In Illinois this week, Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an immediate ban on the sale of assault weapons, with accompanying restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines and devices that can make firearms function as automatic weapons. With the relevantly defining specifications in place, selling both is now also banned in Illinois.
Pritzker, who was re-elected in the 2022 midterms, signed the measure on Tuesday, the same day that the state House passed a final version of the legislation. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the ban on high-capacity magazines covers those carrying more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 for handguns. Those who already own the firearms it’s now illegal to sell will be permitted to hold onto the weapons, as long as they register them with police. The Illinois governor tied the legislative effort to those who have been hurt and killed in mass shootings, which often involve an attacker using the exact kind of weaponry targeted by this ban.
“We got this done for all the victims, children, parents, friends and loved ones who are no longer with us,” Pritzker said. “And for those who have survived mass shootings, but were injured. Today we honor them, their trauma and their loss by preventing others from becoming victims.” He also referenced a series of victims by name. Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering, whose city saw a mass shooting at last year’s local Fourth of July parade, pushed for further action at the federal level.
The newly signed initiative will include eventual exemptions for the use of high-capacity magazines, including on what the Sun-Times said would include private property. A previous version of the bill would have raised the minimum age for a required identification card for a firearm owner in Illinois to 21. The version of the legislation eventually made law this week also expands the length of time available for restrictions on certain individuals purchasing a gun. Under a years-old law, that length of time available via court approval after petition from relatives or police was six months. Now, it’s a year.
Weapons conventionally defined as assault weapons include what the attacker at a Texas elementary school used in a 2022 incident. The teenager who carried out that assault legally obtained a rifle used in the devastating attack, making it impossible to take Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz seriously who might argue that changing the legal framework around these weapons wouldn’t even be a reasonable option for preventing something like that attack. The Highland Park shooter also legally obtained access to firearms. Over half a dozen other states already have bans on assault weapons in place, although Republicans predictably prove still resistant. Texas Governor Greg Abbott resisted even calling a special state legislative session to deal with gun policy after last year’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde. President Joe Biden has already expressed support for a new federal ban on assault weapons.
