Illinois gun laws require anyone who owns a firearm or ammunition to hold a state-issued Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card, and anyone who wants to carry a loaded, concealed handgun in public to hold a separate Concealed Carry License (CCL). On top of that licensing structure, the state imposes a 72-hour waiting period on all sales, bans assault weapons and suppressors, limits magazine capacity, and lists dozens of places where even licensed carry is off-limits. The Illinois State Police (ISP) runs the whole system, and its rules routinely go beyond what federal law requires.
The FOID Card Is the Foundation
You cannot legally possess a firearm or ammunition in Illinois without a valid FOID card. The Firearm Owners Identification Card Act creates the license and puts the ISP in charge of issuing it.1Justia. Illinois Code 430 ILCS 65 – Firearm Owners Identification Card Act The card costs $10, lasts 10 years, and renews automatically if you submit fingerprints through a licensed live scan vendor.2Illinois State Police. Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID)
You generally need to be at least 21 to qualify. Applicants under 21 can still get a card with written parental or guardian consent, no misdemeanor convictions other than traffic offenses, and a parent or guardian who is themselves eligible for a FOID card. Active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces under 21 qualify by submitting annual proof of service.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Illinois State Laws and Published Ordinances
Who Gets Denied
The disqualifiers are extensive. The ISP will deny an application or revoke an existing card for a felony conviction, narcotics addiction, mental health inpatient treatment within the past five years without the required certification, a finding that you pose a clear and present danger, an intellectual disability, an active order of protection, or unlawful presence in the United States. Lying on the application is itself a disqualifier.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 65/8
Penalties for Lapsed or Missing Cards
What you face for possessing a firearm without a valid FOID depends on how you got there. If your card expired within the last six months and you are otherwise eligible, the charge is a petty offense. If it has been expired longer than six months but you remain eligible, that becomes a Class A misdemeanor, and a second offense under the same circumstances is a Class 4 felony. If your card was revoked or you were never eligible, it is a Class 3 felony carrying two to five years in prison.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 65/14 Letting a card expire while guns are still in the house can turn an administrative slip into a criminal charge, so track the date.
Concealed Carry License
A FOID card lets you own firearms and keep them at home or your place of business. Carrying a loaded, concealed handgun in public is a separate matter and requires a CCL under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.6Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 66 – Firearm Concealed Carry Act You need a valid FOID card before you can apply.
Training
New CCL applicants must complete at least 16 hours of training with an ISP-approved instructor. The curriculum covers safe handling, basic marksmanship, Illinois and federal use-of-force law, and live-fire range qualification. Active, retired, or honorably discharged military members get credit for eight of those hours and only need the remaining eight on Illinois-specific law and range qualification. Former law enforcement and corrections officers who separated in good standing can also get up to eight hours of credit for prior agency training.7Justia. Illinois Code 430 ILCS 66/75 – Applicant Firearm Training Renewals require just three hours of refresher training.
Cost, Timeline, and Objections
A new CCL costs $150 for residents and $300 for non-residents, and processing typically takes 90 to 120 days.8Illinois State Police. Concealed Carry License The extra time exists because the ISP opens a window for local law enforcement to raise objections based on your history of contacts with police, including incidents that might not appear on a standard criminal background check. If an agency objects, the Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board decides whether you pose a danger to yourself, others, or public safety.9Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Administrative Code 20 Ill. Admin. Code 1231.70 – Objections
Buying and Transferring a Firearm
The 72-Hour Waiting Period
Illinois imposes a 72-hour waiting period on all firearm sales. A seller cannot deliver the gun until at least 72 hours after the buyer applies for the purchase, whether the sale happens at a gun store, a gun show, or between two private individuals. Stun guns and tasers have a shorter 24-hour period, and narrow exceptions apply to sales to law enforcement and certain licensed professionals like bank guards.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/24-3
Background Checks
Licensed dealers must verify a buyer’s FOID card through the ISP’s Firearm Transfer Inquiry Program before completing any sale.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 65/3.1 – Firearm Transfer Inquiry Program The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System runs at the same time. If the FBI cannot finish its check within three business days, federal law allows the dealer to proceed unless state law says otherwise.12Federal Bureau of Investigation. About NICS
Private Sales and Family Gifts
If you sell or transfer a firearm to someone who is not a licensed dealer, you have two options. You can take the transaction to a federally licensed dealer who will run the check and handle the paperwork for up to $25 per firearm, or you can contact the ISP directly to verify the buyer’s FOID card number. Either way, the buyer must hold a valid FOID card.13Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 65/3
Gifts to immediate family members are exempt from the dealer-or-ISP verification step, though the recipient still needs a FOID card. The exemption covers spouses, parents, children, stepchildren, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and in-laws. Other exemptions apply to court-ordered transfers, guns sent to a gunsmith for repair, and emergency loans where someone in the home reasonably believes possession is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious harm.13Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 65/3
What You Cannot Own
The Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA) bans the sale, purchase, and delivery of assault weapons. The law defines that category to include certain semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns with specific features such as folding or telescoping stocks, pistol grips, or grenade launchers. It also bans .50 caliber rifles and cartridges, along with any device designed to increase a firearm’s rate of fire to simulate fully automatic fire.14Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9
Magazine Capacity
PICA also restricts large-capacity magazines. Detachable long-gun magazines cannot hold more than 10 rounds, and handgun magazines cannot hold more than 15 rounds. Semi-automatic shotguns with fixed magazines are limited to five rounds under the assault weapon definition, while detachable shotgun magazines fall under the 10-round long-gun limit.15Illinois State Police. Protect Illinois Communities Act, Regulation on Assault Weapons
Grandfathered Weapons
If you legally owned an assault weapon or another regulated item before PICA took effect, you may keep it, but you were required to submit an endorsement affidavit through your FOID account by January 1, 2024. The ISP portal remains open for late submissions and does not charge separate fines for filing late, but the relevant jurisdiction could treat a late affidavit as invalid and charge you under the FOID Act or Criminal Code.15Illinois State Police. Protect Illinois Communities Act, Regulation on Assault Weapons The affidavit requirement covers the weapons themselves, not large-capacity magazines.
