Illinois AG seeks new hearing on concealed carry

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Credit John D. Rockefeller IV

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is trying to salvage the state's ban on concealed carry.

Madigan said Tuesday that she's filed a petition asking that all 15 judges on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals review a lawsuit challenging the ban.

Last month, a three-judge panel struck down the ban on carrying concealed weapons in Illinois — the only remaining state where doing so is entirely illegal. They gave lawmakers 180 days to write a law legalizing it.

The judges said the ban was unconstitutional and suggested that legalizing concealed carry is long overdue. Gun advocates had vowed to challenge the ban on every front.

Madigan says the court's decision "goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court has held" and conflicts with decisions by two other federal appellate courts.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.