One month in, 0.1% of Illinois gun owner ID holders have registered banned firearms

[November 01, 2023]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A full month into Illinois’ gun ban registry and about 2,400 individuals have disclosed they own at least one banned firearm, attachment or some prohibited ammunition. Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly says it’s “been slow, but steady.”

For the registry that opened Oct. 1, Illinois State Police report 2,430 individuals disclosed possessing nearly 4,600 banned firearms, around 2,400 banned attachments and 44 disclosures of possessing banned .50 caliber ammunition.

With more than 2.4 million Firearm Owners ID card holders, that makes just one-tenth of a percent of FOID card holders registering banned arms.

At an unrelated news conference Tuesday in Springfield, Kelly reacted to the rate of registration with just two months before the Jan. 1 deadline, or criminal penalties could apply.

“It’s been slow but steady,” Kelly said. “I have no predictions one way or the other about the pace of that and we’ll just see how the process continues to work and we’ll share the data as we continue on a daily basis to do so.”

He also said more information will be shared with the public during hearings over the next week.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly during a news conference in Springfield Tuesday
BlueRoomStream

“By law and by request of [the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules] when we do that administrative rulemaking process, to provide input,” Kelly said. “Well see who shows up and we’ll see what the public feedback they wish to provide about that administrative rule process.”

ISP will be holding three public hearings about the law over the next week.

The first will at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Springfield at the state capitol complex. People wanting to speak publicly at the hearing must register by 12:30 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 1) by emailing [e-mail].

The second hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. Friday in Chicago with a third hearing being Monday morning in Caseyville, Illinois. Details about the hearings can be found on the ISP website.

If someone is found not complying with the registry by Jan. 1, 2024, they could face a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class 3 felony for subsequent offenses. Gun rights groups argue the law is too vague to comply with. Constitutional challenges to the law are pending in several federal jurisdictions.