The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled on December 11, 2012, in the consolidated case of
Moore, et al. & Shepard, et al. v. Madigan, Nos. 12-1269, 12-1788, that Illinois' total ban on carrying firearms for self-defense outside the home or business was unconstitutional. On February 22, 2013, the Court, sitting
en banc, denied the State of Illinois’ petition to rehear the case.
For those who may wish to read the Court's opinion of December 11, 2012, it can be found at the following link:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=530634405584723178&q=moore+v.+madigan&hl=en&as_sdt=2,43&as_vis=1Last Wednesday, March 13, 2013, it was reported that the Governor of Illinois wanted to take the case on to the U. S. Supreme Court but his political rival, the State's Attorney General, prefers to wait to see whether the legislature can craft a new law this spring allowing the concealed carry of weapons in accordance with the Seventh Circuit's opinion.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Ill-gov-wants-appeal-of-concealed-carry-ruling-4351464.php#ixzz2NuHbjK9FPolitics are at work. As the late R. J. Hedley used to say, "Watch this space" for further developments.
[Edit: Corrected spacing error.]