State files gun ban brief as continues debate over ‘safe gun storage’
bill
[May 08, 2025]
By Greg Bishop | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – As the debate continues over an Illinois measure
to require firearms to be stored in a safe, with a cable lock or
inoperable under certain circumstances, the state of Illinois is
responding to a ruling that the state’s gun and magazine ban is
unconstitutional.
Senate Bill 8 passed the Senate last month. In the House Gun Violence
Prevention Committee Wednesday, House sponsor state Rep. Maura
Hirschauer, D-Batavia, said the measure seeks to reduce harm.
“Safe storage can reduce unintentional injuries, suicides and
intentional harm like school shootings,” Hirschauer told the committee.
“About 75% of school shootings are done with firearms accessed at home.”
Josh Witkowski with Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources said the
safe storage element runs afoul of U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
“As applied, that firearms in the home be rendered and kept inoperable
at all times, this makes it impossible for citizens to use them for the
core lawful purpose of self defense,” Witkowski said.
Witkwoski said he does support a tax credit for people who purchase gun
safes.
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SB 8 also decreases the amount of time required to report lost or
stolen firearms with penalties attached for not doing so. Hirschauer
said the lost and stolen reporting provisions are important.
“The reporting measures that we have in this bill will give law
enforcement the tools they need to crack down on lost and stolen
guns and hopefully end that cycle of violence,” she said.
Gun rights advocate Todd Vandermyde was critical of the penalties
related to not reporting lost or stolen firearms.
“Now you’re talking about revoking [Firearm Owner’s ID] cards for
mere failure to report a property crime,” Vandermyde said. “This
sets a new low.”
The committee didn’t act on the bill. It only held a subject matter
hearing.
More than 1,100 people filed in support of the measure. More than
5,500 filed in opposition.
Later in the day in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the
state of Illinois filed a reply brief in the challenge to the
state’s gun and magazine ban. The ban on more than 170
semi-automatic firearms was enacted in January 2023. Federal
lawsuits filed in the Southern District of Illinois federal court
were consolidated. |
