On Tuesday, the Illinois House passed “one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country” in House Bill 5471 or the “Protect Illinois Communities Act.” According to Chicago PBS, the bill creates an “immediate ban on the sale and possession of defined assault weapons, although current legal owners may continue to keep their weapons under a grandfather clause. The ban also includes .50-caliber rifles and cartridges and rapid fire devices known as ‘switches.’ Magazines will have a limit of 10 bullets for long guns and 15 for handguns.” The House passed the bill in a 68-41 vote and it now awaits the signature of Governor JB Pritzker.
The bill’s assault weapon ban includes “the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms like AR-15s and AK-47s, handgun magazines capable of holding more than 15 rounds of ammunition, long gun magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition.” It also can prohibit a person from purchasing a firearm if they tagged with any “red flags.”
Illinois House Democrats and Governor Pritzker released a statement is response to the bill, saying:
“After continued negotiations between the leaders, stakeholders, and advocates, we have reached a deal on one of strongest assault weapon bans in the country. With this legislation we are delivering on the promises Democrats have made and, together, we are making Illinois’ gun laws a model for the nation.”
The Protect Illinois Communities Act will make Illinois the ninth state to pass a so-called “assault weapons” ban and the fourteenth state to regulate ammo and magazine capacity. The Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, Richard Pearson, told the Reload, that the bill “flies in the face of the Supreme Court.”
