96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
SB0022

 

Introduced 1/30/2009, by Sen. John J. Cullerton

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
720 ILCS 5/24-1   from Ch. 38, par. 24-1

    Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the unlawful use of weapons.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB0022 LRB096 07580 RCE 17675 b

1     AN ACT concerning criminal offenses.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing
5 Section 24-1 as follows:
 
6     (720 ILCS 5/24-1)  (from Ch. 38, par. 24-1)
7     Sec. 24-1. Unlawful Use of Weapons.
8     (a) A person commits the the offense of unlawful use of
9 weapons when he knowingly:
10         (1) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or
11     carries any bludgeon, black-jack, slung-shot, sand-club,
12     sand-bag, metal knuckles or other knuckle weapon
13     regardless of its composition, throwing star, or any knife,
14     commonly referred to as a switchblade knife, which has a
15     blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to
16     a button, spring or other device in the handle of the
17     knife, or a ballistic knife, which is a device that propels
18     a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil
19     spring, elastic material or compressed gas; or
20         (2) Carries or possesses with intent to use the same
21     unlawfully against another, a dagger, dirk, billy,
22     dangerous knife, razor, stiletto, broken bottle or other
23     piece of glass, stun gun or taser or any other dangerous or

 

 

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1     deadly weapon or instrument of like character; or
2         (3) Carries on or about his person or in any vehicle, a
3     tear gas gun projector or bomb or any object containing
4     noxious liquid gas or substance, other than an object
5     containing a non-lethal noxious liquid gas or substance
6     designed solely for personal defense carried by a person 18
7     years of age or older; or
8         (4) Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on
9     or about his person except when on his land or in his own
10     abode or fixed place of business any pistol, revolver, stun
11     gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection
12     (a) (4) does not apply to or affect transportation of
13     weapons that meet one of the following conditions:
14             (i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or
15             (ii) are not immediately accessible; or
16             (iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm
17         carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a
18         person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm
19         Owner's Identification Card; or
20         (5) Sets a spring gun; or
21         (6) Possesses any device or attachment of any kind
22     designed, used or intended for use in silencing the report
23     of any firearm; or
24         (7) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or
25     carries:
26             (i) a machine gun, which shall be defined for the

 

 

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1         purposes of this subsection as any weapon, which
2         shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily
3         restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot
4         without manually reloading by a single function of the
5         trigger, including the frame or receiver of any such
6         weapon, or sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses,
7         or carries any combination of parts designed or
8         intended for use in converting any weapon into a
9         machine gun, or any combination or parts from which a
10         machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the
11         possession or under the control of a person;
12             (ii) any rifle having one or more barrels less than
13         16 inches in length or a shotgun having one or more
14         barrels less than 18 inches in length or any weapon
15         made from a rifle or shotgun, whether by alteration,
16         modification, or otherwise, if such a weapon as
17         modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches;
18         or
19             (iii) any bomb, bomb-shell, grenade, bottle or
20         other container containing an explosive substance of
21         over one-quarter ounce for like purposes, such as, but
22         not limited to, black powder bombs and Molotov
23         cocktails or artillery projectiles; or
24         (8) Carries or possesses any firearm, stun gun or taser
25     or other deadly weapon in any place which is licensed to
26     sell intoxicating beverages, or at any public gathering

 

 

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1     held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body
2     or any public gathering at which an admission is charged,
3     excluding a place where a showing, demonstration or lecture
4     involving the exhibition of unloaded firearms is
5     conducted.
6         This subsection (a)(8) does not apply to any auction or
7     raffle of a firearm held pursuant to a license or permit
8     issued by a governmental body, nor does it apply to persons
9     engaged in firearm safety training courses; or
10         (9) Carries or possesses in a vehicle or on or about
11     his person any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or
12     firearm or ballistic knife, when he is hooded, robed or
13     masked in such manner as to conceal his identity; or
14         (10) Carries or possesses on or about his person, upon
15     any public street, alley, or other public lands within the
16     corporate limits of a city, village or incorporated town,
17     except when an invitee thereon or therein, for the purpose
18     of the display of such weapon or the lawful commerce in
19     weapons, or except when on his land or in his own abode or
20     fixed place of business, any pistol, revolver, stun gun or
21     taser or other firearm, except that this subsection (a)
22     (10) does not apply to or affect transportation of weapons
23     that meet one of the following conditions:
24             (i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or
25             (ii) are not immediately accessible; or
26             (iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm

 

 

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1         carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a
2         person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm
3         Owner's Identification Card.
4         A "stun gun or taser", as used in this paragraph (a)
5     means (i) any device which is powered by electrical
6     charging units, such as, batteries, and which fires one or
7     several barbs attached to a length of wire and which, upon
8     hitting a human, can send out a current capable of
9     disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as
10     to render him incapable of normal functioning or (ii) any
11     device which is powered by electrical charging units, such
12     as batteries, and which, upon contact with a human or
13     clothing worn by a human, can send out current capable of
14     disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as
15     to render him incapable of normal functioning; or
16         (11) Sells, manufactures or purchases any explosive
17     bullet. For purposes of this paragraph (a) "explosive
18     bullet" means the projectile portion of an ammunition
19     cartridge which contains or carries an explosive charge
20     which will explode upon contact with the flesh of a human
21     or an animal. "Cartridge" means a tubular metal case having
22     a projectile affixed at the front thereof and a cap or
23     primer at the rear end thereof, with the propellant
24     contained in such tube between the projectile and the cap;
25     or
26         (12) (Blank); or

 

 

