Cook County and Municipal Assault Weapons Ordinances

Before the Protect Illinois Communities Act established a statewide assault weapons ban in January 2023, several local jurisdictions in Illinois had already enacted their own restrictions. Illinois's 2013 firearms preemption law preserves municipal firearm restrictions except as provided in the Firearm Concealed Carry Act and the FOID Act's handgun, transportation, and assault weapon preemption provisions. Inconsistent ordinances regulating possession or ownership of assault weapons are invalid unless enacted on, before, or within 10 days after July 9, 2013. As a result, residents in these jurisdictions may be subject to local restrictions that are broader or more stringent than the state ban.^[5]

Illinois Firearms Preemption

Illinois adopted a split preemption structure in 2013. Under 430 ILCS 66/90, the regulation, licensing, possession, registration, and transportation of handguns and handgun ammunition by concealed carry licensees are exclusive powers of the state, and inconsistent local ordinances enacted on or before the 2013 law took effect were invalidated in their application to those licensees. Under 430 ILCS 65/13.1(c), regulation of the possession or ownership of assault weapons is an exclusive state power, but an inconsistent local ordinance is valid if enacted on, before, or within 10 days after July 9, 2013, and a qualifying ordinance may be amended. That narrow window is why municipalities that already had assault weapons bans on the books were allowed to keep them.^[1]

Cook County Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban

Cook County enacted the Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban, which applies in Cook County, but a conflicting municipal ordinance prevails within the municipality's jurisdiction. The Cook County ordinance bans a list of semiautomatic firearms by name and by features, and its definitions are in some respects broader than the state PICA definitions. The ordinance also prohibits large-capacity magazines, which the county defines as any ammunition feeding device that can accept more than 10 rounds, a lower threshold than PICA's 15-round handgun limit.^[5]

Municipal Ordinances

Several municipalities within Cook County have enacted their own assault weapons ordinances. Where a municipal ordinance conflicts with the county ban, the municipal ordinance prevails within that municipality. These municipalities include:^[2]

• Buffalo Grove
• Dolton
• Evanston
• Hazel Crest
• Homewood
• Riverdale
• Skokie

Firearms owners in these municipalities must comply with both the municipal ordinance and the state PICA provisions.

Chicago

The City of Chicago once required firearm registration. Article III of Chapter 8-20 of the Municipal Code, which held those provisions, is now reserved, and the current code has no registration requirement. Under 430 ILCS 66/90, enacted in 2013, the registration of handguns by concealed carry licensees is an exclusive power of the state, and inconsistent local ordinances enacted on or before the law took effect were invalidated in their application to those licensees. Chicago's handgun registration ban was challenged in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment makes the Second Amendment right applicable to the states. Chicago's remaining ordinances operate alongside state law, and firearms owners in Chicago must comply with both city and state requirements.^[3]

Interaction Between Local and State Bans

In jurisdictions where the local ban is narrower than PICA, the state ban governs. In jurisdictions where the local ban is broader, such as Cook County's 10-round magazine limit for all firearms, the local ordinance imposes additional restrictions beyond state law. Firearms owners in Cook County and the municipalities listed above should review both the local ordinance and PICA to determine which items are restricted in their jurisdiction.^[1]

Bevis v. City of Naperville

Bevis v. City of Naperville addressed consolidated preliminary-injunction appeals challenging Illinois state and local assault weapons bans under the Second Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on July 2, 2024, following the preliminary-injunction appeals in Bevis. In the separate Barnett v. Raoul consolidation, a federal district court issued a permanent statewide injunction against enforcing PICA on November 8, 2024, the Seventh Circuit stayed the injunction on December 5, 2024, and on July 9, 2026 the Seventh Circuit reversed the injunction and upheld PICA. State and local bans remain in effect.^[4]

Supreme Court Review: Viramontes v. Cook County

The Cook County ordinance itself is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 30, 2026, the Court granted certiorari in Viramontes v. Cook County (No. 25-238), consolidated with Grant v. Higgins (No. 25-566), a challenge to Connecticut's assault weapons ban, to decide whether the Second and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee the right to possess AR-15 platform and similar semiautomatic rifles. The Court has scheduled argument in the consolidated cases for December 2, 2026. Read the consolidated docket. The Cook County ordinance and PICA both remain in effect while the case is pending.