Illinois allows home-rule municipalities to enact firearms ordinances that are more restrictive than the FOID Act, except in areas that state law preempts. This partial preemption framework is rooted in the Illinois Constitution and has been shaped by the Firearm Concealed Carry Act of 2013. [2]
Constitutional Home-Rule Authority
Article VII, Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution provides that, except as limited by that section, a home-rule unit may "exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs including, but not limited to, the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals and welfare." A municipality with a population exceeding 25,000 is a home-rule unit unless it has elected by referendum not to be one. Smaller municipalities may adopt home-rule status by referendum. Cook County holds home-rule authority as a county.[2]
By a three-fifths vote of the members elected to each house, the General Assembly may deny or limit home-rule taxing powers and certain powers not exercised by the State. It may also provide specifically by law for exclusive state exercise of other home-rule powers, subject to the limits in Article VII, Section 6. Absent such action, home-rule units retain the authority to legislate on firearms matters.
What Is Preempted: Concealed Carry
The Firearm Concealed Carry Act (430 ILCS 66/90) includes express preemption of local handgun regulation. Section 90 states that the regulation, licensing, possession, registration, and transportation of handguns and ammunition for handguns by licensees are exclusive powers and functions of the State. Inconsistent local ordinances enacted on or before the Act took effect in 2013 are invalid in their application to licensees under the Act.[1]
This means municipalities cannot impose additional concealed carry requirements beyond those in the state Act. They cannot require local concealed carry permits, add prohibited locations beyond the state's list, or impose additional training requirements. The concealed carry framework is uniform statewide.
Partly Preempted: Other Areas of Firearms Regulation
Outside the areas of exclusive state power, home-rule municipalities retain authority over some subjects. The status of the most commonly regulated areas is as follows:
- Assault weapons bans: Ordinances regulating possession or ownership of assault weapons inconsistently with the FOID Act survive preemption under 430 ILCS 65/13.1(c) only if enacted on, before, or within 10 days after July 9, 2013[2]. Ordinances regulating possession or ownership inconsistently with the FOID Act cannot be enacted after that window, but preserved ordinances may be amended and may use definitions differing from the state's Protect Illinois Communities Act[2]
- Firearm registration: Municipalities may not require handgun registration by valid FOID card holders or concealed carry licensees. Under 430 ILCS 66/90 handgun registration by licensees is an exclusive state power, and Chicago repealed its firearm-registration provisions in September 2013
- Firearm dealer regulation: Home-rule local governments may impose firearm dealer requirements beyond the state FDLC where state law permits concurrent local regulation under Article VII, Section 6(i) of the Illinois Constitution
- Taxation: Home-rule taxing power over firearms is contested. In Guns Save Life v. Ali (2021), the Illinois Supreme Court struck down Cook County's firearm and ammunition taxes under the state constitution's uniformity clause
- Discharge and storage: Home-rule municipalities may regulate firearm discharge under their public-safety powers. Local storage requirements must respect the State's exclusive authority over handgun possession by valid FOID card holders
The 2013 Preemption Deadline
The 10-day window comes from the FOID Card Act, not the Concealed Carry Act. Under 430 ILCS 65/13.1(c), added in 2013, an ordinance regulating the possession or ownership of assault weapons inconsistently with the FOID Act survives this preemption rule only if it was enacted on, before, or within 10 days after July 9, 2013. Ordinances enacted after that window that regulate possession or ownership of assault weapons inconsistently with the FOID Act are invalid, and a home-rule unit that did not act within the window may not enact such regulations.[1]
Assault weapons ordinances that met the deadline, such as the Cook County ordinance and various municipal bans, were preserved. Handgun registration by valid FOID card holders or concealed carry licensees is an exclusive state power, and Chicago repealed its firearm-registration provisions in September 2013 after the state preemption law took effect.
Practical Impact: A Patchwork of Local Laws
The lack of full preemption creates a fragmented regulatory landscape. A firearm that is legal in one municipality may be prohibited in the neighboring jurisdiction. The burden falls on the individual firearm owner to know and comply with the laws of each jurisdiction they enter. Non-home-rule municipalities may exercise only powers granted by law or the Illinois Constitution and may not enact firearms regulations that conflict with state law. Residents of those smaller municipalities remain subject to applicable municipal and county firearms ordinances as well as state and federal law.[2]