On July 17th, Governor Bruce Rauner signed House Bill 2354 and Senate Bill 3256 into law. NRA opposed these bills during the legislative process because they will allow Second Amendment rights to be revoked without due process and expand waiting periods.

House Bill 2354, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-77), will allow for the issuance of protective orders to infringe on Second Amendment rights based on third party allegations with little, if any, real evidence and limited “due process” for the respondent. Hearings for the orders will be ex parte, where the respondent is not present to challenge the accuser and defend against allegations made against them. The issuance of an order will immediately prohibit the respondent from exercising their Second Amendment rights. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms should not be treated as a second-class right and should only be restricted consistent with the constitutional requirements of due process.

Senate Bill 3256, as amended by Representative Jonathan Carroll (D-57), will expand the 72 hour waiting period to all firearms. In addition, it will eliminate the current waiting period exemption for nonresidents attending gun shows in Illinois. Current Illinois law requires a 72 hour waiting period for handguns and a 24 hour waiting period for long guns. Waiting periods are an archaic relic from before the digital age, since they were originally meant to give local law enforcement time to complete background checks. Since the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) came into operation in 1998, technology has allowed background checks to be done instantly, activating the law that eliminated the federally required waiting periods.

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates on issues affecting your Second Amendment rights in Illinois.