People v. Aguilar (Ill. Sept. 12, 2013)
As the Seventh Circuit correctly noted, neither Heller nor McDonald expressly limits the second amendment’s protections to the home. On the contrary, both decisions contain language strongly suggesting if not outright confirming that the second amendment right to keep and bear arms extends beyond the home. Moreover, if Heller means what it says, and “individual self-defense” is indeed “the central component” of the second amendment right to keep and bear arms, then it would make little sense to restrict that right to the home, as “[c]onfrontations are not limited to the home.” Indeed, Heller itself recognizes as much when it states that “the right to have arms *** was by the time of the founding understood to be an individual right protecting against both public and private violence.”
Kicking and screaming, Illinois was the last of the 50 states to "officially" accept the fact that the concealed carrying of firearms by its citizens is a guaranteed civil right. The pendulum swings slowly, but it appears to be swinging in the right direction—for the moment.
-fl