Illinois Gov. Pritzker Signs New Gun ‘Safety’ Bills

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was all smiles as he signed two new gun control bills into law this week, claiming they’ll save lives and protect children.

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For gun owners in the Prairie State, though, the message was clear: more restrictions, more mandates, and even fewer rights for the law-abiding.

The bills – HB 1373 and the Safe Gun Storage Act (SB 8) – are the latest in a string of anti-gun laws Illinois has rolled out under Pritzker’s tenure.

Together, they mandate crime gun tracing for all firearms recovered at crime scenes and tighten storage requirements for guns in homes, with the state arguing this will prevent accidents, suicides, and thefts.

Pritzker didn’t hold back the rhetoric during the signing ceremony, blasting gun owners, the firearms industry, and anyone who resists more laws.

He accused pro-2A advocates and the “gun lobby” of “ducking and covering for the gun industry’s money” and claimed he’s “tired of treating something completely preventable as inevitable.”

The state’s attorney general and legislative allies echoed his talking points, insisting that forcing every police department to log crime guns and mandating home storage will finally curb gun violence.

Advocates like GPAC Illinois and Moms Demand Action alumni cheered the measures as “common-sense” life-savers.

Here’s the problem: Illinois has been stacking gun laws for years, yet Chicago remains one of the nation’s most violent cities. Lawful gun owners have watched their rights shrink while carjackers, gang members, and repeat felons seem to operate with impunity.

Mandatory storage laws don’t stop determined criminals. They don’t stop straw purchasers, gang members, or violent felons, and they certainly wouldn’t have prevented the city’s most recent shootings. What they do is burden the law-abiding – the very people least likely to misuse a firearm.

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Pritzker boasted about reducing shootings on state highways, pointing to the impact of law enforcement. But that success came from police action, not another pile of regulations on gun owners.

And let’s not forget: Illinois already passed a sweeping “assault weapons” ban, universal background checks, and ghost gun prohibitions. Criminals haven’t exactly called it quits.

Safe storage laws are particularly controversial. While no responsible gun owner objects to keeping firearms secure, turning personal security decisions into legal mandates raises serious Second Amendment concerns.

• Mandates locked storage if minors under 18 could access your gun.
• Civil fines up to $10,000 if a child or prohibited person gains access and harm occurs.
• Lost or stolen firearms must be reported within 48 hours (down from 72).
• Violations are negligence per se in civil court.

For 2A advocates, the signing ceremony was a stark reminder that Illinois isn’t interested in working with gun owners – it’s working against them.

The Governor celebrated these bills as “life-saving,” but history tells us they’re likely to be another set of feel-good laws that fail to stop criminals while setting up law-abiding citizens for legal trouble.

Expect these laws to face court challenges under Bruen, especially given that the Supreme Court has made clear that modern gun regulations must align with historical tradition.

Illinois has been on a collision course with the Second Amendment for years, and these new laws push that conflict even further.