NWH says, "Be ready for concealed weapons law"

Notice how nothing is being done to prepare the public for this law?

How is Susie Q. Public going to act, when she notices someone with a gun? Now, the firearm is supposed to be concealed, but she'll be standing in line at Jewel and notice the "print" of the weapon under a jacket. No doubt I'll hear her screaming a mile away.

And then every police car in the County will run "hot" to Jewel, and deputies and officers will swoop in with their guns drawn (causing far greater threat to the public), while the poor customer is just trying to fish out his Rewards card and pay his bread.

Training should be already taking place in every police and sheriff's department that the officers will be seeing guns and should be expecting to encounter law-abiding, licensed individuals with firearms. They must know how to deal with them respectfully. That is going to be a struggle for some of them.

Gun owners are ready to print off applications and apply. The PDs and the State Police ought to be readying their procedures. Not a big deal; just pushing paperwork from one desk to another.

The legislators, in their infinite wisdom, decided on a 16-hour training requirement. That's more than in any other state. Why 16 hours? I can think of three reasons.

1) Illinois will then prohibit anyone from another state from carrying concealed in Illinois, because that visitor will not pay $300 for a non-resident Illinois concealed carry license;
2) Illinois will not grant reciprocity to non-residents, because anyone from another state will not have 16 hours of training that Illinois will require;
3) Other states will not grant reciprocity to Illinois licensees because their own residents are not welcome to carry in Illinois.

Now the State Police are supposed to come up with the composition of a 16-hour training program. Alone? Without input from the public? Will the NRA, the ISRA, and the Public get a chance to weigh in on the reasonableness of the training requirement?

Who will educate business owners about why they should NOT post their businesses against concealed carry? Let's educate the public about killing zones (also known as Gun-Free Zones). Let's educate the public about ignoring people who step out of their cars with unloaded firearms, heading for the trunks of their cars.

I, for one, will not be shopping at any business that posts against concealed carry, and I shall make sure to so inform the owner or manager.

Maybe this is the readiness that needs to be taking place.