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Open carry on private property


vito

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I know that IL law does not allow for the open carry of firearms in public, but what about open carry on private property? Obviously this can be done if the person carrying the firearm is not visible to others off of the property, but what about if the carrier is visible? And can a property owner authorize other persons to openly carry while on his or her property without it being a breaking of the law? I think about this in terms of two scenarios. First is the storekeeper or other business owner wanting to protect his property from destruction by rioters who not only visibly arms himself, but enlists others to join him in the defense of that property. The second scenario is that of someone defending their home, like the McCloskey's did in the now famous St. Louis incident, and I wonder about the legal status of having friends or relatives or others also armed in that home's defense? With the current political climate, I have little doubt that just as in the McCloskey case, elected officials will be more than willing to arrest and prosecute law abiding citizens who are attempting to protect private property than they are in prosecuting the rioters causing the problem in the first place, so it would be much better if the armed defenders were on legal ground in their carrying of the firearms. Where do we stand on this in Illinois?

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I open carry everyday at my place of business totally visible to customers and if I am outside visible to everybody that drives down the road. Totally legal. I thing allowing a friend to open carry on your property would also be legal, but becomes a grey area as far as defense of property. But when does defense of property morph into defense of self.

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A mob approaching a home or business, with one person in the mob holding a brick and preparing to throw it through the window. The openly armed home or business owner of assistant tells the person to stop or else. The person leans back readying to throw. Can the person shoot? What if instead of a brick it appears to be a Molotov Cocktail? The reality is that 20, 40 or 60 years ago there would have been no thought likely in the mind of the authorities about the legality of someone defending their business or property from a rioting mob. But today, who knows? Especially if the brick thrower is black and the property owner is white. But standing guard, armed, and just letting a person in the mob destroy one's business or home is totally unacceptable. I would love to be on a jury for someone charged with defense of property almost regardless of how they conducted that defense.

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