The Illinois State Police (ISP) is hosting a public hearing concerning the registration of firearms in the Metro East on Monday, November 6, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. at the Caseyville Community Center Village Hall, 909 South Main Street in Caseyville.
The State Police scheduled three public hearings this month on permanent rules to continue to move forward on the implementation of the Protect Illinois Communities Act.
The Protect Illinois Communities Act created a category of firearms, called “assault weapons” and “assault weapons attachments.” The Democrats picked a list of firearms that they deem unsafe to be “assault weapons.” The Act was signed into law in January 2023 by Governor Pritzker and regulates the possession, sale and transfer of “assault weapons,” “assault weapon” attachments, high-capacity magazines, and switches in Illinois. Citizens who possessed the firearms devices listed in this Act before it took effect are required to submit an endorsement affidavit through their Firearm Owner’s Identification Card account.
In September, ISP published emergency rules explaining how citizens could register their banned firearms and attachments. The online registration process started October 1, and in the first three weeks of the process, less than one-tenth of one percent of the state’s FOID card holders had registered their semi-automatic firearms that are now banned by state law.
There have been a number of concerns raised that the rules are vague and hard to understand. Citizens have also said it is not clear what types of firearms and ammunition are covered by the rules, and which ones are not. A list of the banned items can be found here. However, concerned parties have criticized this list for being vague and incomplete. Based on incompatibilities between this list and the text of the law that it purports to implement, an Illinois gun owner can refrain from registering a legal weapon in good faith, only to find the weapon subject to future confiscation based up on the weapon’s nonappearance on the enumerated list of weapons.
For more information about the hearings click here.