According to the Illinois Supreme Court, the answer is yes.
The court struck down the portion of the Unlawful Use of a Weapon (UUW) law that banned carrying or possessing a stun gun or taser. See People v. Webb.
Under Illinois law, you can be charged with unlawful use of a weapon if you carry a concealed firearm in violation of the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. The Act allows you to carry a concealed firearm if certain conditions are met such as that you possess a valid Firearm Owners Identification card. Under the law, a concealed firearm is defined as “a loaded or unloaded handgun carried on or about a person completely or mostly concealed from view of the public or on or about a person within a vehicle.” A handgun is then defined as “any device which is designed to expel a projectile or projectiles by the action of an explosion, expansion of gas, or escape of gas that is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.”
A handgun does not include 1) a stun gun or taser, 2) machine gun, 3) short-barreled rifle or shotgun or (4) any pneumatic gun, spring gun, paint ball gun, or B-B gun which expels a single globular projectile not exceeding .18 inch in diameter, or which has a maximum muzzle velocity of less than 700 feet per second, or which expels breakable paint balls containing washable marking colors.
The Illinois Supreme court held that a stun gun or taser cannot be licensed under the FCCA because it is excluded from the definition of handgun, and that such a categorical ban violates the Second Amendment.
If you have been charged with a crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An attorney can review your case for its best possible defense. If you were charged or convicted under a law that was later ruled unconstitutional, an attorney may be able to bring a motion to have the charges dismissed or your conviction vacated.
If you have questions about this or another related Illinois criminal or traffic matter, please contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.
(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Wilmette and Winnetka.)
