In Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker recently addressed the stubbornly low compliance rate for the state’s new ban on modern sporting rifles.
Essentially, of the 2.4 million Firearm Owners ID (FOID) cardholders in the state, less than 0.1% have registered their so-called “assault weapons.”
Per the law, known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, one can no longer purchase an “assault weapon.”
Current owners of said firearms can either sell them out of state, turn them over to authorities or register them with the Illinois State Police (ISP).
In a press conference last week, Pritzker explained away the compliance rate by arguing modern sporting rifles are not commonly owned by Illinoisans.
“I hate that mainstream media are picking up right-wing media talking points so let me correct you a little bit,” he told reporters.
“Yeah there are 2.4 million FOID card holders in the state of Illinois but 2.4 million people do not have assault weapons so when you talk about the percentage of people who are filing and registering it’s a much higher percentage than what you’ve cited,” Pritzker added.
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Pritzker said he expects the number to increase as the Jan. 1, 2024 deadline approaches.
Pritzker then called on state Rep. Bob Morgan, an architect of the law, to respond.
Morgan indicated that the current 0.1% registration rate might be due to people awaiting the result of ongoing legal challenges to the law.
“We’re still waiting for a ruling from the federal court of appeals, some people were waiting for that but I also expect that number to increase as people recognize that they want to be law-abiding citizens and they want to be consistent with state law,” said Morgan, referencing the fact that failure to register by the deadline results in the loss of one’s FOID card.
A report from CBS 2 Chicago found that the total disclosures was at 7,067. See its chart below:
Mark Oliva, from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, criticized Pritzker’s stance in an email to GunsAmerica.
Oliva accused the governor of misrepresenting the nature and use of modern sporting rifles, asserting they hold significant defensive value. Oliva urged that focus should shift to criminal activity rather than restricting law-abiding gun owners.
“Illinois lawmakers and Governor Pritzker drafted this law to marginalize gun owners and create barriers to lawful firearm owners,” said Oliva. “He has done nothing to crack down on criminals that prey upon the innocent victims.”
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One big question is what happens if tens of thousands of gun owners fail to comply by the deadline. Will they be prosecuted?
Illinois State Police legal counsel Suzanne Bond said at a recent public hearing that, “It will be up to each individual state’s attorney in the 102 counties to decide how they will enforce that.”
In response to that info, state Rep. Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) told CBS 2 Chicago, “So if that’s the case, there’s going to be somewhere between 90 and 100 counties that I don’t think there’ll be any prosecutions – unless there’s a much bigger case to be had there.”
“I think a message at the end of the day is, I believe, hundreds of thousands of law-abiding citizens are just not going to comply with this law,” Halbrook continued. “I think it’s going to be a problem for the governor and the ISP, and ultimately the legislature, to sort out.”
If you lived in the Land of Lincoln, would you comply with the registration mandate?
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The law and language is so confusing that I don’t think a democrat could interpret it without a legal team of 10. For those armed guards legally licensed through the state of Illinois, we shouldn’t be required to register much like police and military. This creates a grey area as we are state licensed Enforcment officers and depending on the site, requires us have platform rifles and shotguns with higher capacity magazines.
Seems like some people like their firearms the way liberals like their voters, undocumented.
You mean the new slaves of the democratic party, right?
Shall not be infringed. This law is by definition, infringement.
Jay Bob donated $2 million to the political slush funds ($1 million each) to 2 judges that ruled on the no cash bonds and the recent IL gun bans. I did NOT know a judge could accept that kind of donation even in IL. They both refused to recuse themselves from those cases, wow.
Jay Bob will want to make some examples of people that been legislated as criminals. Anyone who purchsed a banned/restricted firearm during a IL Court Ordered Injuction are now be considered illegal firearms and very likely this group will be the first intended examples of the antis reach. These firearms cannot be registered and thus will not be grandfathered and are considered by IL as illegal purchases. So moving those firearms out of state will insure that the ATF will be involved in the potential raid and the list of charges will certainly grow by moving the items out of state.
Just remember Jay Bob’s empty words, “were not taking guns away from people.”
Actually, according to the Illinois State Pollice website, If the firearm or rifle is not in the home and stored in a legal to own state, you do NOT have to register the rifle or firearm.
“We’re still waiting for a ruling from the federal court of appeals, some people were waiting for that but I also expect that number to increase as people recognize that they want to be law-abiding citizens and they want to be consistent with state law,”
Translation, we want them to be compliant sheep.
I think the best course is to comply with the law. But I’m still not sure what an “accessory” is as many gun parts can be used in firearms that are not restricted by IL law. It’s just too fuzzy. It is also really a tyrannical blow by the democrats to force enforcement while this law is still moving through the courts. MR. PRITZKER, POSTPONE THAT DEADLINE!! Also, the decent thing to do is for the IL tyrants to promise that if their terrible law fails to pass constitutional muster by the SCOTUS, that they will delete/erase/destroy all of the constitutionally protected information that they illegally gleaned from law-abiding IL gun owners.
