Rep. Meier statement on Governor’s Amendatory Veto of Concealed Carry Bill

Charlie Meier State Representative 108th Distict

Rep. Meier statement on Governor’s Amendatory Veto of Concealed Carry Bill

Okawville… State Representative Charlie Meier (R-Okawville) issued the following statement regarding the Governor’s amendatory veto of the concealed carry legislation.

“I find it ironic and troubling that two days before our nation’s 237th birthday, our Governor is working to restrict our Constitutional rights by rewriting the concealed carry legislation we sent him to sign. We are the last state in the nation to not allow its citizens the ability to fully exercise their Second Amendment rights and its long past time to fix that,” Rep. Meier said.

“The Governor obviously has decided that his personal views about firearms trump the United States Constitution. I will be voting to override his amendatory veto and show him that he is not above the law.”

On Tuesday, the Governor took action to amendatory veto the concealed carry legislation, House Bill 183. The Governor made the following changes to the bill:
• Re-defines “concealed firearm” to mean a handgun “completely covered or not visible from the view of the public” (rather than “completely or mostly concealed”).
• Limits a licensee to carrying one magazine capable of holding 10 rounds or less (the original bill did not include a limitation).
• Prohibits carrying in any establishment where alcohol may be consumed, except for a private residence or private club.
• Reverses the presumption of where licensees can carry – licensees can only carry in locations where the property owner has posted a sign indicating permission to carry concealed firearms on the property. Accordingly, removes the requirement that owners of prohibited places must post signs.
• Provides that an employer may prohibit an employee from carrying or bringing a firearm onto the employer’s entire property, thereby allowing an employer to prohibit an employee from storing a firearm in a car parked in the employer’s parking lot. In HB 183’s “safe harbor” provision, an employee can keep his or her firearm in the car while parked in the lot, even if the employer prohibits firearms on the property.
• Requires the licensee to lock the firearm in a case before exiting the vehicle when parked in a prohibited location and prohibits the licensee from carrying the firearm outside of the car into a prohibited parking area for any purpose. In HB 183, a licensee can carry an unloaded firearm in the immediate area surrounding the car in order to store it or retrieve it from the trunk. The AV would remove this part of the “safe harbor” provision.
• Requires anyone carrying a firearm to immediately let a law enforcement officer know that immediately if questioned.
• Allows certain, non-confidential information to be disclosed under FOIA & the Open Meetings Act.
• Completely removes the assault weapon ban preemption, thereby restoring home rule authority to enact an assault weapons ban without limitation.

In December 2012, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed the Second Amendment by throwing out the State of Illinois’ concealed carry ban. As requested by the Court of Appeals, the Illinois General Assembly approved bi-partisan legislation outlined in HB 183 to allow law-abiding citizens the right to conceal and carry a firearm.

The sponsor has indicated he will call for an override and the House could be called back into session on July 8th or 9th to address the veto.