Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.
SB 8 requires individuals to lock up all firearms in their home, vehicle, building, or other structure. Under previous law, firearms were required to be stored so as not to be accessible to anyone under the age of 14. SB 8 raises that threshold to 18 and expands it further to include prohibited persons and so-called “at risk” individuals.
This legislation unfairly punishes responsible gun owners by imposing broad and burdensome storage mandates, while doing little to address criminal misuse of firearms. Under SB 8, law-abiding citizens face civil fines of up to $10,000 simply for how they store their personal property inside their own homes or vehicles.
Stay tuned to the NRA-ILA website for updates on how this new law will impact Illinois gun owners.