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Illinois generally prohibits possession of a firearm in or on the real property of a public park, courthouse, any conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a public transportation agency, or on any public way within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising any school, courthouse or public transportation facility.1 Individuals with concealed handgun permits may, however, store a firearm or ammunition concealed in a case within a locked vehicle or locked container out of plain view within the vehicle in the parking area. A licensee may carry a concealed firearm in the immediate area surrounding his or her vehicle within a prohibited parking lot area only for the limited purpose of storing or retrieving a firearm within the vehicle’s trunk.2

This same law also prohibited the possession of a firearm on any public way within 1,000 feet of a public park.3 However, in 2018, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that the firearm prohibition within 1,000 feet of parks violated the Second Amendment, noting that this requirement “would effectively prohibit the possession of a firearm for self-defense within a vast majority of the acreage in the city of Chicago because there are more than 600 parks in the city.”4

Illinois also prohibits the carrying or possession of firearms in any location licensed to sell alcoholic beverages or at any public gathering held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body or any public gathering at which an admission is charged, excluding a place where a showing, demonstration or lecture involving the exhibition of unloaded firearms is conducted.5

Illinois also prohibits a person from boarding or attempting to board any commercial or charter aircraft while knowingly having a firearm in his or her possession. This is punishable as a Class 4 felony.6.

Illinois has no specific statutory gun possession prohibitions in or at:

  • Places of worship; or
  • Polling places.

Location Restrictions for Concealed Carry Licensees

Illinois law states that a concealed carry licensee shall not knowingly carry a concealed firearm on or into:7

  • A public or private elementary or secondary school;8
  • A pre-school or child care facility;9
  • Any area under the control of an officer of the executive or legislative branch of government;10
  • Any building designated for matters before a circuit court, appellate court, and/or under the control of the Supreme Court;11
  • Any building under the control of a unit of local government;12
  • An adult or juvenile detention or correctional institution, prison, or jail;13
  • A public or private hospital or hospital affiliate, mental health facility, or nursing home;14
  • Public transportation facilities, buses, trains or other forms of public transportation;15
  • An establishment that serves alcohol on its premises;16
  • Any public gathering or special event conducted on property open to the public that requires the issuance of a permit from the unit of local government;17
  • Any public playground;18
  • Any public park, athletic area, or athletic facility under the control of a municipality or park district;19
  • Any real property under the control of the Cook County Forest Preserve District;20
  • Any public or private community college, college, or university;21
  • Any building, real property, or parking area under the control of a gaming facility licensed under the Riverboat Gambling Act or the Illinois Horse Racing Act of 1975, including an inter-track wagering location licensee;22
  • Any stadium, arena, or the real property or parking area under the control of a stadium, arena, or any collegiate or professional sporting event;23
  • Any public library;24
  • Any airport;25
  • Any amusement park;26
  • Any zoo or museum;27
  • Any street, driveway, parking area, property, building, or facility owned, leased, controlled or used by a nuclear energy, storage, weapons or development site or facility regulated by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission;28 or
  • Any area where firearms are prohibited under federal law.29

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  1. 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/24-1(c)(1.5). This restriction exempts people with valid concealed carry licenses from the prohibition on carrying guns within 1,000 feet of a school, though gun possession (with or without a license) is still prohibited on school property itself. See People v. Green, 2018 IL App (1st) 143874, ¶ 25, 428 Ill. Dec. 137, 143, 121 N.E.3d 911, 917. Certain firearms violations, including carrying concealed weapons, use of silencers, sawed-off shotguns, and machine guns, are subject to enhanced penalties when committed in or within 1,000 feet of a school or courthouse. See 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/24-1(c).[↩]
  2. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65.[↩]
  3. See 720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(4), (c)(1.5).[↩]
  4. People v. Chairez, 2018 IL 121417 (Ill. Feb. 1, 2018). The Illinois Supreme Court did not address or rule on the constitutionality of any of Illinois’s other location restrictions.[↩]
  5. 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/24-1(a)(8).[↩]
  6. 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/29D-35.1.[↩]
  7. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a).[↩]
  8. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(1); Includes parking areas.[↩]
  9. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(2); Includes parking areas. The operator of a child care facility in a family home may own or possess a firearm if no child under child care at the home is present in the home or the firearm in the home is stored in a locked container when a child under child care at the home is present .[↩]
  10. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(3); Includes parking areas. Licensees are not prohibited from carrying a concealed firearm onto the real property, bikeway, or trail in a park regulated by the Department of Natural Resources or any other designated public hunting area or building where firearm possession is permitted .[↩]
  11. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(4).[↩]
  12. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(5).[↩]
  13. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(6); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  14. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(7); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  15. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(8).[↩]
  16. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(9); Includes parking areas. More than 50% of the establishment’s gross receipts within the prior three months must be from the sale of alcohol for it to be a “prohibited area.” The owner of an establishment who knowingly fails to prohibit concealed firearms on its premises or who knowingly makes a false statement or record to avoid the prohibition on concealed firearms is subject to penalty . 235 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/10-1(c-5).[↩]
  17. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(10); This restriction does not apply to a licensee who must walk through a public gathering in order to access his or her residence, place of business, or vehicle .[↩]
  18. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(12).[↩]
  19. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(13); Licensees are not prohibited from carrying a concealed firearm while on a trail or bikeway if only a portion of the trail or bikeway includes a public park .[↩]
  20. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(14).[↩]
  21. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(15).[↩]
  22. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(16); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  23. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(17); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  24. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(18); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  25. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(19); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  26. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(20); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  27. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(21); Includes parking areas .[↩]
  28. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(22); The licensee shall not under any circumstance store a firearm or ammunition in his or her vehicle or in a compartment or container within a vehicle located anywhere in or on the street, driveway, parking area, property or building at or near such a location regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[↩]
  29. 430 Ill. Comp. Stat. 66/65(a)(23).[↩]

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