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Any Prohibition of Open Carry in Polling Places, Rural Areas?

junglebob

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
361
Location
Southern Illinois, Illinois, USA
imported post

I was serving as an election judge this week and got to wondering is there any prohibition on open carrying in polling places in rural unincorporated areas of Illinois? I realize that often polling places are at schools but I have also been at churches and businesses outside city limits that were used as polling places. I realize it would be awkward if you were driving there since you can't open carry in a vehicle.
 

junglebob

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
361
Location
Southern Illinois, Illinois, USA
imported post

If you go to the maps section here at opencarry.org and click on open carry and then on Illinois when it comes up, you will read- Open carry is generally prohibited except in unincorporated areas where the county has not made open carry illegal.In addition open carry is prohibited in a vehicle even in an unincorporated area.

Open carry is not common even in rural areas of Illinois. I do excercise my right to open carry when walking my dog down our rural road.
 

zrukman

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
66
Location
Richmond, Kentucky, USA
imported post

junglebob wrote:
If you go to the maps section here at opencarry.org and click on open carry and then on Illinois when it comes up, you will read- Open carry is generally prohibited except in unincorporated areas where the county has not made open carry illegal.In addition open carry is prohibited in a vehicle even in an unincorporated area.

Open carry is not common even in rural areas of Illinois. I do excercise my right to open carry when walking my dog down our rural road.
Has anyone seen or commented on your open carry walking down the road?
 

lockman

State Researcher
Joined
Aug 19, 2006
Messages
1,193
Location
Elgin, Illinois, USA
imported post

No. - Except if the polling place is a school, church with a school or government building. Which covers about 99% of polling places.
 

junglebob

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
361
Location
Southern Illinois, Illinois, USA
imported post

Well the other day me and my wife walked by a neighbor walking the other way on our road. We greeted each other, don't know if she saw my handgun. We live about a mile from the Shawnee National Forest,very rural, on a dead end road with 3 other neighbors. I do sometimes walk on the "main road" a little, but it is a township road, so neither gets a lot of traffic. I did have occasion to walk over to a next door neighbor while open carrying one day, did he notice? I don't know but he is a gun owner as well.

Lockman may be close to right about the percentage of polling places that are churches, schools, or government buildings. In my precinct the polling place has been at a house, government building, school, pole barn anda childrens home. I'll have to check what some of the polling places are here in the rural areas of my county and see if there are any which would be open carry eligible.
 
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