Crime & Law
Illinois Law Banning Concealed Carry on Public Transit Ruled Unconstitutional by Federal Judge
A Chicago Transit Authority train is pictured in Chicago. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)
A federal judge in Rockford has declared a state law banning concealed firearms on public transit systems unconstitutional – at least as it applies to four individuals who challenged it in court.
But the law remains in effect for everyone else as the parties in the case consider their next steps.
“I would recommend for the time being, that people follow the law as written,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney, David Sigale. “We’re obviously very gratified by the court’s decision, but until the immediate impact is fleshed out a little, I don’t want anyone getting in trouble with the authorities … as a result of one of my cases.”
In a decision released Friday, Judge Iain D. Johnston said under current U.S. Supreme Court standards, the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“After an exhaustive review of the parties’ filings and the historical record, as required by Supreme Court precedent, the Court finds that Defendants failed to meet their burden to show an American tradition of firearm regulation at the time of the Founding that would allow Illinois to prohibit Plaintiffs—who hold concealed-carry permits—from carrying concealed handguns for self-defense onto the CTA and Metra,” he wrote.
Johnston cited the 2022 Supreme Court decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which struck down a century-old law in New York requiring individuals to show “proper cause” for needing to carry a firearm before they could be issued a concealed carry permit.
The Illinois case challenged a portion of the state’s 2013 Firearm Concealed Carry Act, which allows certain individuals to obtain permits to carry concealed firearms in many public places.
But the law also lists several prohibited areas where it remains illegal to carry concealed weapons, including “Any bus, train, or form of transportation paid for in whole or in part with public funds, and any building, real property, and parking area under the control of a public transportation facility paid for in whole or in part with public funds.”
Four individuals who hold concealed carry permits filed suit in 2022 to challenge the law, saying it prevented them from carrying their firearms for self-defense on mass transit trains and buses in the Chicago metropolitan area. They included Benjamin Schoenthal, of DeKalb County; Mark Wroblewski, of DuPage County; Joseph Vesel, of suburban Cook County; and Douglas Winston, of Lake County.
Johnston’s ruling held that the law is unconstitutional, but only as it applies to the four plaintiffs, meaning the law remains in effect for everyone else.
“This is certainly a very positive step in terms of Second Amendment rights, but I would continue to follow the law as written,” Sigale said, even though he predicted the state would have a difficult time if it tried to enforce the “unconstitutional” law.
A spokesperson for Raoul, a defendant in the case, said that office would likely appeal the ruling. A spokesperson for Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx, who was also named as a defendant, declined to comment.
Asked about the decision at an unrelated event Tuesday, Gov. JB Pritzker said he disagreed with Johnston’s opinion. He said the rights protected under the Second Amendment are not absolute and that there should be limits on the kinds of weapons people are allowed to carry and where those weapons should be permitted.
“So it’s clear that there are some misguided decisions that get made at the circuit court level, the federal court level, and I’m hoping that it will be overturned along the way, if it has to all the way the Supreme Court,” he said. “It will be disappointing if they uphold this. But I’m hopeful that the law that was passed in Illinois a number of years ago, that’s frankly done a lot to keep people safe, will be upheld.”
The ruling comes just before four sleeping passengers were shot to death on a CTA Blue Line train early Monday.
Sigale said it would be “impossible” to speculate about the particular instances of the crime, but he said there are “plenty of other instances of people being victimized on public transportation and the surrounding areas, such as platforms and stations, where the ability to defend themselves by someone licensed might have spared someone from being a victim.”
He said armed and licensed passengers could also deter crime, because aggressors would be wary that potential victims could have a gun, unlike now when “criminals have it seems, felt pretty comfortable knowing that people would not be able to resist or fight back.”
Illinois lawmakers are considering overhauls to the Chicago area’s public transit governance structure, as the CTA, Metra and Pace face a massive budget shortfall come 2026.
Pritzker has not endorsed a proposal to combine the agencies into one. He has called on the transit agencies to come forward with their own transformative ideas.
“I absolutely believe that as we look at the reforms that we’re making to our transit system, that we need to be addressing the broader question of, you know … why isn’t enough security being provided,” he said. “We’re (the state) not the only funder or the only available partner in that, but certainly we’re trying to put together a plan that will make sense for the future, and that will keep people safe on public transit.”
Head of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, state Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) said lawmakers will consider how to improve public safety, including a more holistic approach or co-responder model throughout the Regional Transportation Authority region, which covers Chicago and the suburbs.
“My heart breaks for those four who are lost,” Villivalam. “No doubt about it, we need to make sure that safety is the number one priority for our public transit, and accountability and transparency around that is incredibly important.”
Villivalam sponsored a law (House Bill 1342 / Public Act 103-0281) signed last summer, which allows public transit agencies to suspend ridership privileges if a passenger’s conduct threatens employees or other riders’ safety.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of challenges to the state’s 2021 ban on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines, at least for the time being. Several lawsuits seek preliminary injunctions to block enforcement of that law while the cases are being tried, but the court said it would not hear those challenges until after the lower courts have conducted their trials.
The first of those trials is scheduled to begin Sept. 16 in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
