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COVID-19 and IROCC
Once again, Illinois has dismissed the rights of our officers and elevated the lives of the average citizen with no apparent rational basis. It is almost laughable how the State of Illinois
can hold officers’ needs to such high scru-
tiny yet grant others every opportunity
and accommodation. The state has de-
cided to take advantage of the COVID-19
crisis to limit retired officers from retaining
their right to conceal and carry under the Illinois Retired Officer Concealed Carry (IROCC). These
actions should be of limited surprise to anyone who has seen how our retired officers are treated.
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (LEOSA) applies to retired officers and provides that “[n]otwithstanding any other provision” of state law, a “qualified retired law en- forcement officer” who has the requisite identification may car- ry a concealed firearm in any state, subject to state law restric- tions on carrying concealed weapons in certain places. There is a list of requirements the retired officer must first meet, but the most important and salient to this discussion is the fact that the officer must have met “the standards for qualification in fire- arms training for active law enforcement officers.”
As many of our retired officers know, this means you must qualify with your weapon yearly. Seems relatively simple. Un- fortunately, with the COVID-19 crisis, the Illinois Law Enforce- ment Training Standards Board has suspended all qualification
shoots through April 2020. Hence, if you have not qualified yet this year, you are technically unable to legally conceal and carry once your card expires. While no one should have a problem with taking precautions due to COVID-19, why
is there no grace period until the crisis is over?
The Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board has stated that is has suspended all qualifications and that “there is no grace period after your current card expires. Your IROCC card is a qualification card for Federal Law H.R. 218 Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. We do not
have any authority to make such changes.”
Excuse me? Where does it state in the LEOSA statute that rea-
sonable regulations like a grace period is prohibited? Nowhere in the federal statute does it limit the state’s ability to grant a grace period. In fact, under State of Illinois law, “The Board may initiate, administer, and conduct annual firearm certification courses consistent with the requirements enumerated in the Peace Officer and Probation Officer Firearm Training Act for retired law enforcement officers qualified under federal law to carry a concealed weapon.” (50 ILCS 705/10.4) Clearly, the statute states “may initiate,” not “shall initiate,” annual fire- arms certifications. As such, no federal or state statute prohib- its IROCC from instituting a grace period for those officers who have had their annual qualifications cancelled due to the cur- rent pandemic.
Even more interesting is the fact that the Firearm Owners Identification Act (FOID) does permit the State of Illinois to
TIM GRACE
12 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2020