ROCKFORD — A gun charge against a Rock Valley College student for carrying a semi-automatic pistol in a holster while shopping at CherryVale Mall was dismissed Monday.
Judge Steven Vecchio of the 17th Circuit Court of Winnebago and Boone counties dismissed the felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon charge against Shaun Kranish after Kranish’s attorney argued his client wasn’t breaking the law.
Kranish, 22, was arrested in May 2006 for carrying the unloaded gun at the mall in what has been described as an enclosed holster, meaning the gun is not exposed. Kranish had the ammunition for the gun in a separate compartment on the holster, which was strapped to his right thigh.
Illinois law stipulates it is illegal to carry or possess a firearm in public, but they can be transported if the weapons are broken down in a nonfunctioning state; are not immediately accessible; or are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm-carrying box, shipping box or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid firearm owner’s identification card.
Kranish’s attorney, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, argued in his motion to dismiss that his client’s holster constituted a case.
“The defense believes that if the case encloses the weapon then it’s not a violation of the law,” said Winnebago County State’s Attorney Paul Logli, whose office prosecuted the weapons charge. “They argued that carrying it on his person qualifies as a case, and he can carry it. We disagree. We don’t believe a fanny pack is an exception to the weapons statute.”
Logli said his office has 30 days to file a notice of appeal.
“We believe we have sufficient grounds for appeal,” he said. “Hopefully the appellate court can make some law on this.”
Gun rights advocates across the state are viewing the case’s dismissal as a major victory, paving the way for fewer gun restrictions for law-abiding gun owners.
“Shaun made huge progress with this case,” said John Birch, the nearly 10-year president of Concealed Carry Inc. “Sometimes we can’t make progress legislatively, but we can in the judicial system.”
Birch, of Oak Brook, said he hopes law enforcement officials take note of the case’s outcome.
“I hope the state’s attorneys and sheriffs of this state will educate everybody and their own people on the proper and legal methods of transporting weapons so they stop prosecuting innocent people,” Birch said.
Kranish, of Rockford, is the founder of the Web-based organization ICarry.org.
He also was arrested in October 2005 and charged with disorderly conduct after wearing an empty holster into the Rock Valley College president’s office. He said he wanted to make an appointment with the president to speak about gun rights and was directed to campus police. A secretary told police that she couldn’t tell if the holster was empty or not and called campus police to alert them that someone might be on campus with a gun.
That charge was dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Kranish, who also could not be reached for comment, has a $1.5 million civil rights lawsuit in federal court as a result of that arrest alleging he was wrongfully arrested and his right of free speech among other rights was violated.
A misdemeanor charge of resisting a police officer from the mall incident remains pending, as well.
