Illinois Firearm Concealed Carry Act: Eligibility and Training

To get an Illinois concealed carry license, you must be at least 21, hold a valid Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card, complete 16 hours of state-approved firearms training, pass a background check, and pay a $150 fee if you live in Illinois or $300 if you don’t. The license is issued by the Illinois State Police under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, is valid for five years, and does not let you carry everywhere. Carrying a hidden handgun in public without this license is a Class 4 felony, so the Illinois concealed carry license requirements are worth getting right the first time.

Who Can Apply

You must be 21 or older and already hold a valid FOID card issued by the Illinois State Police. The FOID card has its own background check and must be active before you begin the concealed carry application.¹

Several convictions disqualify you. You cannot have a felony on your record, a misdemeanor involving the threat or use of physical force or violence within the past five years, or a misdemeanor domestic battery conviction at any point. The Illinois State Police also weighs whether an applicant is a danger to themselves or others, and any Illinois law enforcement agency can file an objection based on reasonable suspicion that you pose a safety threat. An objection sends the case to the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board.¹

If your application is denied, you’ll get written notice of the grounds and information about your right to administrative and judicial review.²

Training You Must Complete

First-time applicants have to finish 16 hours of concealed carry firearms training taught by an Illinois State Police-approved instructor. The curriculum covers firearm safety, the legal use of force, and Illinois-specific concealed carry law. It ends with a live-fire exercise where you must demonstrate that you can handle a firearm safely and accurately.¹

Course prices vary. Based on national data for comparable multi-hour courses, expect roughly $80 to $350 for the class itself, and possibly extra for range time and ammunition. Whichever instructor you choose, confirm they’re on the Illinois State Police approved list.

Applying and Paying

You submit the application through the Illinois State Police with proof of completed training, your FOID card number, and a head-and-shoulders photograph. The fee is $150 for Illinois residents and $300 for non-residents, paid by credit card or electronic check.¹

Electronic fingerprints are optional but change the timeline. With prints, the Illinois State Police must process the application within 90 days. Without prints, that window stretches to 120 days. If a law enforcement agency objects and the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board takes the case, the 90-day clock pauses until the Board rules.¹

Fingerprinting is a separate cost. You visit a Live Scan vendor and tell them the prints are for a concealed carry application. Live Scan fees typically run $10 to $90 depending on the vendor.

One boundary worth naming: neither the Illinois concealed carry license nor the FOID card exempts you from the federal NICS background check when you buy a firearm from a licensed dealer. In some states, a carry permit satisfies that check; in Illinois it does not.³

Where a License Doesn’t Let You Carry

Even with a valid license, the Firearm Concealed Carry Act bans concealed firearms in more than 20 categories of places. Among the most common:

Public or private preschools, elementary and secondary schools, and child care facilities, including their parking areas
Buildings controlled by the executive or legislative branch, local government offices, and courthouses
Buses, trains, and any real property under a public transit agency’s control
Bars and restaurants where more than 50% of gross receipts over the prior three months came from alcohol
Hospitals, mental health facilities, and nursing homes
Public parks regulated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, though trails and bikeways are generally allowed while buildings and parking areas are not

The full list is longer.⁴

Private property owners can prohibit concealed firearms by posting the standardized 4-by-6-inch sign designed by the Illinois State Police at building entrances. Private residences don’t need signage; a homeowner can just tell you.

Federal law adds more restrictions. Firearms are barred from any building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work, including post offices, federal courthouses, Social Security offices, and VA facilities.⁵ In national parks, you can possess a firearm if you could legally carry under the law of the state the park sits in, but firearms remain prohibited inside federally owned buildings within the park, which must be posted.⁶

Storing Your Firearm in a Vehicle

Driving to a prohibited location doesn’t mean leaving the firearm at home. You may carry concealed in your vehicle into the parking area of most prohibited locations, and once there you can store the firearm in a case inside a locked vehicle or a locked container out of plain view.⁴

You can also briefly step out in the lot for the limited purpose of locking the firearm in your trunk or retrieving it. You still cannot carry onto the property itself. The parking-lot exception does not apply to nuclear facilities or a handful of other specially restricted sites listed in the statute.