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1         (13) Carries or possesses on or about his or her person
2     while in a building occupied by a unit of government, a
3     billy club, other weapon of like character, or other
4     instrument of like character intended for use as a weapon.
5     For the purposes of this Section, "billy club" means a
6     short stick or club commonly carried by police officers
7     which is either telescopic or constructed of a solid piece
8     of wood or other man-made material.
9     (b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of
10 subsection 24-1(a)(1) through (5), subsection 24-1(a)(10),
11 subsection 24-1(a)(11), or subsection 24-1(a)(13) commits a
12 Class A misdemeanor. A person convicted of a violation of
13 subsection 24-1(a)(8) or 24-1(a)(9) commits a Class 4 felony; a
14 person convicted of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(6) or
15 24-1(a)(7)(ii) or (iii) commits a Class 3 felony. A person
16 convicted of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(7)(i) commits a
17 Class 2 felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment
18 of not less than 3 years and not more than 7 years, unless the
19 weapon is possessed in the passenger compartment of a motor
20 vehicle as defined in Section 1-146 of the Illinois Vehicle
21 Code, or on the person, while the weapon is loaded, in which
22 case it shall be a Class X felony. A person convicted of a
23 second or subsequent violation of subsection 24-1(a)(4),
24 24-1(a)(8), 24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) commits a Class 3
25 felony. The possession of each weapon in violation of this
26 Section constitutes a single and separate violation.

 

 

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1     (c) Violations in specific places.
2         (1) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(6) or
3     24-1(a)(7) in any school, regardless of the time of day or
4     the time of year, in residential property owned, operated
5     or managed by a public housing agency or leased by a public
6     housing agency as part of a scattered site or mixed-income
7     development, in a public park, in a courthouse, on the real
8     property comprising any school, regardless of the time of
9     day or the time of year, on residential property owned,
10     operated or managed by a public housing agency or leased by
11     a public housing agency as part of a scattered site or
12     mixed-income development, on the real property comprising
13     any public park, on the real property comprising any
14     courthouse, in any conveyance owned, leased or contracted
15     by a school to transport students to or from school or a
16     school related activity, or on any public way within 1,000
17     feet of the real property comprising any school, public
18     park, courthouse, or residential property owned, operated,
19     or managed by a public housing agency or leased by a public
20     housing agency as part of a scattered site or mixed-income
21     development commits a Class 2 felony and shall be sentenced
22     to a term of imprisonment of not less than 3 years and not
23     more than 7 years.
24         (1.5) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(4),
25     24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) in any school, regardless of the
26     time of day or the time of year, in residential property

 

 

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1     owned, operated, or managed by a public housing agency or
2     leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered
3     site or mixed-income development, in a public park, in a
4     courthouse, on the real property comprising any school,
5     regardless of the time of day or the time of year, on
6     residential property owned, operated, or managed by a
7     public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency
8     as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development, on
9     the real property comprising any public park, on the real
10     property comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance
11     owned, leased, or contracted by a school to transport
12     students to or from school or a school related activity, or
13     on any public way within 1,000 feet of the real property
14     comprising any school, public park, courthouse, or
15     residential property owned, operated, or managed by a
16     public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency
17     as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development
18     commits a Class 3 felony.
19         (2) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(1),
20     24-1(a)(2), or 24-1(a)(3) in any school, regardless of the
21     time of day or the time of year, in residential property
22     owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency or
23     leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered
24     site or mixed-income development, in a public park, in a
25     courthouse, on the real property comprising any school,
26     regardless of the time of day or the time of year, on

 

 

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1     residential property owned, operated or managed by a public
2     housing agency or leased by a public housing agency as part
3     of a scattered site or mixed-income development, on the
4     real property comprising any public park, on the real
5     property comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance
6     owned, leased or contracted by a school to transport
7     students to or from school or a school related activity, or
8     on any public way within 1,000 feet of the real property
9     comprising any school, public park, courthouse, or
10     residential property owned, operated, or managed by a
11     public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency
12     as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development
13     commits a Class 4 felony. "Courthouse" means any building
14     that is used by the Circuit, Appellate, or Supreme Court of
15     this State for the conduct of official business.
16         (3) Paragraphs (1), (1.5), and (2) of this subsection
17     (c) shall not apply to law enforcement officers or security
18     officers of such school, college, or university or to
19     students carrying or possessing firearms for use in
20     training courses, parades, hunting, target shooting on
21     school ranges, or otherwise with the consent of school
22     authorities and which firearms are transported unloaded
23     enclosed in a suitable case, box, or transportation
24     package.
25         (4) For the purposes of this subsection (c), "school"
26     means any public or private elementary or secondary school,

 

 

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1     community college, college, or university.
2     (d) The presence in an automobile other than a public
3 omnibus of any weapon, instrument or substance referred to in
4 subsection (a)(7) is prima facie evidence that it is in the
5 possession of, and is being carried by, all persons occupying
6 such automobile at the time such weapon, instrument or
7 substance is found, except under the following circumstances:
8 (i) if such weapon, instrument or instrumentality is found upon
9 the person of one of the occupants therein; or (ii) if such
10 weapon, instrument or substance is found in an automobile
11 operated for hire by a duly licensed driver in the due, lawful
12 and proper pursuit of his trade, then such presumption shall
13 not apply to the driver.
14     (e) Exemptions. Crossbows, Common or Compound bows and
15 Underwater Spearguns are exempted from the definition of
16 ballistic knife as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)
17 of this Section.
18 (Source: P.A. 94-72, eff. 1-1-06; 94-284, eff. 7-21-05; 95-331,
19 eff. 8-21-07; 95-809, eff. 1-1-09; 95-885, eff. 1-1-09; revised
20 9-5-08.)