Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act banning the sale and distribution of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and switches in Illinois, effective immediately.
Illinois has now become the ninth state across America to pass an assault weapons ban and take bold action to keep weapons of war off America’s streets.
“For the past four years, my administration and my colleagues in the State Capitol have been battling the powerful forces of the NRA to enshrine the strongest and most effective gun violence legislation that we possibly can,” said Gov. JB Pritzker. “I couldn’t be prouder to say that we got it done. And we will keep fighting — bill by bill, vote by vote, and protest by protest — to ensure that future generations only hear about massacres like Highland Park, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde in their textbooks.”
The “Protect Illinois Communities Act” bans the manufacture, purchase and sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, as well as large-capacity magazines and .50-caliber rifles.
The law bans semi-automatic guns defined as “assault weapons” that have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or may be readily modified to accept a detachable magazine and have one or more of:
- A pistol grip or thumbhole stock
- Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand
- A folding, telescoping, thumbhole or detachable stock, or a stock that is otherwise foldable or adjustable in a manner that operates to reduce the length, size or any other dimension, or otherwise enhances the concealability of the weapon
- A flash suppressor
- Grenade launcher
- A shroud attached to the barrel or that partially or completely encircles the barrel, allowing the bearer to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned, but excluding a slide that encloses the barrel.
- A semiautomatic rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire
The text of the law is extensive and includes more details on the weapons it bans.
You can read the full legislation online.
Those who already own these will be allowed to keep them, but must register their guns with Illinois State Police by Jan. 1, 2024.
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