January 12, 2024
An update to our Thursday Bulletin from yesterday (1/11/24) –
Our article about the ISP not pursuing charges did not make it clear that the ISP only agreed not to pursue charges on those who register their commonly owned firearms, banned under PICA, after January 1st. For that, we apologize.
However, while the ISP are keeping the soon to be found unconstitutional list open & encouraging late registration, the law clearly states that registration must occur prior to January 1st. In addition, there are no rules governing how law enforcement requests for PICA data are handled. Any law enforcement agency or state’s attorney who want these common firearms removed, might be able to acquire a list of who registered in their jurisdiction after the deadline. Late registrants are technically in violation of the law despite the promises from the ISP, and could possibly face legal action from those agencies.
Be very careful in these uncharted waters and watch the ISRA for the latest information.
Another issue that has been asked of us many times is our relationship with the NRA as it relates to this ban on commonly owned firearms in Illinois. Lots of folks seem to think that we receive support from the NRA and there has been a lot of misinformation about their involvement in the legislative process.
The NRA and ISRA are completely separate organizations. They do not support the ISRA financially or with other resources. As for the fight against the firearms ban, the NRA lobbyist did testify at a subject matter hearing in December 2022 along with several other groups including the ISRA. They did not testify at any hearings on the legislation itself during the time it was making its way through the Capitol in Springfield, nor did they testify at any of the public JCAR hearings in November 2023.