Gun Dealer Licensing Bill Signed Into Law By Gov. J.B. Pritzker

CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a law Thursday to require state-issued licenses for gun dealers and imposing penalties on those who fail to keep records of private firearm sales. Following more than a 15 years of efforts by supporters of stricter gun laws, Illinois becomes the 16th state to establish its own certification for firearm dealers in an effort to reduce the amount of illegal guns on the street.

Pritzker was joined at an signing ceremony at Ella Flagg Young Elementary School in Chicago's Austin neighborhood by Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, the bill's sponsors and advocates for gun violence prevention.

"Gun violence isn't just an issue facing one city or one region or one group of people, it affects all of us, this room filled with survivors of gun violence, law enforcement, community groups, advocates and faith leaders is a testament to the widespread impact of gun violence," Pritzker said. "Too many Illinoisans know the pain of that violence. Today is a long-overdue step to do more to prevent gun violence, to make sure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands, to make sure that we license gun shops just like we do restaurant and other businesses – perhaps more so because they deserve to be regulated."

Pritzker said the "common-sense" bill would reduce the amount of straw purchases and prevent people from buying guns for people who are not allowed to legally own one.

A similar bill was vetoed by former Gov. Bruce Rauner last March, a week before he narrowly saw off a conservative primary challenge. At the time, he said the plan to license Illinois' roughly 2,700 gun dealers was "unnecessary burdensome regulation" that "creates bureaucracy that really doesn't help keep our communities safer."

The Republican governor and gun rights advocates argued additional state regulations would be redundant since the federal government already licenses gun dealers through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The previous version put the onus for issuing licenses on the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. The version signed into law makes Illinois State Police, which already handles firearm owners IDs and licenses to carry concealed weapons, responsible for certification.

After declining to take a vote to override Rauner's veto in April, Democratic lawmakers held off on passing a new version – Senate Bill 337, creating the Combating Illegal Gun Trafficking Act and the Gun Dealer License Certification Act – until earlier this month so it could be sent to Pritzker's desk in his first week in office.

Sen. Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat and the sponsor of several efforts to gun dealer licensing, said he has been pushing for stronger state regulations of federally licensed firearm sellers for more than 15 years.

“Gun violence is a complex problem and no one law will solve it,” Harmon said. “But we know that other states that have enacted similar laws to this one have seen a reduction in guns used in crimes.”

Chicago's police chief said officers seized nearly 10,000 illegal handguns last year – more than one gun per hour.

"It's no secret that Chicago has a gun problem and it's easy to blame this problem on surrounding states," Johnson said, noting statistics showing 60 percent of illegal guns recovered by his department were originally purchased in other states.

"The most dangerous thing a police officer can do is remove an illegal weapon off the streets of Chicago from an armed offender. That's dangerous," Johnson said. "Yet we do it every day."

The Illinois State Rifle Association has opposed the bill. Executive Director Richard Pearson said the group is considering a court challenge to the new law. He said it discriminates against small business owners and is aimed at reducing the total number of legal guns in the state by raising their cost and making it harder for law-abiding firearm owners to purchase them.

"We think that it's totally unfair, and laws do have to be fair, in spite of what the legislature thinks," Pearson said, suggesting the bill would do little to reduce gun trafficking and instead function mainly to drive gun dealers out of business and owners and their business out of state. "I assume that Gov. Pritzker is trying to get the economic development award from Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Kentucky."

Under the law, owners of gun shops would need to pay the required $300 (for dealers without a retail location) to a maximum of $1,500 for a license from state police. They would also have to ensure shops have operational locks, surveillance equipment and alarms while keeping an electronic inventory and have employees go through annual training. The owners must provide a copy of a valid federal license to state police, who must accept a dealer's "safe storage plan" to provide an Illinois license.

Another component of the new law requires state police to publish information about firearms used in crimes and penalize those who do not maintain records of private gun sales.

Foxx said the crime of unlawful use of a weapon was the most commonly prosecuted offense in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in 2018. Under her predecessor, Anita Alvarez, she said the most common charge had been retail theft.

"It is way past time to do more to keep illegal firearms off our streets, and today is a step in the right direction," Foxx said, explaining she has made the prevention of gun violence the top priority for prosecutors in Cook County.

Delphine Cherry, a mother who has lost two children to gun violence, thanked Pritzker for signing the bill, which she said would hold gun dealers accountable and prevent the illegal sale of guns.

“27 years ago today, I lost my daughter Tyesa to gun violence committed by a 14-year-old who had an illegal gun. Twenty years later, my son Tyler was murdered three days before Christmas," Cherry said. "Since I lost Tyesa and Tyler to gun violence, I have made it my mission to make sure no other parent has to join the worst club that I belong to: the club of parents who have lost their children to gun violence."

Pritzker said other keys to reducing gun violence include creating more jobs while improving mental health care and after school programs. He said he hoped the state would next ban bump stock devices, another bill that Democratic leaders declined to present to the governor during the Rauner administration despite passage in the Senate.

"Now is the time to stem the flow of illegal guns across our state's border, which are used to commit crimes in Illinois every day," Pritzker said. "I've already reached out to the governors of the states surrounding Illinois and I'll work with them to confront this challenge.

Related:

• Governor Dodges Questions About Gun Bill On His Desk
• Gov. Bruce Rauner Vetoes Gun Dealer Licensing Bill
• House Democrats Fail To Override Rauner's Gun Dealer Veto
• Illinois Senate Approves Standalone Bump Stock Ban