The City of Chicago Municipal Code (the applicable chapter which I have linked here) denotes who can carry a weapon in Chicago (despite some attempts to the contrary), and the details of how to register a firearm in the city. Here’s a closer look at how this all plays out:
8-20-010 Unlawful to carry – Exceptions.
It shall be unlawful for any person to carry or maintain in any vehicle or about his or her person except when on his or her property or in his or her residence or fixed place of business, any rifle, shotgun, or other firearm; provided, that this section shall not apply to:
(1) Peace officers or any person summoned by any such officers to assist in making arrests or preserving the peace while he is actually engaged in assisting such officer;
(2) Wardens, superintendents and keepers of prisons, penitentiaries, jails, and other institutions for the detention of persons accused or convicted of an offense, while in the performance of their official duty or commuting between their homes and places of employment;
(3) Members of the Armed Services or Reserve Forces of the United States or the Illinois National Guard or the Reserve Officers Training Corps, while in the performance of their official duty;
(4) Special agents employed by a railroad to perform police functions, or employees of a detective agency, watchman-guard or patrolman agency, licensed by the State of Illinois, while actually engaged in the performance of the duties of their employment or commuting between their homes and places of employment;
(5) Agents and investigators of the Illinois Crime Investigating Commission authorized by the Commission to carry weapons, while on duty in the course of any investigation for the Commission;
So there’s no concealed carry rights in Chicago, and only police and other specific public servants can carry weapons.
While it might appear that it is legal to possess a firearm in one’s own home from the above text, it is actually illegal to possess an unregistered firearm in Chicago – and it is nearly impossible to have a firearm registered:
8-20-040 Registration of firearms.
(a) All firearms in the City of Chicago shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. It shall be the duty of a person owning or possessing a firearm to cause such firearm to be registered. No person shall within the City of Chicago, possess, harbor, have under his control, transfer, offer for sale, sell, give, deliver, or accept any firearm unless such person is the holder of a valid registration certificate for such firearm. No person shall, within the City of Chicago, possess, harbor, have under his control, transfer, offer for sale, sell, give, deliver, or accept any firearm which is unregisterable under the provisions of this chapter.
8-20-050 Unregisterable firearms.
No registration certificate shall be issued for any of the following types of firearms:
(c) Handguns, except:
(1) Those validly registered to a current owner in the City of Chicago prior to the effective date of this chapter, and which contain each of the following:
According to the City Clerk of Chicago legal department, the effective date for this chapter was Mar. 19, 1982. So it is legal to own a handgun in Chicago, but only if it’s grandfathered in, having been registered before the code was enforced.
Tags: Carrying handguns in Chicago, Gun Control, Register a handgun in Chicago
