[ Search ] [ Legislation ] [ Bill Summary ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
90_HB2037
720 ILCS 5/24-1 from Ch. 38, par. 24-1
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961 relating to unlawful use
of weapons. Provides that a first violation of carrying or
possessing a firearm in a vehicle, concealed upon one's
person, or upon a public street or public lands within a
municipality is a Class A misdemeanor (instead of Class 4
felony). Provides that a second or subsequent offense is a
Class 3 felony. Provides that a person under 21 years of age
who commits this violation by carrying or possessing a
handgun is guilty of a Class 3 felony. Provides that a gang
member who violates these provisions by carrying or
possessing a firearm is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
LRB9004108RCksA
LRB9004108RCksA
1 AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code of 1961 by changing
2 Section 24-1.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by
6 changing Section 24-1 as follows:
7 (720 ILCS 5/24-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 24-1)
8 Sec. 24-1. Unlawful Use of Weapons.
9 (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful use of
10 weapons when he knowingly:
11 (1) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or
12 carries any bludgeon, black-jack, slung-shot, sand-club,
13 sand-bag, metal knuckles, 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
16 to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the
17 knife, or a ballistic knife, which is a device that
18 propels a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a
19 coil spring, elastic material or compressed gas; or
20 (2) Carries or possesses with intent to use the
21 same 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
24 or deadly weapon or instrument of like character; or
25 (3) Carries on or about his person or in any
26 vehicle, a tear gas gun projector or bomb or any object
27 containing noxious liquid gas or substance, other than an
28 object containing a non-lethal noxious liquid gas or
29 substance designed solely for personal defense carried by
30 a person 18 years of age or older; or
31 (4) Carries or possesses in any vehicle or
-2- LRB9004108RCksA
1 concealed on or about his person except when on his land
2 or in his own abode or fixed place of business any
3 pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm; or
4 (5) Sets a spring gun; or
5 (6) Possesses any device or attachment of any kind
6 designed, used or intended for use in silencing the
7 report of any firearm; or
8 (7) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or
9 carries:
10 (i) a machine gun, which shall be defined for
11 the purposes of this subsection as any weapon, which
12 shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily
13 restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot
14 without manually reloading by a single function of
15 the trigger, including the frame or receiver of any
16 such weapon, or sells, manufactures, purchases,
17 possesses, or carries any combination of parts
18 designed or intended for use in converting any
19 weapon into a machine gun, or any combination or
20 parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if
21 such parts are in the possession or under the
22 control of a person;
23 (ii) any rifle having one or more barrels less
24 than 16 inches in length or a shotgun having one or
25 more barrels less than 18 inches in length or any
26 weapon made from a rifle or shotgun, whether by
27 alteration, modification, or otherwise, if such a
28 weapon as modified has an overall length of less
29 than 26 inches; or
30 (iii) any bomb, bomb-shell, grenade, bottle or
31 other container containing an explosive substance of
32 over one-quarter ounce for like purposes, such as,
33 but not limited to, black powder bombs and Molotov
34 cocktails or artillery projectiles; or
-3- LRB9004108RCksA
1 (8) Carries or possesses any firearm, stun gun or
2 taser or other deadly weapon in any place which is
3 licensed to sell intoxicating beverages, or at any public
4 gathering held pursuant to a license issued by any
5 governmental body or any public gathering at which an
6 admission is charged, excluding a place where a showing,
7 demonstration or lecture involving the exhibition of
8 unloaded firearms is conducted; or
9 (9) Carries or possesses in a vehicle or on or
10 about his person any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser
11 or firearm or ballistic knife, when he is hooded, robed
12 or masked in such manner as to conceal his identity; or
13 (10) Carries or possesses on or about his person,
14 upon any public street, alley, or other public lands
15 within the corporate limits of a city, village or
16 incorporated town, except when an invitee thereon or
17 therein, for the purpose of the display of such weapon or
18 the lawful commerce in weapons, or except when on his
19 land or in his own abode or fixed place of business, any
20 pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm.
21 A "stun gun or taser", as used in this paragraph (a)
22 means (i) any device which is powered by electrical
23 charging units, such as, batteries, and which fires one
24 or several barbs attached to a length of wire and which,
25 upon hitting a human, can send out a current capable of
26 disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner
27 as to render him incapable of normal functioning or (ii)
28 any device which is powered by electrical charging units,
29 such as batteries, and which, upon contact with a human
30 or clothing worn by a human, can send out current capable
31 of disrupting the person's nervous system in such a
32 manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning;
33 or
34 (11) Sells, manufactures or purchases any explosive
-4- LRB9004108RCksA
1 bullet. For purposes of this paragraph (a) "explosive
2 bullet" means the projectile portion of an ammunition
3 cartridge which contains or carries an explosive charge
4 which will explode upon contact with the flesh of a human
5 or an animal. "Cartridge" means a tubular metal case
6 having a projectile affixed at the front thereof and a
7 cap or primer at the rear end thereof, with the
8 propellant contained in such tube between the projectile
9 and the cap; or
10 (12) (Blank).
