Governor Pritzker signed the “Protect Illinois Communities Act,” which state Rep. Bob Morgan planned over the summer in conjunction with major anti-gun groups.
The National Rifle Association and other Second Amendment advocates say the legislation bans many commonly-owned rifles and goes beyond previous attempts to outlaw certain firearms.
“Not only does this tyrannical proposition infringe on the rights of all Illinois citizens, but it is also extremely dangerous,” Gun Owners of America said in a call to action opposing the bill.
Gun owners who lawfully purchase affected weapons and magazines will be forced to restrict their use to a select few limited applications or face criminal penalties for continuing to possess them.
Republican lawmakers opposed the ban voiced concern over the legality of categorically outlawing whole classes of firearms and ammunition.
Awesome, these guys must be on their way to turn them in!https://t.co/A6m5LgmrQ4
— John Seper (@midwestsep) January 11, 2023
The bill’s final version extends the deadline for compliance to Jan. 1, 2024, instead of 180 days after the governor signs the bill into law, as the House had proposed. Guns can be grandfathered if registered with the government.
The Senate had its own version of the bill deceptively labeled “Amusement Ride Safety.” They amended a current bill.
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The biggest problems with the bill:
- It bans the ownership and use of firearms by American residents who are 18, 19, and 20 years old.
- It bans the sale of dozens of commonly owned firearms and requires registration of those firearms currently owned in Illinois.
- It bans the future sales of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
- It gives the State’s Attorney standing to file Firearms Restraining Orders (Red Flag Law). Such authority now only exists for a police officer and family members, and extends the duration of the ban on the individual exercise of the right to keep and bear arms from six months to a year.
Merchants, who are federally licensed to sell such weapons, would be able to dispose of their current inventory by returning them to manufacturers or selling them.
It will destroy businesses.
IT’S DEVASTATING
The owner of a New Lenox store, Kee Firearms and Training owner Jeff Regnier called it “devastating.”
“We were actually busy because people were trying to purchase products before anybody voted or signed the law,” Regnier said. “It was a hurry up and buy anything that was currently legal in Illinois until the governor signed the law.”
But when the store opened Wednesday, Regnier said he stopped the sale of so-called military-style firearms and accessories as he waits for clarification on how to move forward with sales of those products.
“When we wake up in the morning, we have a legal business. By the time we go to bed, we have inventory that’s no good to anybody and we can’t sell,” Regnier said.
On Wednesday, Regnier estimated his store had an inventory of 3,700 firearms and 3,000 of them are banned under the new law. Regnier said he’s unsure what to do with the inventory.
“It’s devastating. Once the bill got signed at 8 p.m. at night, you felt defeated,” Regnier said. “The governor of the state of Illinois has taken away the rights of the citizens of Illinois. He has also taken away the rights from the businesses that sell these things in a pen stroke.”
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
LaSalle County Sheriff Adam C. Diss and Knox County Sheriff Jack C. Harlan, Jr. announced that they do not plan to enforce the newly enacted assault weapons ban, according to identical letters released Wednesday.
The Protect Illinois Communities Act was passed through the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker this week. It halts the sale of so-called assault weapons in the state of Illinois and requires owners of such weapons to register them with local law enforcement.
Gov. JB Pritzker said in his bill-signing press conference that all Illinoisans will be required to follow the law and that there will be no option for non-compliance.
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