Hundreds of gun-rights advocates marched through pouring rain to the Capitol Wednesday to lobby for improvements in Illinois' concealed carry law.

As part of the 10th annual Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day, or IGOLD, the group gathered at the Prairie Capital Convention Center before marching to the Capitol to meet with their local legislators.

“The most important thing is to keep the concealed carry laws we have and to expand in a positive way to keep criminals prosecuted and citizens safe,” said Georgina Slowinski of Lakeview, who helped organize public transportation for advocates from the Chicago area. “I’m lucky to live in a country and a state where our leadership may not agree, but we can speak our minds to keep our families safe and citizens secure.”

Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said that the lobbyists he spoke with didn’t push any specific change for the concealed carry law, which was passed three years ago and given limited tweaks last year, but advocated to keep fighting for gun rights. Illinois was the last state in the nation to pass a concealed carry law.

“(Supporters) always want to talk about being vigilant for Second Amendment rights and keeping an eye on legislation they think may infringe upon Second Amendment rights,” Butler said.

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said in a statement that interest in firearms across the nation is skyrocketing.

“Here in Illinois, first-time FOID card applications are being filed at a record pace, and the monthly tallies of firearm purchase background checks are setting records of their own,” Pearson said.

Illinois State Police data shows that 17,795 FOID card applications were received in March, which is up from the 15,808 received in March 2015, but it is unclear how many of these were first-time applications.

Several of the gun-rights advocates said they'd be open to proposed expansions of concealed carry regarding where a person is able to carry a firearm. Pending legislation would expand such areas to include public transportation, highway rest areas and public parks or athletic areas under the control of a municipality.

Supporting lawmakers from both parties spoke at a rally in the Capitol rotunda.

Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, who sponsored the original concealed carry bill, said the battle over concealed carry law is not over, and it is the legislature’s job to educate the public on gun rights.

“I don’t know if this fight will ever go away," said Sue Scherer, D-Decatur. “It should just be a God-given right. You shouldn’t have to come and fight for rights that should be inalienable.”

Rep. Avery Bourne, R-Raymond, said that concealed carry is a women’s issue, too.

“Female gun ownership has gone up 77 percent since 2005, and I’m one of them,” Bourne said.

Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said that while the process of trying to pass an ideal concealed carry bill can be demoralizing, hearing from an inspired public is uplifting.

“(Legislators) get more down by the notion that politics is just this endless ping-pong game that goes back and forth, and we don’t get anything done, and that politics and elections are controlled by nothing other than money and therefore policies are only controlled by people who live in the wealthiest communities and have the biggest checkbooks,” Righter said.

“(Advocates) have demonstrated something different for us, and that is when people care about an issue and a constitutional right, they can come to their leaders and they can make a huge change in public policy.”

— Contact Drew Zimmerman: drew.zimmerman@sj-r.com, 782-3095, twitter.com/DZimmerman_sjr.