Hope everyone had a nice holiday.
I’m sure many of you are aware that Illinois’ new concealed-carry law, which allows concealed carry by those individuals not deemed as posing a threat to the public, went into effect on January 1. As this article from the Springfield State Journal-Register notes, the law will not have much impact on college campuses, since they are largely exempt from those provisions of the bill that allow concealed carry. Individual campuses do have discretion in enforcing certain elements of the law, such as whether guns can be stored in vehicles on campus. (Some campuses have designated certain parking lots as places where people can do so.) Also, individuals involved with law enforcement or campus security, or who teach in a program requiring the use of firearms (such as ROTC), are permitted to carry a weapon.
http://www.sj-r.com/article/20140104/NEWS/140109830/10288/NEWS/?tag=1
In any case, it might be a good idea to check out your own institution’s policies regarding firearms on campus, and also whether there have been any modifications due to the new law.
Also, here is a link to the text of the legislation.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/98/PDF/098-0063.pdf
Hospitals, also, are one of the locations from concealed carry. For anyone who is interested, here is a memo from the Illinois Hospital Association that discusses the best approaches for complying with the new legislation. Clear signage, using the approved image, must be posted in a conspicuous location, such as the entrance to a building. Also, note that the requirements for having a firearm in a parked vehicle are somewhat different from those for college campuses.
Additionally, the memo notes that specified hospital personnel (and hospitals themselves) are, in most cases, exempt from liability for reporting-or failing to report-individuals whose mental conditions or behavior may make them a threat to the public and so should not be granted a concealed-carry permit. There are specific guidelines for determining whether reporting a person who has been admitted for treatment of a mental illness is required. (The guidelines vary between medical institutions considered mental health facilities and those that are not.)
http://www.ihatoday.org/uploadDocs/1/pa980063.pdf
Thank you.