Illinois gun owners are ready to carry their weapons - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Illinois gun owners are ready to carry their weapons

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Arnold Wyrick - bio | email
It's the right to carry a concealed weapon in Illinois that gun owners are still waiting for the right to do. It's the right to carry a concealed weapon in Illinois that gun owners are still waiting for the right to do.

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MARION, IL (KFVS) -

Hundreds of gun owners and enthusiasts packed the Pavilion of the City of Marion over the weekend to buy guns and apply for FOID cards.

But, it's the right to carry a concealed weapon in Illinois that gun owners are still waiting for the right to do.

"A FOID Card is not a bad thing. It's just a proof that you don't have a criminal background," said Lorenz Travis owner of Travis Firearms. "The waiting period that goes with it is a little contentious. But the FOID Card I have no objections to that. The conceal carry, we're going to get it."

Anyone in Illinois who wants to legally own a firearm, must have a valid Firearm Owner Identification Card.

And currently women in the state are applying for their FOID Cards in record numbers. But that doesn't mean that every woman who has a FOID Card will carry a firearm once it does become legal.

"I think we should be able to do it," said Kelli Wyatt of Centralia. "I feel like it should be our right. But I personally wouldn't do it."

"The only thing that is going to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun," said Misty Stover of Thompsonville. "I feel that if the guy next to me is fixing to mug me, rob me or take my money, if he knows that I'm carrying a gun just like he is then he's liabel to not do it as quickly."

But, if the Illinois legislators pass a current proposal HB 1263. The measure could ban assault type weapons in the state, including many semiautomatic weapons.

"They want to ban the firearms that are more effective in being able to defend yourself against the bad guy," said John Abbott owner of Gun Loving John. "And they're basing their decisions on the actions of a few bad individuals that weren't even acting in a legal manner.".

If the ban on assault type firearms does become law, organizers of the Gun and Knife Show this weekend in Marion say it could put an end to their shows.

"It would virtually put us out of business. Because then we'd basically just be a knife show," said Bob Lakrone. "Semiautomatic weapons are a big part of our show."

Copyright 2013 KFVS. All rights reserved.