State-wide efforts

There have been changes in the state of Illinois with regard to gun safety as well. The state now requires buyers to secure a permit prior to purchasing a firearm. Despite Illinois having some strong gun laws, Illinois allows the purchase of assault rifles, including the AR-15. The Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card is required to buy guns and ammunition and must be renewed every 10 years. 

Additionally, people younger than 21 are banned from possessing or owning a gun unless the younger person is “sponsored” by an eligible adult. However, there are ways around some of these laws.

“I personally know people that have bought parts online and built their own guns, so it wouldn’t surprise me if students here do that, or have done that. I hope that their parents are aware of what they’re doing, but whether or not they bring them to school, I can’t really answer that,” said Levato. 

Illinois also recently banned the use of untraceable ghost guns, and the owning and selling of machine guns within the state. The state’s gun permit law also allows individual municipalities, such as Highland Park, to ban assault rifles altogether.

Illinois has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, and is ranked sixth in the nation for its strictness in imposing such laws. There is a law that requires people to get background checks on all gun sales and ordinances that keep domestic abusers from purchasing a gun. And in 2020, the state instituted what is known as “red flag laws” which mean that “if a person is declared a danger, police can temporarily remove all firearms from the possession of the individual in the interest of protecting themselves or others.”

About 1,505 people die by guns on average every year. Many “gun-sense” politicians who are running for a position in the upcoming election on Nov. 8 believe that in order for Illinois to become a “safer state” Illinois must strengthen its Firearm Owners Identification Card (FOID) system to keep firearms away from people that should not own guns.