More of you are registering for a firearm owner’s ID card.  There were more than 78,000 FOID card registrations in 2011. The total number of Illinois card carriers is roughly one and a half million. State Representative Brandon Phelps a long-time proponent of concealed carry legislation, says this shows Illinois residents want same rights as everyone else in the country.
 “I think you’re seeing a lot of people that are more or less breaking into places, and I think people just want to be able to protect themselves and their families,” says Phelps. “I’m going to talk to the state police to find out where the biggest increases were.”
"Every other state has (concealed carry), what's wrong with us having.  A lot of people say there's guns on the streets, we need to take the guns away.  Yeah, there's guns on the street, and the ones that have them are the bad guys."
FOID cards are required for gun ownership and would be required to get a concealed carry permit.  Phelps proposed a concealed carry measure that came up just six votes shy last spring and was pulled before the vote could be recorded. He says he’ll likely call it again in March or April.