Judge rules that people in Illinois can carry firearms on public transit

A federal judge ruled in favor of a group of individuals challenging Illinois’ ban on carrying firearms on public transportation.

Judge Iain D. Johnston, a Trump appointee to the Northern District of Illinois, ruled Friday that the state’s Firearm Concealed Carry Act, which bans the carrying of guns on public transportation, is inconsistent with Second Amendment precedent.

If an individual violates the state ban, it’s a misdemeanor.

The firearm restriction applies to any public bus, train or other transportation that uses public money and the property surrounding that facility. That included the Chicago Transit Authority, which operates 140 bus routes and a rapid transit railroad track.

Four individuals, who have concealed carry permits and use public transportation for personal and professional reasons, challenged the law as applied to them.

State officials had argued that they could lawfully restrict concealed carry permit holders from carrying their guns in sensitive places.

“A concealed arm doesn’t terrorize; it’s concealed,” Judge Johnston wrote, ruling in the challengers’ favor.

“Defendants in this case offer various theories as to what makes a place ’sensitive.’ The Court finds none of them convincing.”

However, the judge did not issue an injunction against the law.

The judge relied on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, where the conservative majority ruled that any gun control law had to be consistent with the nation’s history and tradition dating back to the Second Amendment in order to be upheld.

That ruling has caused chaos in lower courts, where judges are grappling with where to draw the historical lines in policing who can possess firearms. Challenges related to felons, drug addicts and illegal aliens have surfaced.

In June, the high court said a gun control law banning those under domestic violence protective orders could pass the Bruen analysis since Second Amendment rights are not absolute, reasoning the government can disarm someone temporarily if the person has been found to be dangerous.

“Bruen exemplifies the phrase ’easier said than done.’ It certainly left open a plethora of procedural questions about how to conduct the historical inquiry,” Judge Johnston wrote in his Friday ruling.