Tourist with gun arrested at Sears Tower
chicagotribune.com
A Tennessee woman was arrested at the Sears Tower this morning after she tried to visit the Skydeck with a loaded revolver in her purse, police said.
The woman, 56, was stopped by security after she went through a metal detector with a .38-caliber revolver in her purse, said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond.
Tennessee allows its citizens to carry a handgun as long as they have a permit, and the woman was unaware that she wasn't allowed to carry a handgun in the state of Illinois, Bond said.
"It didn't dawn on her that our state did not have the same gun laws as hers did," Bond said.
The woman, who was traveling with her husband, had a state permit from Tennessee to carry the weapon, Bond said. Both Illinois and Chicago have laws prohibiting the carrying of a concealed weapon.
Police are recommending that she be charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony, Bond said.
There was no interruption of service for other Skydeck tourists and no one in the building was at risk, Bond said.
"There was never any danger to the occupants," Bond said.
About 1.3 million tourists visit the Skydeck each year.
