Democrat Gov. Signs Illinois’ Ban on Commonly Owned Semiautomatic Rifles, Magazines

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed legislation Tuesday night banning commonly owned semiautomatic rifles and magazines which Democrats consider “high capacity.”

The law took effect immediately with Pritzker’s signature. It allows those who already own the now-banned firearms to retain them, but requires that the owners register the guns with the Illinois State Police.

Pritzker’s office released a statement upon his signing of the bill. It said, in part, “The new law also requires existing owners of semi-automatic rifles to register their ownership, ensuring that law enforcement knows the location of these weapons of war and who to hold accountable if they fall into the wrong hands.”

The statement further quoted Pritzker:

For the past four years, my administration and my colleagues in the State Capitol have been battling the powerful forces of the NRA to enshrine the strongest and most effective gun violence legislation that we possibly can. I couldn’t be prouder to say that we got it done. And we will keep fighting — bill by bill, vote by vote, and protest by protest — to ensure that future generations only hear about massacres like Highland Park, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde in their textbooks.

CBS News noted Illinois State Rep. Patrick Windhorst’s (R) opposition to the bill.

Windhorst said:

“People who break the law, people who commit violent crime are not going to register their firearms, are not going to turn in their magazines. This will not stop that crime. What will happen is law-abiding gun owners will be yet again impacted by laws in this General Assembly, yet again have their Second Amendment rights restrained.”

Editor’s note: The night on which the governor signed the legislation, originally stated as Wednesday, has been corrected to Tuesday.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.