Assault Weapons

A ruling Thursday by the federal appeals court in Chicago allows the law to remain in place while the legal controversy it’s generated continues to work its way through the courts.

Thursday was the final day of the East St. Louis trial challenging the law, passed in response to the 2022 mass shooting in Highland Park.

The case, on its second day on Tuesday, is being heard in federal district court in East St. Louis.

Advocates on both sides of the gun control debate are waiting on whether the court will hear a broader constitutional challenge to Illinois' 2023 assault weapons ban, which includes the state-level ban on bump stocks.

There are minimal consequences for failing to register, and whether the law is even enforced depends heavily on where you live and how authorities discover an unregistered gun.

With Illinois' assault weapons registration looming on January 1, some questions remain from the public on which guns are banned, how to file disclosures and what happens next.

Officials at the Illinois State Police said they are working to finalize rules for registering assault weapons and other items that are now tightly regulated under the state’s new assault weapons ban as a Jan. 1 compliance deadline approaches.

The high court is already set to consider several gun-related cases this term. The U.S. Supreme Court had also declined to issue an injunction on Illinois' ban back in May 2023.

The law enforcement agency agreed to further hearings at request of state rulemaking committee.

The decision means the ban will now likely remain in effect while the federal appeals court in Chicago takes time to hear arguments in the case.