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Carry & reciprocity

Illinois

Does not honor out-of-state carry permits.

Minimum carry age: 21

Honors NO out-of-state licenses for carry on the person — an Illinois CCL is required. Only residents of states ISP deems 'substantially similar' may apply for an Illinois non-resident CCL: currently Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, Virginia. Narrow vehicle exception at 430 ILCS 66/40(e) (read at ilga.gov): any non-resident eligible to carry in their home state may keep a concealed firearm inside their vehicle, and must lock it in the vehicle or a container when leaving it unattended. No permitless carry.

IL official source →

Reciprocity status reviewed August 2026.

Quick reference

Tap any answer to jump to its full write-up and source, below.

Where you can carry in Illinois

23 specific questions, each with its own answer and, where one was found, a real source.

Reviewed September 2026. First-pass research: sourced per answer below, not yet independently re-verified line by line.

Open carry allowed in this state

No

Illinois only licenses concealed carry (Firearm Concealed Carry Act, 430 ILCS 66) atop a FOID card; carrying a handgun visibly in public is prohibited generally under the Unlawful Use of Weapons statute (720 ILCS 5/24-1) outside one's own home/property/business. This is uncontroversial and consistently reported across sources; I did not reach an Illinois State Police .gov page directly this session.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Places of worship

Depends

The Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/65) has no specific prohibition for places of worship. A church can prohibit carry using Illinois's standard posted-sign rule that applies to private property generally.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Restaurants that serve alcohol

Yes

430 ILCS 66/65 bars concealed carry only where an establishment derives more than 50% of its gross receipts from on-premises alcohol sales in the prior 3 months — essentially the bar/restaurant line the question itself draws. A genuine restaurant clears this easily; a true bar/tavern does not. Signs (4"x6") must be posted at the prohibited establishment's entrance.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Boats

Yes

Illinois's Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/65) lists 23 specific prohibited-area categories (schools, courts, transit, bars deriving >50% receipts from alcohol, parks/playgrounds under a municipality or park district, etc.) — I reviewed the full official text and none mention boats, vessels, or open waterways; item (3) even carves out an express exception allowing carry on DNR-regulated park trails/bikeways and hunting areas. The one real catch: item (8) bars carry on 'any bus, train, or form of transportation paid for in whole or in part with public funds,' which would reach a public ferry, though not a private/recreational boat.

Source (2013-07-09) →

Government buildings

No

The Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/65) lists roughly two dozen prohibited areas, including any building/parking area under the control of an officer of the executive or legislative branch of state government, and separately a courthouse — both off-limits to license holders statewide, regardless of whether the specific office screens visitors. A firearm may only be left locked in a vehicle in the parking area.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Universities — public or private

No

The Firearm Concealed Carry Act, 430 ILCS 66/65, lists "any building, real property, and parking area under the control of a public or private community college, college, or university" as a prohibited area for licensees, with only a narrow locked-vehicle exception in unposted lots.

Source (2013-07-09) →

Private property open to the public

Yes

Illinois's Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/65) requires a non-residential private property owner to post the specific approved sign to prohibit concealed carry; absent that posted sign, carry by a valid licensee is presumptively lawful in an ordinary business.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Private property — is owner permission required

Yes

Verified directly from the official Illinois Compiled Statutes: 430 ILCS 66/65(a-10) — 'The owner of private real property of any type may prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms on the property under his or her control. The owner must post a sign ... indicating that firearms are prohibited on the property, UNLESS the property is a private residence.' This is an explicit opt-out (default-allow) model that expressly extends to private residences.

Source (2013-07-09) →

Airports (non-secure areas)

No

Illinois's Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/65) lists 'any airport buildings, property, and parking areas' (not just the post-security area) as a place where a concealed carry licensee may not carry — confirmed independently by both usacarry.com's prohibited-places summary and Wikipedia's 'Gun laws in Illinois' article, which both give the same unqualified full-airport-property restriction alongside schools, government buildings, and other listed 'no carry' zones.

Source (2026-09-01) →

In a vehicle while traveling

Depends

Illinois requires a Concealed Carry License (CCL) to have a loaded or immediately-accessible firearm in a vehicle (720 ILCS 5/24-1.6, Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon). A FOID-card holder without a CCL may still transport a firearm in a vehicle if it is UNLOADED and enclosed in a case (720 ILCS 5/24-2 transport exemption). I was not able to get a live fetch of ilga.gov this session (repeated 404s/DNS errors); this reflects the well-established post-Moore v. Madigan / 2013 Firearm Concealed Carry Act framework rather than a page read today, so treat as solid-but-not-freshly-verified.

Source (2013-07-09) →

Hospitals / doctor's offices

No

Firearm Concealed Carry Act, 430 ILCS 66/65(a)(7): licensees may not carry on 'a public or private hospital or hospital affiliate, mental health facility, or nursing home,' including parking areas. Applies identically to public and private facilities.

