Ensures legal gun purchases between April 28 – May 4 remain lawful
State Senator Jason Plummer (R-Edwardsville) is seeking to protect gun owners across Illinois, who recently made legal firearm purchases, from facing unjust criminal prosecution in the future.
“When a federal judge put the ban on hold on April 28th, it once again allowed for the legal sale of those firearms in Illinois,” said Sen. Plummer. “Yet, the Illinois Attorney General remained silent on providing legal guidance, failing the Illinois citizens who were unknowingly being set up for legal ramifications down the road.”
On May 4th, a federal appeals court lifted the injunction against the ban. Soon after, on May 6th, the Attorney General’s office released guidance, claiming that firearms (which were included in the ban) purchased and picked up during the window between the rulings would be illegal beginning January 1st of 2024—the date in which firearms subject to the ban are required to be registered.
The registration process includes an affidavit where the owner is required to attest that the affected firearm was purchased prior to January 10th, 2023. Unfairly, those who legally purchased one of these firearms between April 28th and May 4th, would either have to surrender their firearm of risk becoming a criminal.
Adding further confusion to the situation, Governor JB Pritzker at a recent press conference claimed that, “people will need to fill out the affidavit that they have one of those guns. That’s really all it is.” What the Governor failed to mention is that there is no way for a person who legally purchased a firearm during this six-day period to fill out that affidavit without committing perjury.
“First, the Attorney General and the Governor’s Administration refused to issue any guidance, or even to encourage people to be cautious, while the injunction was in effect,” said Plummer. “Now, the Governor is telling people to commit perjury by lying on a form about the date in which they purchased the firearm?”
To rectify the issue and to prevent law-abiding citizens from being turned into criminals, Sen. Plummer filed legislation, Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1073, which updates the affidavit requirements to include firearms purchased during a period in which a court issued an injunction on the law. This would allow individuals who purchased “banned firearms” during this recent injunction or any future ones, to be able to legally keep and possess them.
“This isn’t about how you feel about guns,” said Plummer. “This legislation protects people who were simply trying to follow the law, it’s that simple. This is the right thing to do. If the Governor and the Attorney General say they really aren’t trying to entrap lawful people, they will support this bill.”