standards are identical for residents and nonresidents. State police conduct an extensive background check for each applicant. During the five-year licensing period, state police check all resident licensees against the Illinois Criminal History Record Inquiry and Department of Human Services mental health system daily. The law mandates that physicians, law enforcement officials, and school administrators report persons suspected of posing a clear and present danger to themselves or others within 24 hours of that determination. Monitoring compliance of out-of-state residents is limited by Illinois’s inability to obtain complete, timely information about nonresidents, so Illinois issues licenses only to nonresidents living in states with licensing standards substantially similar to Illinois standards. The Seventh Circuit upheld the law in a challenge by nonresidents, as respecting the Second Amendment without offending the anti-discrimination principle at the heart of Article IV’s Privileges and Immunities Clause. View "Culp v. Raoul" on Justia Law