An endorsement affidavit is now available for Illinois residents who are required to register their assault weapons under a new ban signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this year.
The affidavit must be submitted by Jan. 1, 2024.
People in Illinois who possessed assault weapons, assault weapon attachments, .50 caliber rifles and .50 caliber cartridges before the law was passed must submit the affidavit, but large-capacity ammunition feeding devices don’t require one.
Guns won’t be confiscated as a result of the new law, but the registration affidavit is still required.
The Protect Illinois Communities Act took effect immediately when Pritzker signed the bill Jan. 10 and has spurred a flurry of court challenges since then. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in a 4-3 vote in August following a lawsuit filed by state Rep. Dan Caulkins, R-Decatur.
Opponents of the law have vowed to seek out avenues in federal court to challenge it once again.
“Pritzker and Illinois Democrats have criminalized hundreds of thousands of legal gun owners,” Caulkins told the Chicago Sun-Times after the state Supreme Court ruling, adding he’s confident the ban “will eventually be overturned” in federal court.
The affidavit can be submitted through the Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau website using a resident’s FOID card account. A tutorial video is available on the website.