What to Do During a Police Stop

Illinois does not require you to announce that you’re carrying without being asked. If an officer does ask, though, you must answer honestly and produce your concealed carry license. Under 430 ILCS 66/10(h), during an investigative stop, including a traffic stop, you must tell the officer you have a concealed firearm when asked, tell them where it is, and allow them to secure it for the duration of the stop.

Self-Defense Rules Still Apply

A concealed carry license doesn’t lower the legal bar for using force. Under 720 ILCS 5/7-1, force is justified when you reasonably believe it is necessary to defend yourself or someone else against imminent unlawful force. Deadly force is justified only when you reasonably believe it’s the only way to prevent imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony.⁷

Illinois is not a stand-your-ground state. Case law generally expects you to retreat from a confrontation if you can safely do so before using deadly force. The main exception is the castle doctrine at 720 ILCS 5/7-2: inside your home, you have no duty to retreat from someone unlawfully entering or attacking, and may use force including deadly force to stop them.

Self-defense is an affirmative defense. If you fire your weapon, you should expect to be investigated, and possibly charged, before a court evaluates whether your use of force was justified. The license won’t shield you from that process.

Penalties for Carrying Without a License

Carrying a concealed firearm in public without a valid concealed carry license is usually charged as aggravated unlawful use of a weapon under 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6, a Class 4 felony. A first offense carries one to three years in prison.⁸⁹

A second or subsequent conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon becomes a Class 2 felony, punishable by three to seven years. Carrying concealed while wearing body armor without a valid FOID escalates to a Class X felony, the most serious classification short of first-degree murder.⁸

A felony conviction also costs you your FOID card and your right to possess firearms.

Separately, the Illinois State Police can revoke a valid license if you’re later convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, become the subject of a protective order, or are determined to be a danger to yourself or others. Once revoked, you must surrender both the CCL and the FOID card; continuing to carry then triggers the same felony exposure as carrying with no license at all.²

On Your Own Property

You don’t need a concealed carry license to keep or carry a firearm inside your own home or on land you own, as long as you hold a valid FOID card. The license governs concealed carry in public and on other people’s property, not possession on your own.

Renewing the License

An Illinois concealed carry license is valid for five years. Renew before it expires. If it lapses, you lose the right to carry concealed and would have to start over with the full 16-hour course and a fresh application.¹

Renewal costs the same as the original application: $150 for residents, $300 for non-residents. In place of the full 16 hours, renewal requires a three-hour course covering recent changes to firearm laws, with a live-fire exercise. Renewing on time means three hours; letting the license expire means sixteen.

Carrying Out of State

Your Illinois license doesn’t automatically work elsewhere. Reciprocity depends on agreements between individual states, and Illinois has historically kept a limited list. Before you travel, check with the Illinois State Police and confirm with law enforcement in the state you’re visiting whether your license is honored. Carrying in a state that doesn’t recognize it is a crime under that state’s law.

If you’re only driving through a state that doesn’t recognize your license, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 926A) provides a narrow safe harbor. You can transport a firearm through that state if you can lawfully possess it in both your origin and destination states. The firearm must be unloaded and locked in a container that is not the glove compartment or center console, and ammunition must be stored separately. You have to be genuinely passing through, not stopping to spend the night or run errands.

1
Illinois State Police. Concealed Carry License
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 430 ILCS 66/10 – Issuance of License
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Brady Permit Chart
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 430 ILCS 66/65 – Prohibited Areas
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
6
National Park Service. Firearms Information
7
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/7-1 – Use of Force in Defense of Person
8
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6 – Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon
9
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-45 – Class 4 Felony