The Stop Concealed Carry Coalition of Illinois released the following statement on Tuesday in response to the Federal Appellate Court decision to strike down Illinois’ concealed carry ban:

“As the dissenting opinion points out, the two judges who threw out Illinois’ law did not take account of the danger to the public from stray bullets, and they ignored the Illinois legislature’s determination that carrying weapons has been shown to escalate violence,” said Lee Goodman, an organizer with the Stop Concealed Carry Coalition. “The decision, contrary to fundamental legal principles, took away the people’s right, through their state legislatures, to make laws to protect themselves that are relevant to the conditions present in each state.”

“The two judges who struck down Illinois’ law accepted without proof the NRA’s argument that guns in public places protect people, and ignored the fact that guns tend to create a greater danger than exists when guns are not present,” Goodman continued. “The same judges who just set guns loose on Chicago’s streets sit in offices and courtrooms that are protected by federal security guards and metal detectors. No guns are allowed in their building. Isn’t it pretty obvious that they know that guns are dangerous?”

The coalition asks Attorney General Lisa Madigan to appeal the split decision of the three-judge panel to the U.S. Supreme Court. For more information, go to www.StopConcealedCarry.org.