SB2277 Summary: Illinois License to Carry Firearms for Self-Defense Act

• Creates a statewide concealed carry licensing system allowing county sheriffs to issue 3-year licenses to carry concealed handguns to qualified applicants aged 21 and older.

• Requires applicants to complete 8 hours of classroom instruction and live firing exercises (minimum 20 rounds at 7 yards) certified by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board, with $100 application fee and $75 renewal fee.

• Establishes eligibility criteria excluding applicants with felony convictions, violent misdemeanors, domestic violence orders of protection, substance abuse commitments, mental illness records, and chronic alcohol abuse within specified timeframes.

• Prohibits license holders from carrying concealed firearms in police stations, courthouses, correctional facilities, schools, child care facilities, bars, airports, churches, stadiums, and other specified locations; violation is a Class A misdemeanor.

• Preempts all local and home rule ordinances regulating concealed firearms, making firearms licensing an exclusive state function effective January 1, 2014.