Conceal Carry: Shorewood Senator Explains Reasoning Behind Override Vote

Not long after both houses voted on Tuesday to override Gov. Pat Quinn's amendatory veto and the path was cleared for Illinois residents to carry concealed firearms, State Senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant (D-Shorewood) issued a statement outlining the reasoning behind her override vote.

“The bill that we passed in May was the result of many months of hard work and compromise," Bertino-Tarrant said. "A number of (the) governor’s proposed changes went too far and would have made the bill impossible to pass as amended.”

In a news release issued by her office, Bertino-Tarrant said she was adamant about passing reasonable gun safety measures prior to the federal court’s deadline (Tuesday, July 9), but she also expressed interest in continuing to explore the issue of gun safety in Illinois. 

“Making sure we had a solid framework in place by the federal deadline was imperative," Bertino-Tarrant said. "However, I will always be interested in continuing the conversation on gun safety and working on ways to improve the measures that we passed.”

Although Bertino-Tarrant chose to vote to override a majority of the governor’s proposed changes to the concealed carry measure, she said in the news release she did support three modifications to the legislation, which passed the Senate in a separate bill:

• Duty to Inform —Requires a permit holder to immediatelydisclose to police that he or she is carrying.
• Mental Health Reporting— Provides that law enforcement and school officials reporting clear and present danger need to report directly to law enforcement.
• No Signage for Per Se Prohibited Places — Locations that are listed as prohibited places (including schools, parks and government buildings) will not be required to post signs indicating that firearms are not allowed on the property.