PICA Banned Firearms:
Features Test and Named Models

The Protect Illinois Communities Act defines "assault weapon" through several separate criteria. They include a features test for semiautomatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns, fixed magazine capacity limits, any shotgun with a revolving cylinder, semiautomatic firearms that can accept a belt ammunition feeding device, modified firearms, conversion parts, and named model lists. A firearm that meets any one criterion is an assault weapon unless an exclusion in 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9(a)(2) applies, and it is subject to the ban except as that Section provides.^[1]

Which firearms can still be bought and owned is covered in What Guns Are Legal in Illinois After PICA.

Features Test: Semiautomatic Rifles

A semiautomatic rifle is classified as an assault weapon under PICA if it has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or may be readily modified to accept a detachable magazine, and it has one or more of the following features.^[2]

• A pistol grip or thumbhole stock
• A folding, telescoping, thumbhole, or detachable stock, or a stock that is otherwise foldable or adjustable in a manner that operates to reduce the length, size, or any other dimension, or otherwise enhances the concealability of, the weapon
• A grenade launcher
• Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand
• A shroud attached to the barrel or that partially or completely encircles the barrel, allowing the bearer to hold the firearm with the non-trigger hand without being burned, but excluding a slide that encloses the barrel
• A flash suppressor

Threaded barrels and buffer tubes or arm braces appear in PICA's handgun feature test, not the rifle test (720 ILCS 5/24-1.9(a)).

This is a "one feature" test. Only one of the listed features, combined with the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or to be readily modified to accept one, is required to classify the rifle as an assault weapon.

Features Test: Semiautomatic Pistols

A semiautomatic pistol is classified as an assault weapon if it has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or may be readily modified to accept a detachable magazine and has one or more specified features, or if it has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 15 rounds. The features criteria for pistols include a threaded barrel, a qualifying barrel shroud, or a buffer tube, arm brace, or other part that protrudes horizontally behind the pistol grip and is designed or redesigned to allow or facilitate firing from the shoulder.^[1]

Features Test: Semiautomatic Shotguns

A semiautomatic shotgun is classified as an assault weapon if it has a pistol grip or thumbhole stock, any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand, a folding or thumbhole stock, a grenade launcher, a fixed magazine with the capacity of more than 5 rounds, or the capacity to accept a detachable magazine. A revolving cylinder shotgun also falls within the definition.^[1]

Named Model List

In addition to the features test, PICA enumerates specific firearms by name. These include AR-15 platform rifles, AK-47 variants, and numerous other models from a wide range of manufacturers. A firearm that appears on the named list is an assault weapon regardless of whether it has any of the features described in the characteristics test.^[3]

.50 Caliber Rifles and Cartridges

PICA also bans .50 caliber rifles and .50 caliber cartridges as a separate category. As defined, a .50 caliber cartridge means a cartridge in .50 BMG caliber, either by designation or actual measurement, that is capable of being fired from a centerfire rifle, and a .50 caliber rifle is a centerfire rifle capable of firing such a cartridge, regardless of whether it meets the features test or appears on the named model list. The rifle definition excludes antique firearms, shotguns including those with rifle barrels, and muzzle-loaders that use black powder for hunting or historical reenactments. PICA prohibits knowing possession of .50 BMG cartridges capable of being fired from a centerfire rifle unless a statutory exception applies. The cartridge definition excludes any memorabilia or display item that is filled with a permanent inert substance or that is otherwise permanently altered in a manner that prevents ready modification for use as live ammunition, and shotgun ammunition with a caliber measurement that is equal to or greater than .50 caliber.^[1]

What Is Not Covered

Firearms manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action are excluded unless they are shotguns with revolving cylinders. Handguns as defined under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act are excluded unless otherwise listed in the statute. A semiautomatic rifle with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds is an assault weapon, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept and capable of operating only with .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. A fixed magazine of 10 rounds or fewer does not by itself exempt a semiautomatic rifle that is a named model or meets another statutory criterion. Firearms that PICA does not cover remain subject to the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act, which bars acquiring or possessing any firearm in Illinois without a FOID card, subject to its exceptions, and requires a check of the FOID card before a private transfer.^[2]