11 (b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of
12 subsection 24-1(a)(1) through (3), subsection 24-1(a)(5),
13 subsection 24-1(a)(8), or subsection 24-1(a)(11) commits a
14 Class A misdemeanor. A person convicted of a first violation
15 of subsection 24-1(a)(4) or 24-1(a)(10) commits a Class A
16 misdemeanor. A person convicted of a second or subsequent
17 violation of subsection 24-1(a)(4) or 24-1(a)(10) commits a
18 Class 3 felony. A person under 21 years of age who violates
19 subsection 24-1(a)(4) or 24-1(a)(10) by carrying or
20 possessing a handgun commits a Class 3 felony. A member of
21 an organized gang as defined in Section 10 of the Illinois
22 Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act who is convicted
23 of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(4) or 24-1(a)(10)
24 commits a Class 3 felony. A person convicted of a violation
25 of subsection 24-1(a)(4), 24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) commits
26 a Class 4 felony; a person convicted of a violation of
27 subsection 24-1(a)(6) or 24-1(a)(7)(ii) or (iii) commits a
28 Class 3 felony. A person convicted of a violation of
29 subsection 24-1(a)(7)(i) commits a Class 2 felony, unless the
30 weapon is possessed in the passenger compartment of a motor
31 vehicle as defined in Section 1-146 of the Illinois Vehicle
32 Code, or on the person, while the weapon is loaded, in which
33 case it shall be a Class X felony. A person convicted of a
34 second or subsequent violation of subsection 24-1(a)(4),
-5- LRB9004108RCksA
1 24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) commits a Class 3 felony.
2 (c) Violations in specific places.
3 (1) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(6) or
4 24-1(a)(7) in any school, regardless of the time of day
5 or the time of year, in residential property owned,
6 operated and managed by a public housing agency, in a
7 public park, in a courthouse, on the real property
8 comprising any school, regardless of the time of day or
9 the time of year, on residential property owned,
10 operated and managed by a public housing agency, on the
11 real property comprising any public park, on the real
12 property comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance
13 owned, leased or contracted by a school to transport
14 students to or from school or a school related activity,
15 or on any public way within 1,000 feet of the real
16 property comprising any school, public park, courthouse,
17 or residential property owned, operated, and managed by a
18 public housing agency commits a Class 2 felony.
19 (1.5) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(4),
20 24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) in any school, regardless of
21 the time of day or the time of year, in residential
22 property owned, operated, and managed by a public housing
23 agency, in a public park, in a courthouse, on the real
24 property comprising any school, regardless of the time of
25 day or the time of year, on residential property owned,
26 operated, and managed by a public housing agency, on the
27 real property comprising any public park, on the real
28 property comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance
29 owned, leased, or contracted by a school to transport
30 students to or from school or a school related activity,
31 or on any public way within 1,000 feet of the real
32 property comprising any school, public park, courthouse,
33 or residential property owned, operated, and managed by a
34 public housing agency commits a Class 3 felony.
-6- LRB9004108RCksA
1 (2) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(1) or
2 24-1(a)(3) in any school, regardless of the time of day
3 or the time of year, in residential property owned,
4 operated and managed by a public housing agency, in a
5 public park, in a courthouse, on the real property
6 comprising any school, regardless of the time of day or
7 the time of year, on residential property owned, operated
8 and managed by a public housing agency, on the real
9 property comprising any public park, on the real property
10 comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance owned,
11 leased or contracted by a school to transport students to
12 or from school or a school related activity, or on any
13 public way within 1,000 feet of the real property
14 comprising any school, public park, courthouse, or
15 residential property owned, operated, and managed by a
16 public housing agency commits a Class 4 felony.
17 "Courthouse" means any building that is used by the
18 Circuit, Appellate, or Supreme Court of this State for
19 the conduct of official business.
20 (3) Paragraphs (1), (1.5), and (2) of this
21 subsection (c) shall not apply to law enforcement
22 officers or security officers of such school, college, or
23 university or to students carrying or possessing firearms
24 for use in training courses, parades, hunting, target
25 shooting on school ranges, or otherwise with the consent
26 of school authorities and which firearms are transported
27 unloaded enclosed in a suitable case, box, or
28 transportation package.
29 (4) For the purposes of this subsection (c),
30 "school" means any public or private elementary or
31 secondary school, community college, college, or
32 university.
33 (d) The presence in an automobile other than a public
34 omnibus of any weapon, instrument or substance referred to in
-7- LRB9004108RCksA
1 subsection (a)(7) is prima facie evidence that it is in the
2 possession of, and is being carried by, all persons occupying
3 such automobile at the time such weapon, instrument or
4 substance is found, except under the following circumstances:
5 (i) if such weapon, instrument or instrumentality is found
6 upon the person of one of the occupants therein; or (ii) if
7 such weapon, instrument or substance is found in an
8 automobile operated for hire by a duly licensed driver in the
9 due, lawful and proper pursuit of his trade, then such
10 presumption shall not apply to the driver.
11 (e) Exemptions. Crossbows, Common or Compound bows and
12 Underwater Spearguns are exempted from the definition of
13 ballistic knife as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)
14 of this Section.
15 (Source: P.A. 87-524; 87-930; 88-156; 88-467; 88-670, eff.
16 12-2-94; 88-680, eff. 1-1-95.)