In Illinois, gun owners are proving reluctant to register their assault-style weapons as mandated by state law, with only a fraction complying ahead of the imposed deadline, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. According to Illinois State Police data referenced by the Sun-Times, a mere 1% of the state's FOID cardholders logged details of their now-restricted firearms by Dec. 31, with only 29,000 individuals reporting close to 69,000 weapons out of an estimated 2.5 million cardholders.
In light of the new law, which kicked in a year ago following the tragic Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park, some owners, including Roger Krahl of RGuns, haven't registered a single firearm, he admitted to the Sun-Times, owning "at least one" firearm now falling under the state's definition of an assault weapon and questioning the law's constitutional validity. The Rockford area's WTVO noted that the Protect Illinois Communities Act, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in response to the parade massacre, aims to ban the sale of semiautomatic rifles, shotguns, and pistols deemed assault weapons, with certain exceptions for law enforcement and military personnel.
Illinois State Police told the Sun-Times that the online portal for firearm registration remains open beyond the deadline; however, guidelines for late registration are vague and enforcement is likely to vary by jurisdiction, placing gun owners in a precarious situation should they register after the deadline, facing potential legal repercussions, as noted by Robert Bevis, owner of Naperville’s Law Weapons and Supply.
Some gun enthusiasts openly express a lack of concern about penalties for noncompliance in online forums despite the threat of felony charges for failure to register, the risk is perceived as minimal, especially in counties where sheriffs have declared a refusal to enforce the ban. WTVO highlighted that registration could only be completed through the owner's FOID card account on the state police website, with a status hearing for a lawsuit challenging the ban's constitutionality scheduled for later this month.