Suppressors
Illinois is one of eight states that ban civilian ownership of suppressors outright. Federal law allows registered suppressors with ATF approval; state law overrides that permission. Possessing a suppressor in Illinois is a criminal offense regardless of federal registration.
Where You Cannot Carry
Even with a valid CCL, you cannot carry in a long list of places. The Firearm Concealed Carry Act prohibits firearms in schools, hospitals, mental health facilities, nursing homes, courthouses, government buildings, public transit vehicles, airports, zoos, museums, and college campuses. Bars and restaurants that earn more than half their gross receipts from alcohol are also off-limits.16Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 66/65 – Prohibited Areas
Private property owners can ban firearms by posting a standardized four-by-six-inch sign at every entrance. Unless the property is a private residence, the sign is the required method of notice.16Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 66/65 – Prohibited Areas
Vehicle Storage
You do not have to leave the gun at home when visiting a prohibited location. A CCL holder may carry a concealed firearm into the parking area inside their vehicle and store it there while going into the prohibited building. The firearm has to stay concealed in a case inside a locked vehicle or locked container, and it cannot be visible from outside.16Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 66/65 – Prohibited Areas
Federal Property
Federal law independently bans firearms in federal buildings, courthouses, post offices (including their parking lots), military installations, federal prisons, and sterile areas of airports. A state CCL does not override those restrictions. National parks and forests generally allow carry under state law, but federal buildings inside them, such as visitor centers and ranger stations, are off-limits. The federal Gun-Free School Zones Act also creates a 1,000-foot buffer around schools where possession is illegal unless you hold a CCL issued by the state where the school sits.
Self-Defense and Use of Force
Illinois law justifies force when you reasonably believe it is necessary to defend yourself or another person against someone’s imminent use of unlawful force. Deadly force has a higher threshold: you may use it only when you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony.17Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/7-1
Illinois recognizes the castle doctrine. You have no duty to retreat inside your own home, and against someone who unlawfully enters your dwelling you may use force, including deadly force, without first trying to flee, so long as your belief that force was necessary is reasonable. Outside the home Illinois does not have a stand-your-ground law. Courts may consider whether you had a reasonable opportunity to safely retreat before using force in public, particularly deadly force. What is fully justified in your living room can face much closer scrutiny in a parking lot.
Illinois law also gives people who use justified force civil immunity. If someone is found to have been the aggressor, that person and their estate cannot sue you for defending yourself unless your defensive force involved willful or wanton misconduct.17Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/7-1
Firearms Restraining Orders
Illinois has a red flag law, the Firearms Restraining Order Act, that lets a court temporarily strip firearms from someone found to pose a danger to themselves or others. A family member or law enforcement officer can file the petition, and the “family member” definition is broad, covering spouses, former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren, blood or marriage relatives, co-parents, and anyone who shares a home with the respondent.18Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 67 – Firearms Restraining Order Act
The process moves in two stages. A court can grant an emergency order ex parte, without the respondent present, and must schedule a full hearing within 14 days. At that hearing the petitioner has to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent poses a significant danger. If the court agrees, it issues a plenary order lasting six months to a year, renewable in one-year increments. During the order the respondent must surrender all firearms and ammunition and cannot buy new ones.18Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 430 ILCS 67 – Firearms Restraining Order Act
Traveling Out of State
Illinois has limited reciprocity. The ISP may recognize an out-of-state concealed carry permit if that state’s training requirements are substantially similar to the Illinois 16-hour standard, or if the state is a contiguous state (Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, or Kentucky) with a reciprocal agreement recognizing Illinois licenses. In practice, few states meet the substantially-similar bar, and agreements shift over time. Check the ISP’s current reciprocity list and the laws of every state you plan to pass through before you travel. Your Illinois CCL does not automatically protect you once you cross the state line.
Local Ordinances
State law reserves regulation of handgun possession, licensing, registration, ammunition, and transportation by FOID cardholders to the state, and PICA does the same for assault weapon possession and ownership. The Concealed Carry Act separately preempts local regulation of CCL holders and handgun carry, and it explicitly overrides home rule authority on those issues.
Municipalities that had firearms ordinances imposing greater restrictions on acquisition, possession, or transfer in place before the FOID Act amendments took effect may still enforce those older ordinances. Cook County and some Chicago-area municipalities have historically kept their own restrictions on the books. If you live in or travel through a home-rule municipality, check the local code for anything state law leaves room for.