Illinois Assault Weapons Ban Triggers Gun Buying Boom, FBI Data Shows

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Following last year's passage of a statewide ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, Illinoisans responded by purchasing more guns than ever.

Legal gun sales in Illinois increased by 5 percent from 2022 to 2023, marking the second-largest increase in the nation, according to FBI data compiled by SafeHome.

Using data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System to reflect the number of background checks conducted for firearm purchases, the home security organization reported 504,452 firearms were sold in Illinois last year.

The increase in gun sales comes after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Protect Illinois Communities Act in January 2023. Drawn up in the wake of the Highland Park shooting the year before, the law defined assault weapons, banned their sale and limited magazine capacity to 15 rounds for pistols and 10 for long guns.

The majority of 2023 gun purchases in Illinois came in the months that followed the new law, which included provisions requiring the registration existing assault weapons with state police by the start of this year.

Illinois was one of only four states to see an increase in gun sales last year — the 16.7 million guns sold nationwide actually represented a 4 percent decline.

Sales increased by 1 percent in Florida, 3 percent in New Hampshire and a whopping 112 percent in North Carolina, where a law that required people to get a permit from their sheriff's office to buy a handgun ended last year.

Per capita gun sales still remain relatively low in Illinois. With 538 guns sold legally for every 10,000 residents over age 21, the Prairie State lags behind neighbors Missouri (1,140 per 10,000), Indiana (1,002 per 10,000), Wisconsin (938 per 10,000), Kentucky (867 per 10,000).

According to Safehome's estimates, gun sales in Illinois remain on the rise through the first quarter of this year, with more than 173,500 guns sold through April — representing an increase of 3.2 percent over last year's sales.

The Illinois assault weapons ban has faced dozens of legal challenges. Last November, the state supreme court upheld it last year in a 4-3 decision and an appellate panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals let it stand as federal court challenges continue to proceed at the trial court level.

The U.S. Supreme Court has three times declined to intervene in challenges to the ban, though Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that could well change once the cases work their way through lower courts.

"According to the Seventh Circuit, the rifle selected by millions of Americans for self-defense and other lawful purposes does not even fall within the scope of the Arms referred to by the Second Amendment," Thomas said. "This Court is rightly wary of taking cases in an interlocutory posture. But, I hope we will consider the important issues presented by these petitions after the cases reach final judgment."

Related: U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Intervene In Challenge To Illinois Assault Weapons Ban