Since Illinois passed the Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Licensing Act in 2013, the words “substantially similar” have been tossed around and discussed. This is because within the Illinois law, any non resident’s state must have substantially similar gun laws and mental health reporting for that non-Illinois resident to be eligible for an Illinois Concealed Carry license. Previous to the week of February 1st 2017, only Hawaii, New Mexico, South Carolina and Virginia met this definition of substantially similar.
However the Week of February 1st, the Illinois State Police announced a change to their list of qualifying states eligible for the Illinois Concealed Carry License. This list now only includes Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia as listed on the Illinois State Police Firearm Services Bureau Website. Only 54 non-resident licenses have been issued in Illinois since 2014.
It is unknown at this time what shall happen to those licensees who were previously issued licenses in Hawaii, New Mexico and South Carolina. Stay tuned for updates as they become available.
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