Laws And Your Rights

The first two Amendments in the Bill Of Rights are the most basic but required freedoms that need to be protected and used. By displaying Concealed Carry Association products you are doing just that. Your are telling anyone who is thinking about disrupting your freedom and safety that you are armed and will use a fire arm to defend yourself in any threatening situation. Thanks to The 2nd Amendment of the Constitution we are able to arm and protect ourselves and thanks to the 1st Amendment we are allowed to let anyone know we are able to!

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Conceal And Carry Laws

In the United States, carrying a concealed weapon (CCW, also known as concealed carry) is the legal authorization for private citizens to carry a handgun or other weapons in public in a concealed manner, either on the person or in close proximity to the person. In some states, it is sufficient to be a resident or permanent resident (greencard holder). Under current federal legal precedent, it is constitutional under the Second Amendment for states to have concealed carry licensing that permits concealed carried weapons, or even not to require any permits for concealed carry weapons.

Typical policies that are utilized to determine who can legally carry concealed weapons are prohibition of concealed carry, discretionary licensing, non-discretionary licensing, minimum age requirements (e.g., 18 or 21 years), successful completion of an instructor-led course, and marksmanship/handling qualification on a firing range. Less common is unregulated, legal concealed carry such as in Vermont and Alaska. Some states, such as New York, also ban specific makes and models of pistols, mostly small so-called "Saturday night specials" such as the Beretta 950-B, and will not under any circumstances issue a permit for those specific weapons. Other states ban carrying handguns with large capacity magazines. The exact same pistol may be carried with a smaller magazine and the permit holder may have as many "extra" magazines as they desire, however.

Weapon Possession

Weapon possession in the context of concealed weapons, is a crime of that circumstance in which a person who is not legally authorized to carry a concealed weapon is found in possession of such a weapon. In the United States, it can also be interpreted as the possession of a firearm by a person legally disqualified from doing so under the Gun Control Act. Depending on state law, it can also apply to concealed carry of otherwise illegal knives such as stilettos, dirks or switchblades.

Even in localities where concealed carrying is permitted, there may be legal restrictions on where a person may carry a concealed weapon. Typical examples include the prohibition of concealed carry in:

• public or private elementary and secondary schools (the Federal Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 contains an exception for individuals carrying under a state-issued permit, but some states that issue permits forbid carry in school buildings and/or on school property),
• establishments that sell alcohol (some ban carry from all such establishments such as retail liquor stores and supermarkets, others from businesses that sell alcohol "by the drink" for on-premises consumption, still others only from businesses falling under the state's definition of a "bar" or "nightclub"),
• government buildings (State Capitol, courthouses, police stations, federal buildings, post offices),
• public accommodations (theaters, concert halls), and/or
• public events (polling places, state fairs, public parks, stadiums and other sporting venues).

Carry of a concealed weapon by a licensed individual where prohibited is also generally referred to as illegal weapon possession. Lastly, some states regulate which firearms may be concealed by a particular permit holder. Texas, for example, differentiates between semi-automatic and non-semi-automatic firearms, and an "NSA"-class permit holder cannot carry an auto loading handgun (restricting them largely to revolvers). Other restrictions seen in select states include restricting the user to a gun of equal or lesser power than they used when qualifying, or to a specific gun. In most states, though, a CCW permit holder is limited only by what they can conceal while wearing a particular outfit.

Wisconsin Conceal and Carry Laws

Currently Wisconsin Is one of just two states in the United States that does not allow civilians to carry concealed weapons for self defense.

THE WISCONSIN CONCEALED CARRY ASSOCIATION (WCCA) is the only gun-rights organization in Wisconsin that is solely devoted to getting a shall-issue concealed weapons bill passed. WCCA was formed in 2001. Prior to that, there were many gun rights groups lobbying for passage of Senator Dave Zien and Representative Scott Gunderson's Personal Protection Act shall-issue concealed carry bill. But there was no group that was focused solely on concealed carry.

Illinois Conceal and Carry Laws

Illinois is the other of the two states in the United States that does not allow civilians to carry concealed weapons for self defense.

There are many organizations in Illinois working to change current law.