Registration open for firearms covered under state's assault weapons ban

Illinois residents who own high-powered rifles and other items covered by the state's ban on the sale of those weapons can now register them online, as required under the new law.

Residents who possessed those weapons before the Protect Illinois Communities Act was signed into law earlier this year can keep them, but they have until Jan. 1 to submit an endorsement affidavit with the Illinois State Police.

Items that must be registered include firearms identified as assault weapons under the law, attachments for those firearms, .50 caliber rifles and .50 caliber cartridges. Large capacity ammunition feeding devices also are regulated by the law, but do not require and endorsement affidavit.

Affidavits must be submitted online through a Firearm Owner's Identification card account, which can be accessed at www.ispfsb.com/Public/Login.aspx. The affidavits must include the applicant's name, date of birth and FOID card number, along with the make, model, caliber, and serial number of each weapon, and a statement testifying that they own a locking mechanism for the weapon.

Stating false information on the affidavit could lead to a charge of perjury, under the new law.

The ban, passed during the General Assembly's lame duck session and signed it into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in January, has prompted several lawsuits alleging it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

A federal judge in the Southern District of Illinois ruled that it did, but two other judges in the Northern District rejected the claims. Those cases are now pending before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law in a 4-3 decision in August. But the court has delayed issuing a final order in that case pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Capitol News Illinois contributed to this story