Armed men, seemingly not licensed to patrol a commercial parking lot with long rifles were given the okay to do just that. Those same armed men chose to use their show of force as intimidation on more than one night during recent riots in June 2020.

The current open carry law allows for someone to open carry outside of their business. These armed men claimed they had permission to patrol the parking lot from the shopping center owner. 

They exploited the loophole in the current law. Were lives lost because of this? No. But these men felt emboldened to act, even take life to protect property. Worse, they were willing to using loaded firearms to enforce that protection to the entirety of the shopping center and parking lot.

The local States Attys office and the Sheriff's office allowed this to happen. 

If the intent of the law is ignored due to loopholes, it must be changed to protect innocent Illinois lives.

THEREFORE: IL Lawmakers must close the loopholes in current open carry laws, removing the exception for open carry outside in a commercially zoned area. We do not aim to change the law's current allowance for Open Carry in one's own business, just change the allowance of someone to walk around a commercially zoned property openly carrying firearms.

If you feel this loophole in the law must be closed, sign our petition and ask friends to sign too. We thank you for helping us make this change and possibly saving an innocent person's life.

Edit: 06-28-2020

Read my letter to the editor which was the catalyst for this petition. https://thetravelerweekly.com/2020/06/14/letter-to-the-editor/