Gun owners face a Jan. 1 deadline to register their assault weapons with the state under Illinois� assault weapons law.
But between lawsuits and ongoing policymaking, the exact guns, accessories and ammunition covered under the  remain unclear to many gun rights advocates, who point out that the ban includes some of the most popular models in the country.
°Őłó±đĚý went into effect when Gov. JB Pritzker signed it in January 2023, immediately prohibiting the sale in Illinois of a long list of weapons and attachments. But Illinoisans who own assault weapons â€� a term that is itself contentious among gun advocates â€� can keep them, so long as they purchased them before the law went into effect and register them with the Illinois State Police before the end of this year.
At the end of November, with four weeks before the deadline, nearly 4,900 individuals had filed disclosures with ISP. Owners of now-banned firearms, accessories and ammunition face criminal penalties if they fail to file that disclosure paperwork.Ěý
See the firearms listed in the state's assault weapons ban. Click to expand list.
But much of the confusion surrounding the law centers on the fact that it also restricts features that would classify an otherwise acceptable gun as an “assault weapon.â€� These include thumbhole, folding, telescoping and detachable stocks, pistol grips on rifles, flash suppressors, grenade launchers, barrel shrouds that allow users to hold the barrel without being burned, and the capacity to accept ammunition belts. Â
Accessories that would give an otherwise unregulated firearm one or more of these features are regulated as “assault weapon attachments,â€� and they also require a disclosure with state police.Ěý
Pistols are also restricted if they have a threaded barrel, a second grip, the capacity to accept magazines outside of the grip and shoulder stocks.Ěý
Revolving cylinder shotguns are restricted as well as semiautomatic shotguns that have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or a fixed magazine with more than five rounds.Ěý
Importantly, any firearm that has been modified with aftermarket accessories to achieve the same effect as the state’s definition of “assault weaponâ€� would still fall under the ban. This means that a collection of parts that could convert a firearm into an assault weapon â€� for example, an unregulated pistol and conversion kit â€� would be considered an assault weapon, even if the kit is unassembled.Ěý
The law also bans .50 caliber BMG rounds. While common, these are not the only type of .50 caliber ammunition. Owners of this type of ammunition must file a disclosure with state police.
Ammunition feeding devices are also regulated by the act, but in a slightly less strict fashion than weapons. The law bans “large capacityâ€� magazines, which it defines as being 15 or more rounds for pistols and 10 or more rounds for rifles. While banned, owners of large capacity magazines do not need to file a disclosure.Ěý
View the interactive quiz below to see which weapons and accessories are banned under the act.Ěý
