Illinois lawmakers demand clarity on assault weapon registry rules before final approval

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The top committee of Illinois state lawmakers postponed a vote to approve amended rules to implement the state's registry for assault weapons and attachments. Members of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules feel there are still too many questions that haven't been answered.

Illinois State Police filed their emergency rules for the assault weapon registry on September 15. ISP then held several public hearings for concerned gun owners and lawmakers to discuss problems with the online registration process in November.

However, state police did not file updated language for their permanent rule until December 5. Many gun owners and Republicans lawmakers believe the agency should have given people more than a few weeks to understand the changes before people can be charged for having unregistered assault weapons.

"We received hundreds of comments as you might imagine in response to the three public hearings that we held," said Suzanne Bond, the Chief Legal Counsel for Illinois State Police. "Predominantly, many of the changes that we made were to flesh out additional definitions with respect to some of the exemptions to further explain our understanding of those exemptions and how they were to be applied within our statutory authority."

Roughly 6,000 people have registered 20,000 firearms and attachments since the registry launched. Yet, several Republican JCAR members said they are concerned about what will happen to the assault weapon registry data if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the state's ban on the weapons and high-capacity magazines.

"I hope you can appreciate the concern being expressed by many applicants if the courts rule that this is not constitutional that a swift resolution be established regarding that information that these folks have provided as part of this lawful, responsible, law-abiding process," said Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles).

Lawmakers have also received countless calls from constituents who purchased assault weapons while a federal court blocked implementation of the law from April 28-May 4. Many of those Illinoisans are concerned about whether or not they will be allowed to keep those firearms.

"We have established our endorsement portal to allow for people to submit endorsement affidavits for those purchases so that if they may lawfully retain them that we have not taken any action to prohibit that," Bond said. "But, absent that, we haven't been able to find any additional authority that lets us further resolve that issue."

The Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources said JCAR's action Tuesday continued the pattern of "confusing and vague implementation of Gov. JB Pritzker's ban on commonly owned firearms." IFOR representatives warned lawmakers several times that vague definitions in the Protect Illinois Communities Act had the potential to affect thousands of shotguns used for hunting.

"This haphazard implementation has the potential to affect the hundreds of millions of dollars of economic benefit that hunting brings to the state of Illinois," IFOR stated. "If the experts can't agree on what the rules are, how is the average outdoor enthusiast supposed to know them? Above all, this confusion will result in criminal convictions of law-abiding citizens."

Assault weapon owners are still required to register their firearms and attachments by the end of this month due to the emergency rule that is still in effect through February 11, 2024. The Pritzker administration told WAND News that the governor remains committed to ensuring the Protect Illinois Communities Act is fully implemented.

"The administration has full faith in the members of JCAR who supported the Act to vote for a motion to ensure the permanent rule becomes effective at JCAR's next meeting on January 16, 2024 in Springfield," said spokesperson Jordan Abudayyeh.

Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) announced Tuesday night that his legal team filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court to grant an emergency order to halt enforcement of the registry. Caulkins said his request could put a hold on enforcement of the registration deadline if it is honored by Justice Amy Coney-Barrett.

"The US Supreme Court has scheduled a conference on January 5 to consider hearing our case that could effectively make the law unconstitutional," Caulkins said. "We believe holding off the enforcement of a potentially unconstitutional law is in the best interest of every law-abiding citizen in Illinois."