Illinois No Guns Allowed Signs

Illinois No Guns Allowed Signs 

by Susan Basko, esq.

The U.S. State of Illinois has an interesting law that allows the owner of any private real property to prohibit anyone from bringing a firearm onto or into the property simply by posting a copy of the sign above at the entrance to the property.  No sign is needed if the property is a private residence.  The sign must be 4 inches by 6 inches in size and must be clearly and conspicuously posted at the entrance to the property or building.

The law is found in 430 ILCS 66/ Firearm Concealed Carry Act , a much longer law that allows people to apply for a concealed carry permit, and gives a long list of places where any firearm is prohibited, including schools, daycare centers, government buildings, courts, jails, prisons, hospitals, buses or trains, bars or any place that serves alcohol, special events held in public, playgrounds, parks, athletic fields and facilities, trails and bikeways, forest preserves, any college or university building or facility, any horse racing or gambling facility, any sporting arena or stadium, libraries, airports, amusement parks, zoos, museums, nuclear facilities, and anywhere else prohibited by federal law.

That long list leaves a few private locations, and the owners of those properties can opt to make their properties Gun-Free Zones simply by posting the sign shown above.  The sections of the law that detail this are:

(a-10) The owner of private real property of any type may prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms on the property under his or her control. The owner must post a sign in accordance with subsection (d) of this Section indicating that firearms are prohibited on the property, unless the property is a private residence.

and 

(d) Signs stating that the carrying of firearms is prohibited shall be clearly and conspicuously posted at the entrance of a building, premises, or real property specified in this Section as a prohibited area, unless the building or premises is a private residence. Signs shall be of a uniform design as established by the Department and shall be 4 inches by 6 inches in size. The Department shall adopt rules for standardized signs to be used under this subsection. 

In Chicago, the little signs are posted on the entry doors to many buildings, usually just above the door handle.   Just by posting these signs at the entrance to the property, the owner creates a law for their own property.

The signs are sold online by sign companies.  The signs have to be exactly as stated in the law, with no additional wording or graphics.  If you look, you will see these signs all over Illinois on the doors to restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, stores, laundries, and other places open to the public.

Let's look at an example.  Back in 2017, Stephen Paddock brought many guns into his hotel suite on a high floor in a  Las Vegas, Nevada, casino hotel. Paddock loaded up his cache of automated weapons and ammunition onto luggage carts and wheeled it into the freight elevator and brought it up to his room.  He returned to his home several times to bring more guns and ammo back to the hotel.  He used those guns to shoot and kill many people who were at a county music concert down below outside in view of his hotel windows.  

It has been reported that in the year before that massacre, Paddock had booked a hotel room in Chicago, Illinois, overlooking the site of Lollapalooza, a big music festival.  Paddock never showed up at his reserved rooms in Chicago.  This Illinois law that allows hotel owners to prohibit guns may be the reason Paddock never showed up.

What is the difference between Las Vegas and Chicago?  Most Chicago hotels do not allow firearms.   The hotels post the little signs, thus making it illegal to bring a gun to the hotel.  The hotels also post the firearms policy on their websites.  Below is the policy as stated by the hotel that Paddock had booked overlooking Lollapalooza.  It is from the Chicago Hilton on Michigan Avenue.  The policy states: "FIREARMS POLICY Carrying a weapon on these premises is prohibited and violators may be subject to arrest for trespass under applicable law."  

At most hotels in Illinois where it is illegal to bring in a firearm, if the person has a concealed carry permit, it is usually legal for them to leave the firearm locked in a case in their locked car in the parking lot.  You can ask any hotel what their policy is regarding the parking lot.  Most downtown Chicago hotels charge a high daily parking lot fee, usually around $50 per day.

If you want to buy some of the No Gun signs, you can find them for sale online at several places, including this site: Compliance Signs   You will notice the signs are $5 apiece at this time, with bulk discounts. They do appear to meet the legal requirements.  By googling, you can find other sites selling the signs.  if you are a property owner in Illinois and want to make it illegal for anyone to bring in a gun, get some of the signs and put them on your entry doors.  The signs are sold as decals, so all you need is a clean door and you can have the sign up in a few minutes.