Gun owners in Illinois will soon be required to take additional measures to keep their weapons out of the hands of children under a new law signed July 28 by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Senate Bill 8, known as the Safe Gun Storage Act, prohibits gun owners from storing their weapons in an unsecured manner at any location where they know, or reasonably should know, the gun could be accessed by a minor, a person at risk of harming themselves or others or by a person who is prohibited under state or federal law from possessing a firearm, according to a Capitol News Illinois article.

Under the law, gun owners will be required to keep firearms in a locked container which is inaccessible to anyone other than the owner.

Gun owners who violate the law could be subject to civil fines of $500 – but those fines could go up to $1,000 if a minor, at-risk person or prohibited person  obtains the firearm, and as high as $10,000 if such person uses it to kill or injure someone in the course of committing a crime.

However, the law also provides that gun owners will not be found in violation of the law if a minor, at-risk person or prohibited person obtains their firearm by unlawfully entering the premises.

In addition to the new storage requirements, SB 8 also requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm to law enforcement within 48 hours of discovery, as opposed to the previous 72-hour requirement.

The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2025. 

Gun rights organizations are challenging the new storage requirements.

Citing a July 24 California appellate court ruling, gun rights advocates are arguing that the decision to block background checks for those purchasing ammunition has bearing on the new Illinois law.

The California judge issued an opinion that the law was not consistent with the nation’s “historical tradition” of firearms regulation, a standard the Supreme Court established in 2022, less than a year before Illinois passed its assault weapons ban.

In November, a federal judge in East St. Louis struck down the Illinois law using the same “historical tradition” analysis. But his ruling has been put on hold pending an appeal to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.

In that case, the attorney general’s office has until Aug. 14 to file its final brief, although the law is expected to eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Another new Illinois law was recently signed which requires law enforcement officers in the state to start tracing the ownership of any firearm that is recovered from a crime scene, used unlawfully or is believed to be associated with a crime.

Prior to the new law, participation in the state’s eTrace system was voluntary.

“We know now that approximately half of shootings nationwide never get solved. Only about a third do here in the city of Chicago,” said Sen. Bill Cunningham (D-Chicago), the lead Senate sponsor of House Bill 1373. “We also know that the same gun can often be used again and again in multiple shootings, multiple killings. We need to do something about that. That’s what this bill does. It ensures that all law enforcement agencies report all information they have on a gun anytime they recover it at the scene of a crime.”

This new law went into effect immediately upon Pritzker signing the bill last month.