Source (2013-07-09) →

Rest areas, in a vehicle

Yes

Illinois requires a concealed carry license. 430 ILCS 66/65 lists ~23 prohibited locations (schools, government buildings, transit, parks, etc.); rest areas are not among them, and the Act expressly allows carrying/transporting within a vehicle even in restricted parking areas. Verified against the statute text directly.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Duty to inform police or other authorities if asked

Depends

Under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66), a licensee who is asked by a police officer whether they are carrying has a duty to inform the officer (verbally or by showing the license); no proactive duty absent that question. Could not pull the exact subsection text directly (ilga.gov and Justia/FindLaw mirrors were unreachable), so this rests on a secondary compilation (Wikipedia's Illinois gun-law summary) rather than confirmed primary statute text — recommend the app verify 430 ILCS 66/10 directly before publishing this one.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Can a non-resident apply for a permit

Depends

430 ILCS 66/40(b) and Illinois State Police: non-residents may apply for an Illinois Concealed Carry License only if they reside in a state ISP has determined has "substantially similar" firearm laws — as of this research that list is limited to Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, and Virginia.

Source (2026-09-01) →

K-12 school zones

No

720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(4),(10),(c)(1.5),(4) bans firearm possession on K-12 property AND extends the ban to any person or vehicle on a public way within 1,000 feet of a school — Illinois codifies the federal buffer directly into state law. There is no blanket exception for Illinois's own concealed carry licensees; the only carve-outs are for a broken-down, inaccessible, or unloaded-and-cased firearm, which functionally forecloses ordinary licensed carry anywhere in the zone.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Is a posted "no guns" sign criminally enforceable, or just a request

Depends

Illinois's Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/65) uses the standard default (carry allowed unless the property posts a sign prohibiting it) confirmed via a summary source, but I was not able to fetch the actual penalty subsection (d) live in this session. My understanding, not independently re-verified here, is that a first violation of a posted sign is a civil law violation (fine only, not criminal) while a second or subsequent violation becomes a Class B misdemeanor — meaning the answer genuinely depends on whether it's a repeat violation. Treat the 'first offense is civil, repeat offense is criminal' structure as unconfirmed pending a direct statute read.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Does state law preempt local/city carry ordinances

Yes

430 ILCS 66/90 (Firearm Concealed Carry Act): "The regulation, licensing, possession, registration, and transportation of handguns and ammunition for handguns by licensees are exclusive powers and functions of the State," expressly limiting home-rule authority (relevant for Chicago/Cook County). Note: this is specific to concealed carry — Chicago/Cook County separately retain some home-rule authority over other firearm topics like assault-weapon ownership under the FOID Act, which is a distinct statute from the concealed-carry preemption addressed here.

Source (2013-07-09) →

Polling places

Depends

Illinois currently has NO enacted polling-place-specific firearm ban. HB0034 (2026 session), which would add new Election Code § 29-25 making it a Class C misdemeanor to carry at a polling place, has passed both chambers per one tracker but shows a March 27, 2026 re-referral to Rules Committee and is not yet confirmed signed into law as of this research. Separately, the Firearm Concealed Carry Act's 22-item prohibited-locations list (430 ILCS 66/65) does NOT include polling places by name — but item 1 covers 'elementary/secondary school buildings, real property, and parking areas,' so a permit holder is barred wherever the specific polling site is a school (very common) even without a dedicated polling-place law. Outcome genuinely depends on venue and on HB0034's final status.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Magazine capacity restricted

Depends

15-round limit for handguns, 10-round limit for long guns (720 ILCS 5/24-1.10, enacted by the Protect Illinois Communities Act, effective Jan. 2023). Seventh Circuit upheld the law 2-1 in Barnett v. Raoul on July 9, 2026. SCOTUS granted cert. June 30, 2026 in the consolidated Viramontes v. Cook County / Grant v. Higgins cases addressing whether semi-automatic 'assault weapons' bans are constitutional (decision pending, argument expected fall 2026); outcome could also affect magazine bans. Currently enforced.

Source (2026-07-09) →

Red flag / extreme risk protection order law

Yes

Firearms Restraining Order Act, 430 ILCS 67 (2019). Petitioners: family members, household members, and law enforcement.

Source (2026-09-01) →

NFA weapons allowed (suppressors, SBR/SBS, etc.)

No

Illinois bans suppressors and machine guns outright regardless of federal registration, and bans SBR/SBS for all but two narrow non-NFA-based categories. 720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(6) makes possessing a silencing device a Class 3 felony with no NFA-compliance exception; 720 ILCS 5/24-1(a)(7)(i) bans machine guns, also with no federal-registration exception. SBR/SBS are banned under 24-1(a)(7)(ii), but 720 ILCS 5/24-2 carves out an exemption ONLY for ATF Curio & Relics FFL licensees and bona fide military reenactment group members — an ordinary civilian who completed a Form 4/NFA transfer without a C&R license still cannot lawfully possess an SBR. Illinois is repeatedly identified as one of a small group of states plus D.C. that flatly ban civilian suppressor possession.

Source (2026-09-01) →

Duty to retreat before using force in self-defense

No

No SYG statute; case law (People v. Rodriguez, 187 Ill. App. 3d 484) establishes no duty to retreat when lawfully present.

Source (2026-09-01) →

"Universal" background checks required for private transfers

Yes

430 ILCS 65/3(a-10) requires a private seller to verify the transferee's FOID card is currently valid with Illinois State Police before completing a transfer (functionally a background check). Exceptions: transfers among immediate family (spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, in-law), dealer-processed sales, transfers by court order, and gunsmith repair loans.

Source (2026-09-01) →

This is information, not legal advice, and it can be wrong or out of date — carry law changes without notice and varies by locality in ways a single page can't fully capture. Verify anything load-bearing against the official source linked above and each answer's own citation before you rely on it.