Illinois lawmakers Tuesday rejected Governor Pat Quinn's veto of concealed-carry legislation. As IPR’s Brian Mackey reports, it makes Illinois the last state to let people carry guns in public.
Quinn says the concealed-carry law does not have enough safeguards. Lawmakers say the governor's ideas were already negotiated out of the final legislation. The House and Senate easily overrode his veto. Rep. Dennis Reboletti, a Republican from Elmhurst, criticized Quinn's tactics.
"Just because the governor's been on a reelection tour for his primary ... doesn't mean we need to change the bargain that all of the caucuses agreed upon ... by the end of May."
Quinn, a Democrat, denies a political motive, even as potential primary challenger Bill Daley was outside the Capitol criticizing Quinn's handling of concealed carry.
At the end of the day, Quinn was denied even a limited victory: The Senate passed a separate piece of legislation incorporating just a few of the governor's proposed changes, but it was soundly defeated in the Illinois House.