Concealed carry message

Rock Island (Ill.) Argus: Even if voters in Rock Island and Henry County say “yes” adamantly and overwhelmingly to concealed carry on Nov. 6, it will not become the law of the land.

But it will send a loud and clear message to lawmakers in Springfield that voters here believe strongly in the Second Amendment and the right it protects for qualified applicants to carry a weapon.

We support a strictly drawn law granting Illinoisans a right that already is legal in every other state in the union. Only the General Assembly can make it so.

State Reps. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, Rich Morthland, R-Cordova, and Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, and state Sen. Mike Jacobs have supported legislation to approve concealed carry. The problem isn’t here, however, it’s in metro areas, especially Chicago, where politicians have never met a gun restriction they didn’t like.

Gov. Pat Quinn, too, is dependably anti-gun. That position might be harder to maintain, however, if (he) sees what the rest of the state thinks regarding concealed carry.