“…increase as people recognize that they want to be law-abiding citizens…” I sure am glad we did not have law abiding citizens prior to 1776. They knew what was wrong then, and we know what is wrong now, and the governor of ILL incorrect thinking and that of his minions in all positions of government is the root cause of everything that is wrong in this county
Last word should have been ‘country.’ not county, but you get the idea.
did whats his name get at you to register deez nuts
So tell us governor, how many criminals have registered so far? Oh, I forgot, criminals can’t get a FOID, so they don’t actually have any firearms to register, do they? How come Illinois registers legal firearms owners but not criminals?
Illinois “democrats” for centuries love casualties and mayhem, it’s a distraction of the miserable failures of roads, infrastructure, debt, illegals etc! I’m waiting to see how long it takes for an “illegal” seizure ending in a casualty from the “legal” owner of a firearm or police officer before they rethink the absurd policy that infringes on the constitution.
Hey Gov. Fat body, GFY, we will not comply.
I was a gun dealer when CA had this law. They created almost 400,000 armed criminals overnight. You’re about to see history repeat.
Just like the SCARRY BLACK RIFLE REGISTRY IN NYS
THEY GOT LOW ,NUMERS OF ( SUBJECTS ) TO REGESTER ….IN OTHER WORDS GOPOUND SAND TYRANTS
I really don’t think criminals will abide by any laws the demon fat ass Pritzker and his jack ass cronies come up with. If criminals have tanks and bazookas, forget it, they won’t be registering anything. They won’t let any ass wipe career politician tell them what to do. As far as law abiding citizens are concerned, they must fight fire with fire. If they want to defend themselves, I suggest getting weapons from the black market, just like the criminals do. In America, idiots like Pritzker and the unconstitutional edicts he and other despots come up with should be ignored. Don’t forget, almost all crimes are committed where easy target, ‘NO GUNS ALLOWED’ areas, are advertised. I lived in Chicago for many years until I moved to Florida where the U.S. constitution is obeyed. When I lived in Chicago, I purchased guns from the black market to defend myself, friends and family, regardless of the gun laws low IQ hack politicians came up with. In Florida, I conceal carry wherever I go and I avoid any places that restrict guns. I will not hesitate to immediately stop anyone who threatens the life of others. I suggest Illinoisans have weapons regardless of stupid, fat ass Pritzker says.
Hell no, I will not comply with a tyrant goverment
As Kane, below, said, these people are shameless liars. Beyond that they are a corrosive acid that continually etches away at the foundation of the country. I believe MA had the same outcome…very few registrations. Good. Same in NY…pallets of MSRs were shipped to relatives and friends out of state for safekeeping. Gun ownership…they only thing that distinguishes a citizen from a subject.
Governor J.B. Pritzker is a special kind of cognitively challenged imbecilic ANTI rights piece of feces.
Governor J.B. Pritzker should be arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
Death to tyrants, tyranny, demonrats and RINOs everywhere!
Buck Fiden and Yuck Fou for voting for pedophile Joe.
Lol, tell em why you mad son
Not takin’ my AR fatty
Without voluntary compliance Prickster has no idea how many “assault weapons” there are in his state, who has them, where they are, or where they came from. But hey, he has a new law. Is Illinois safer now?
It’s unconstitutional and the courts will be flooded if they try to enforce this.
With a count of just AR-15’s the equivalent of 1 for every 10 Americans, that’s not commonly owned?
Is Jay Bob wearing body armour? IL wants to ban passive self defense protections which could become a Class 4 felony but they do NOT want to take anyone’s guns away.
So Jay Bob is saying that the number (at this point .08%) of IL FOID Card holders who have thus far complied with the draconian law is proportionate to the number of owners of “assault weapons, large capacity magazines and other devices” in IL, ha There are scores of magazines and whatever other devices means in Illinois that would fall under these registration requirements. Jay Bob surely understands this much and yet he scoffs with lies while blaming coverage on “right-wing media talking points.” The number of items that IL wants registered should well exceed the number of FOID holders x 100 or more.
The age old lie “were not taking guns away from people.” Once the state has your name the rules will change, again and again. Morgan says that we have registered people in the past but not weapons, untrue. Chicago did a grandfathered yearly registration and the gun teams would jump on a known (registered) gun owners address at every chance. Better keep up on the paper work and home inspections.
There are sweeping bans written into the legislation (gun parts ie pistol grips and features threaded barrels) where IL lawyers and ATF authorities cannot even agree or explain the legal consequences. The implications of registration of MSR’s in Deerfield or the larger Cook County IL has NOT be clarified by ISP, ATF or IL legal representatives. Good luck with doing your civic duty, you just incriminated yourself and now you better make bond before lights out at the zoo.
What happens when a registered gun owner dies? Well stay tuned for a knock on the door. They want that “high powered” AR15 MSR .22 that a dearly departed family member registered.
How about that selling the gun out of state, last I checked that was crime. Or maybe what Jay Bob and Morgan are suggesting is that you walk into a IL gun store to see what kind of a deal you can make on consignment and now you have just lost any claim to that firearm. Jay Bob even said that he next intends to reach out to other states to adopt his policies so the guns you moved out of state are still on his list.
These people are shamless liars and it if it is NOT stopped here it is coming to your state.