SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Tuesday night a comprehensive measure that supporters called one of the nation’s toughest bans on military style firearms, immediately prohibiting their sale and giving current owners until Jan. 1 to register gun serial numbers with Illinois State Police.
“Illinois now officially prohibits the sale and distribution of these mass killing machines and rapid fire devices,” said Pritzker, who was inaugurated for a second term on Monday during a ceremony in the Capitol. “I’m signing this legislation tonight so that it can take immediate effect and we can end the sale of these weapons of war.”
Pritzker signed the bill just hours after House Democrats led final passage of the measure on a 68-41 vote, and a day after Senate Democrats approved it 34-20. Pritzker and legislators acted amid warnings from most Republicans and gun-rights advocates that the new law was unconstitutional and would face a legal challenge.
