Despite a Late Surge in Registrations, Few Gun Owners in Illinois have Registered their Assault Weapons or Accessories, such as “large” capacity magazines

The Illinois State Police won’t pursue charges against Illinois residents who didn’t register their weapons that fall under the new law by the January 1st deadline. The ISP says the FOID Portal will remain open and people can submit endorsement affidavits at any time. Residents who fail to register weapons that fall under the law could face felony charges. More than 29-thousand residents have registered their assault weapons.

“ISP Won’t Pursue Charges Against Residents Who Didn’t Register Guns By Jan 1,” Decatur Radio, January 4, 2024.

It looks like the Illinois State Police are facing the obvious that very few people have registered their firearms under Illinois’ new assault weapon ban.

Illinois has its new registration rules for grandfathered “assault weapons” (e.g., semi-automatic rifles) and large-capacity magazines. Not everyone who has a FOID card may own a gun, though a large majority of those owning guns likely own standard magazines, which would require registration. With 2,415,481 FOID cards and registration occurring over the three months from October 1st, 2023, to December 31, 2023, 68,992 guns and 42,830 accessories were registered. That is quite an increase over the only 15,877 guns and 8,335 accessories registered by December 21st. But this has to be just a fraction of the items owned. For example, given how common magazines holding over ten rounds are, it is hard to believe that only 42,830 large-capacity magazines are owned by 2.4 million FOID card holders. Many people who own large-capacity magazines are likely to own multiple magazines.

Only a tiny fraction of people apparently registered their guns, accessories, or ammunition. Of course, there is another possibility since some people might store their guns and accessories in other states, such as Indiana.