- Senate Bill 8 requires gun owners to keep their weapons secured and inaccessible to minors, people at risk of harming themselves or others, and people prohibited from possessing firearms. Violations can result in civil fines.
- House Bill 1327 requires law enforcement agencies to use a federal data system to trace the ownership of weapons they recover from crime scenes or take into custody because they are believed to have been used for illegal purposes.
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While Illinois has been enacting stricter gun control measures, federal courts have taken a more restrictive view of gun control laws. The 7
th
Circuit Court of Appeals is considering a challenge to Illinois 2023 assault weapons ban. Oral arguments in that case will be scheduled soon.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a new law on Monday that will soon compel gun owners to take extra precautions to keep their firearms out of the hands of youngsters.
Furthermore, any firearm found at a crime scene, used illegally, or thought to be connected to a crime must now be traced back to its owner by state law enforcement.
At a time when federal courts are becoming less supportive of state and local initiatives to reduce gun violence, Pritzker signed those laws into law. Arguments in a challenge to Illinois’ most important recent gun control measure—a ban on assault-style weapons and magazines with a big capacity—are set to be heard by a federal court of appeals.
During a bill signing ceremony in Chicago, Pritzker stated, “I’m honestly tired of treating something that is totally preventable as inevitable.” Too many politicians are ducking and covering for the money of the gun industry, and I’m sick of making our kids do it. I’m fed up with hearing prayers and thoughts, but nothing ever happens.
Safe storage requirement
The Safe Gun Storage Act, Senate Bill 8, forbids gun owners from keeping their weapons in an unguarded location where they know or should reasonably know that a minor, someone who poses a risk of harming themselves or others, or someone who is prohibited from possessing a firearm by state or federal law could obtain them.
Under the law, owners must keep their weapons in a locked container that only they can access or use. This is how they secure their weapons.
A $500 civil penalties might be imposed on gun owners who break the law. However, if a youngster, at-risk individual, or someone who is forbidden obtains a firearm, the fines might reach $1,000. If that person uses the firearm to murder or harm someone while committing a crime, the fine could reach $10,000.
Courts might alternatively mandate community work or restitution for the gun owner’s violation in place of such fines. Additionally, the new rule stipulates that gun owners may face legal culpability in private litigation.
However, the legislation also stipulates that if a youngster, someone who is at risk, or someone who is barred from possessing a handgun enters the property illegally, the owner will not be found in violation of the law.
Along with the new storage regulations, SB 8 mandates that gun owners notify law authorities of any lost or stolen firearms within 48 hours of finding, instead of the prior 72-hour period.
Guns are now the top cause of mortality for children under the age of 18, surpassing both motor vehicles and cancer, according to recent statistics cited by the bill’s supporters.
Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, the bill’s primary Senate backer, said in a statement that we have seen the terrible results of unlocked firearms in homes for far too long. Unaccounted for and unsecured firearms can endanger people who shouldn’t have access to them. By keeping their firearms safely secured and out of the reach of others, gun owners can contribute to the reduction of gun-related incidents.
The bill was approved by the House 69-40 and the Senate 33-19.
The law goes into force on January 1.
Firearm tracing
A bill that requires law enforcement to track down the owner of any firearm found at a crime scene or seized because it was unlawfully held, used for illegal purposes, or reasonably suspected of being used in a crime was also signed by Pritzker on Monday.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s initiative, House Bill 1373, mandates that agencies use the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ eTrace web-based system to verify those firearms.
Participation in the eTrace system was optional prior to the new law.
We now know that about half of shootings in the country go unsolved. Sen. Bill Cunningham, a Democrat from Chicago and the bill’s primary Senate backer, stated that only roughly one-third do so in the city of Chicago. We also know that the same firearm is frequently used repeatedly in numerous shootings and homicides. We have to take action on that. This measure accomplishes that. It makes sure that whenever a law enforcement agency finds a gun at the site of a crime, they submit all the facts they know about it.
The law was approved by the Senate 43-11 and the House 75-40. It goes into action right away.
Legal landscape
Pritzker has enacted a number of laws that place more limitations on the sale, ownership, and possession of weapons since assuming office in 2019. The most important of these was the Protect Illinois Communities Act of 2023, which prohibited assault-style guns and large capacity magazines.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court has since embraced a broader interpretation of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear weapons and established new legal requirements that make it more challenging for local and state gun control laws to be upheld by the Constitution.
Most recently, a California legislation requiring background checks for ammunition purchases was declared unlawful by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday, July 24. Less than a year before Illinois enacted its assault weapons prohibition, the Supreme Court set a criteria for firearms control in 2022, which the court determined was not met by the statute.
Similar reasoning is being used by gun rights groups to contest the Illinois bill.
Using the same historical tradition analysis, a federal judge in East St. Louis invalidated the Illinois law in November. However, his decision has been postponed while the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago considers an appeal.
The attorney general’s office would then have until August 14 to submit its final brief. Oral arguments will then be scheduled by a three-judge panel. Regardless of the court’s decision, analysts anticipate that the statute will ultimately be challenged before the Supreme Court.
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