* From a Sun-Times editorial…

Houses of worship don’t just accommodate religious gatherings. They also are places where deeply troubled people come to get help. If for no other reason than that, they should be off limits to guns.

Unfortunately, a state law rushed through in the closing days of the spring legislative session that allows the concealed carrying of guns also makes it legal to bring those firearms into places of worship. That’s an alarming prospect that needs to be rectified as quickly as possible.

State Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) has introduced a legislative amendment that would bar concealed firearms from any building or parking area under the control of a church, synagogue, temple, mosque or other place of worship.

At a press conference on Monday, Philip L. Blackwell, senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, pointed out that religious workers deal daily with people who are desperate, upset, despairing or on the very of edge a breakdown when they come in for help. Allowing loaded concealed weapons into that environment puts the lives of the staff at risk. Why shouldn’t those workers get the same protection as, say, casino employees, who are safeguarded under the new law? […]

Rev. Liz Munoz, an associate priest at St. James Cathedral, said concealed weapons undermine the very idea of a place of worship, especially in a neighborhood plagued by gunfire such as Little Village, where she lives.

“In these communities, we need a place where people know they can come in and be cared for and loved, and not worried about who is carrying a concealed weapon,” Munoz said.

Those are all decent points. However, there’s a very serious problem with that side of the argument.

* One of the cases used by the 7th Circuit to toss out Illinois’ public carry ban was Shepard v. Madigan.

The case specifically involved an elderly woman who was volunteering at a church when she was assaulted…

…when Mrs. Shepard was working at her church on September 28,2009, she was unarmed. While peaceably performing her duties as treasurer of the church, her life was changed forever when she became the victim of a heinous and unconscionable criminal assault and battery.

Despite her being licensed in two states to do so, Mrs. Shepard was not carrying a handgun on her person, and therefore was unable to defend herself, when she was viciously attacked and brutalized at the hands of a six foot-three-inch 245 pound man with a violent past and a criminal record.

Mrs. Shepard would have been carrying a handgun at the time of this heinous attack had the aforementioned Illinois statutes not prevented her from doing so.

The disturbing post-attack photo…

So, banning carry in a church likely would’ve set off another round of court battles. And since Shepard’s case was used in the 7th Circuit’s decision, a church carry ban would’ve probably been a real problem for the new law.

…Adding… Churches are, of course, allowed to ban carrying on their property, unless they don’t own the property, which was also an objection raised in the editorial.

* Meanwhile, AG Madigan has filed a new motion…

Under the law passed last week, Illinois State Police have about six months to set up a concealed-carry program before accepting applications. Police then have 90 days to process the forms.

Gun-rights advocate Mary Shepard and the Illinois State Rifle Association say that’s unconstitutionally too long and want an East St. Louis U.S. District Judge to allow immediate concealed carry.

But Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office argued in a filing Thursday that Shepard needs to file a new complaint spelling out why the law’s time allowances are unreasonable.

*** UPDATE *** Shepard has responded to the Madigan filing. Click here to read it.