On Friday, August 30, the Illinois State
Police (ISP) promulgated new emergency rules dealing with the registration of
instructional personnel who will play a key role in the implementation of P.A.
98-63 (HB 183), the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. This new Act (430 ILCS 66) directed the State
Police to begin the process of approving training instructors and courses no
more than 60 days after the effective date of the enactment of this new Act,
and this emergency rulemaking is intended to comply with the deadline.
These emergency rules are temporary in
nature. They must be replaced by
permanent ISP rules no later than January 27, 2014. The permanent ISP rules, which will be in
effect in 2014 and following years, must go through a First Notice process for
public feedback and comment. The August
30 Concealed Carry rules did not go through First Notice and have not received
formal public comment.
House
Republicans believe the public should have the right to comment and provide
suggestions to improve these concealed carry instructional rules. We encourage you to provide feedback on these
rules using the following form and we will share your comments with the
Illinois State Police.
Please review the emergency rules located below this form - then use this form to tell us what you think.
Please review the emergency rules located below this form - then use this form to tell us what you think.
What the Firearm Concealed Carry Act requires with respect to applicant
training:
- 16 hours total (whether one
course or a combination of courses), which must include range time (number
of hours on range not specified);
- Coverage of the following 5
topics (no minimum hourly requirement for each topic):
(a) firearm safety;
(b) the basic principles of
marksmanship;
(c) care, cleaning, loading, and
unloading of a concealable firearm;
(d) all applicable State and federal
laws relating to the ownership, storage, carry, and transportation of a
firearm; and
(e) instruction on the appropriate
and lawful interaction with law enforcement while transporting or carrying a
concealed firearm.
- Completion, with at least 70%
accuracy, of a live fire exercise with a concealable firearm consisting
of:
(a) a
minimum of 30 rounds; and
(b) 10 rounds from a distance of 5
yards; 10 rounds from a distance of 7 yards; and 10 rounds from a distance of
10 yards at a B-27 silhouette target.
- The Department and instructor shall
recognize up to 8 hours of training already completed toward the
16-hour training requirement if the training course is approved by the
Department and recognized under the laws of another state.
Important facts about the Emergency
Rules promulgated by the Illinois State Police:
- The rules only provide
for certification of 16, 8, or 3-hour training programs.
- The rules place minimum hourly
requirements on the types of training that must be included in a course
for that course to be certified; these include requirements that are not
part of the law enacted by the General Assembly. For instance, the rules
require that, for either an 8-hour or a 16-hour course to qualify, the
course must include a weapons handling component consisting of 4 hours of
range time. That requirement is not set forth anywhere in the Act.
Detail
of Emergency Rules:
The new emergency rules constitute Title
20, Chapter II, Part 1231 of the Illinois Administrative Code (20 IAC
1231). The emergency rules had not yet,
as of September 6, 2013, been posted in the State’s Illinois Administrative
Code database.
The new rules included the following
five Sections, numbered 1231.10 through 1231.50:
Section 1231.10. Definitions. This section defines key words
and phrases to be used to enforce this new Act, including “valid firearms
instructor certification.” Certification
as a law enforcement firearms instructor, state or federal firearms instructor,
Law Enforcement Training Standards Board (LATSB) firearms instructor, or
National Rifle Association firearms instructor shall constitute valid proof of
identity as a qualified firearms instructor for the purposes of implementing
the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.
“Weapons handling instruction,” for the
purposes of this Act, shall include not less than the following: (a) handgun
fundamentals in the context of dry fire practice drills, (b) dry fire practice
drills from concealment, (c) handgun fundamentals in the context of live fire
practice drills, and (d) life fire qualification with a concealable
firearm. The range and target for the
live fire are specified.
Section 1231.20. Instructor approval. Applicants
for the status of Concealed Carry Firearms Instructor must submit a full set of
fingerprints; must themselves apply for a concealed carry license later in 2013
or in 2014 when applications for this license become available; and must
themselves have or be eligible for an FOID card.
Section 1321.30. Instructor approval revocation. Summarizes
the administrative-law process that will be necessary to follow for the State
Police to validly revoke the approval status of an approved instructor. Revocation of an instructor’s FOID card or
concealed carry license shall result in immediate revocation of the
instructor’s approval status. The State
Police may also revoke an instructor’s approval if the Department finds
out that the instructor is not teaching the concealed carry safety curriculum
in a manner consistent with the Concealed Carry Act.
Section 1231.40. Curriculum approval. In addition
to personally applying for approval as a Concealed Carry Firearms Instructor,
an approved instructor must also teach a curriculum that has received separate
approval from the State Police. The
curriculum, to be approved, shall include up to 16 hours of classroom and
firearms training. A 16-hour course
shall include the following elements: (a) 2 classroom hours of firearms safety;
(b) 3 classroom hours/range hours of basic principles of marksmanship; (c) 3
classroom hours dedicated to training in the care, cleaning, loading, and
unloading of a concealable firearm; (d) 4 classroom hours of lay legal
education on firearms law; and (e) 4 range hours of training in weapons
handling. Certain persons with some
prior firearms training will be allowed to take an 8-hour course (elements (d)
and (e) only). Applicants for renewal
of concealed carry license will be required to take a 3-hour continuing
education course, allocated as follows: (i) 2 classroom hours of continuing lay
legal education on changes in firearms law; and (ii) 1 range hour of live-fire
requalification.
Section 1231.50. Training certification. The Concealed
Carry Firearms Instructor’s active consent will be a required element of a
concealed carry license application. The
Instructor will be required to fill out and submit a certification form for
each successful application. The
certification form may include a bypass for the first 8 hours of the required
training, the instructor is prepared to certify that the license applicant
received prior proof of instruction in firearms safety, marksmanship, and
firearms care, and is qualified for certification on the basis of taking the
8-hour course rather than the 16-hour course.