The Illinois transit carry ban just got a lease on life from SCOTUS — not because the Court ruled in favor of it, but because they didn't say anything at all.

"Law-abiding public transportation riders in Illinois are less safe as a result of the law."

Hard to argue with that. If you carry because you've thought through your personal defense situation, being told to disarm the moment you step onto a bus is exactly the kind of gap that gets people killed — and the permit holders who brought this case understood that.

The piece worth watching here isn't the Illinois outcome specifically — it's how courts are reading Bruen's "sensitive places" language. The district court said no historical analogue, no ban. The Seventh Circuit said crowded public spaces have always been treated differently. Both of those readings come from the same 2022 ruling, and that split is still unresolved at the federal level.

Idaho's clean right now — no transit restrictions, nothing moving through the legislature. But if the "crowded public space" reasoning keeps gaining traction in other circuits, that's not an argument that stays in Cook County. It's the kind of legal theory that travels.

SCOTUS declining cert here doesn't close the door — it just means this wasn't the case they wanted to use to clarify it. The right vehicle will eventually show up.

For those of you who carry daily: have you ever found yourself in a situation — Idaho or out of state — where you had to decide whether a space was legally off-limits and weren't sure of the answer?

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett