Illinois Gun Laws: FOID, Concealed Carry and Penalties

Illinois gun laws require every resident who wants to own a firearm or ammunition to first obtain a Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) card from the Illinois State Police, and anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun in public must get a separate Concealed Carry License on top of that. The state also enforces a 72-hour waiting period on every firearm sale, runs background checks on all transfers including private ones, bans most open carry, and prohibits a range of semi-automatic firearms and large-capacity magazines under a 2023 law.

The FOID Card Is the Baseline

You need a valid FOID card to buy, own, or possess a firearm or ammunition in Illinois, even if the gun never leaves your house. The Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau runs the program and vets every applicant.¹

Applicants must be at least 21. Anyone younger can apply only with written consent from a parent or legal guardian who is themselves eligible for a FOID card, and only if the minor has no misdemeanor convictions beyond traffic offenses. The sponsoring parent files an affidavit with the Illinois State Police.²

Several conditions disqualify you from a FOID card, including:

A felony conviction in Illinois or any other jurisdiction
Certain misdemeanor convictions within the past five years, including battery, assault, or violations of an order of protection involving a firearm
A domestic battery conviction at any point
An active order of protection prohibiting firearm possession
A mental health facility admission within the past five years
Narcotics addiction

These come from the FOID Card Act’s eligibility rules.²

You apply online through the Illinois State Police portal with a valid Illinois driver’s license or state ID and a recent color headshot. The fee is $10 for a card that lasts 10 years, payable by credit card or electronic check.³ Processing takes roughly 30 days, though backlogs can stretch it longer. Cards are mailed to the address on your state ID.

The Concealed Carry License Is a Separate Permission

A FOID card lets you own a gun; it does not let you carry one in public. For that you need a Concealed Carry License (CCL) under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act.⁴

You must already hold a valid FOID card to apply. The main added hurdle is a 16-hour firearms training course taught by an Illinois State Police-certified instructor, covering safe handling, marksmanship, and state and federal use-of-force law, with a live-fire qualification at a range. Active-duty military and honorably discharged veterans can receive up to eight hours of credit, and holders of certain other states’ carry permits or hunter safety certificates can receive up to four. Everyone still has to complete the Illinois-specific legal instruction and the range qualification.

The state fee is $150 for Illinois residents. Live Scan electronic fingerprinting is optional but speeds the background investigation; without fingerprints, applications can take up to 120 days. With a complete fingerprinted application, the Illinois State Police has up to 90 days to approve or deny.⁵ The Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board can object to any application if it finds evidence the applicant poses a danger.⁴

Private training typically runs $125 to $225, and Live Scan fingerprinting adds $30 to $130 depending on the vendor. Plan on $300 to $530 total between the state fee, training, and fingerprints.

Buying a Gun: The 72-Hour Wait and Universal Background Checks

Every firearm sale in Illinois is subject to a 72-hour waiting period. It applies to all firearms and to every type of transaction, dealer or private. The clock starts when the buyer initiates the purchase and the background check begins.⁶ Narrow exceptions exist for law enforcement, dealer-to-dealer transfers, and certain competitive events, but they do not reach typical consumer sales.

Private sales between individuals also require a background check.⁷ A private seller must verify the buyer’s FOID card status through the Illinois State Police online system before handing over the firearm. Selling without that verification is a felony for unlawful delivery.⁶ Keep the transfer confirmation number and any paperwork for as long as you own the firearm.

Where You Cannot Carry Even With a CCL

A valid CCL does not open every door. State law bans concealed carry in more than 20 categories of locations, including:

Schools and child care facilities, including their parking areas
Government buildings controlled by executive or legislative branches
Courthouses and any building under the control of a court
Prisons, jails, and detention facilities
Hospitals, mental health facilities, and nursing homes
Public transportation, including buses, trains, and transit facilities
Bars and restaurants where more than 50% of gross receipts come from alcohol
Public playgrounds, parks, and athletic facilities controlled by a municipality or park district
Public gatherings and special events that require a local government permit
Libraries, museums, and zoos
Stadiums and arenas
Colleges and universities
Nuclear energy facilities

The full list is codified in the Concealed Carry Act.⁸ Private property owners can also prohibit carry on their premises by posting a 4-by-6-inch sign of the state-approved design at the entrance. Violating any location restriction is a separate criminal offense.

Transporting a Firearm in Your Vehicle

With a CCL, you can keep a loaded, concealed handgun on your person or within reach in the car. Without a CCL, the rules tighten considerably. A FOID cardholder can transport a firearm in a vehicle only if it is unloaded and completely enclosed in a case that is zipped, snapped, buckled, or otherwise fastened shut.⁹

Transporting without a FOID card at all is where things escalate. An uncased, loaded, or immediately accessible firearm in your vehicle without a valid FOID card is a Class 4 felony. “Immediately accessible” means a reasonable person would conclude the firearm is within relatively quick reach.⁹

Non-residents passing through must keep firearms unloaded, cased, and not immediately accessible, or broken down into a non-functioning state.

Open Carry Is Not Allowed

Illinois is not an open carry state. Knowingly carrying a firearm in any public place inside the limits of a city, village, or incorporated town is illegal. The exceptions are on your own property, in your own home or business, or on someone else’s property with permission. A CCL holder may carry a partially exposed handgun, but fully open carry in public is a criminal offense.¹⁰

Banned Firearms and Magazine Limits

The Protect Illinois Communities Act, enacted in 2023, bans the sale, purchase, and delivery of firearms the law classifies as assault weapons, along with certain large-capacity magazines. It is codified at 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9.¹¹ The definition covers semi-automatic rifles and pistols with specified features, plus .50 caliber rifles and cartridges. The Illinois State Police publishes an identification guide for the public and law enforcement.¹²

Magazine capacity limits:

Rifles: fixed magazines holding more than 10 rounds are prohibited, with an exception for tubular devices designed for .22 caliber rimfire
Handguns: fixed magazines holding more than 15 rounds are prohibited
Shotguns: fixed magazines holding more than 5 rounds are prohibited, and shotguns that accept detachable magazines are banned

These thresholds are set in the statute.¹¹

People who already owned affected firearms or magazines before the ban had until January 1, 2024, to register them with an endorsement affidavit through their FOID card account. The affidavit required make, model, caliber, and serial number for each weapon, plus confirmation of ownership of a locking device. Registered items can be kept but cannot be sold or transferred inside Illinois except through inheritance or surrender to law enforcement. Buying a banned item now, or possessing one without prior registration, carries serious criminal penalties. Machine guns and silencers remain prohibited under the longstanding unlawful-use-of-weapons statute.¹⁰

When Self-Defense Is Legally Justified

Illinois recognizes self-defense but is not a stand-your-ground state. Your response must be proportional. Non-deadly force is justified when you reasonably believe it is necessary to defend yourself or someone else from another person’s imminent use of unlawful force.¹³

Deadly force — force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm — is justified only when you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent imminent death, great bodily harm, or a forcible felony. That is a high bar. A prosecutor who can show a lesser response would have worked can defeat a self-defense claim.¹³

Inside your home the rules shift in your favor. You can use force to prevent or stop an unlawful entry into your dwelling, and deadly force is justified if the intruder enters in a violent or tumultuous manner and you reasonably believe force is necessary to prevent an assault on anyone inside, or if you reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent a felony in the dwelling.¹⁴ When defensive force is justified, you are protected from civil suits by the aggressor or their family unless the force involved willful or wanton misconduct.

Firearms Restraining Orders

Illinois has a red flag law, the Firearms Restraining Order Act, which lets a family member or law enforcement officer petition a court to temporarily remove someone’s access to firearms.¹⁵ It creates two kinds of orders:

Emergency order: issued without the respondent present when there is probable cause the person poses an immediate and present danger; the person must surrender all firearms and ammunition.
Plenary order: issued after a full hearing where the respondent can appear, lasting six months to one year if the petitioner proves by clear and convincing evidence that the person poses a significant danger. These can be renewed.

“Family member” is defined broadly, covering spouses, former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren, blood relatives, in-laws, co-parents of a minor child, and anyone who shares a dwelling with the person. Knowingly violating a firearms restraining order is a Class A misdemeanor.¹⁵

If Your FOID Card Is Revoked

A FOID card can be revoked at any time if you become ineligible, for example through a new felony conviction, a domestic violence order of protection, or a mental health admission. Once you receive notice, you have 48 hours to surrender your FOID card to local law enforcement, transfer all firearms out of your possession, and complete a Firearm Disposition Record documenting where each gun went. Failing to comply with the 48-hour requirement is itself a Class A misdemeanor.¹⁶

If you think the revocation was in error, you can request an appeal by emailing the Illinois State Police Firearm Rights and Compliance Unit. Submitting the disposition documents does not guarantee reinstatement, but it is required before review. If you sponsor a minor’s FOID card, that card is automatically revoked when yours is, and the minor must go through the same surrender process.¹⁶

Out-of-State Permits

Illinois does not recognize concealed carry licenses from any other state. A permit from Texas, Florida, or anywhere else has no legal effect once you cross into Illinois, and carrying on an out-of-state permit is treated the same as carrying with no license at all.

Non-residents can apply for an Illinois CCL, but only if they live in a state whose firearms laws the Illinois State Police has deemed “substantially similar” to Illinois’s. The qualifying list changes by ISP rule. Non-resident applicants must meet all the same training and background requirements as residents, submit a notarized statement confirming they are eligible to own firearms under both federal law and the laws of their home state, and provide documentation equivalent to an Illinois FOID card.⁴ Non-residents simply passing through without a CCL must keep firearms unloaded, cased, and not immediately accessible.

Penalties for Common Violations

Penalties vary sharply by what you did and your licensing status. The most common scenarios:

Possessing a firearm without a FOID card: Class 4 felony, one to three years in prison and fines up to $25,000.
Carrying concealed without a CCL, first offense: Class A misdemeanor under the unlawful use of weapons statute, up to one year in jail, up to two years of probation, and fines. Subsequent offenses escalate to a Class 3 felony.
Selling a firearm without verifying the buyer’s FOID card: felony charge for unlawful delivery.
Violating a firearms restraining order: Class A misdemeanor.
Failing to surrender firearms within 48 hours of FOID revocation: Class A misdemeanor.

The unlawful use of weapons statute covers a wide range of conduct, from carrying in a prohibited location to possessing devices like machine guns or short-barreled rifles.¹⁰ Aggravating factors, like having a loaded uncased firearm in a vehicle without a FOID card, can push a misdemeanor into felony territory. How the gun was stored, whether it was loaded, and your licensing status all shape the charge.

1
Illinois State Police. Firearms Services Bureau
2
Justia. 430 ILCS 65 – Firearm Owners Identification Card Act
3
Illinois State Police. Firearm Owners Identification (FOID)
4
Illinois General Assembly. 430 ILCS 66 – Firearm Concealed Carry Act
5
Illinois General Assembly. 430 ILCS 66/10 – Issuance of Licenses
6
FindLaw. Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/24-3 – Unlawful Sale or Delivery of Firearms
7
Illinois.gov. Gov. Pritzker Signs FOID Modernization Bill, Expanding Background Checks
8
Illinois General Assembly. 430 ILCS 66/65 – Prohibited Areas
9
Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Transport Your Firearm Legally
10
FindLaw. Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/24-1 – Unlawful Use of Weapons
11
Illinois General Assembly. 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9 – Manufacture, Possession, Delivery, Sale, and Purchase of Assault Weapons, .50 Caliber Rifles, and .50 Caliber Cartridges
12
Illinois State Police. Assault Weapon Identification Guide
13
FindLaw. Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/7-1 – Use of Force in Defense of Person
14
FindLaw. Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/7-2 – Use of Force in Defense of Dwelling
15
Illinois General Assembly. 430 ILCS 67 – Firearms Restraining Order Act
16
Illinois State Police. FOID Revoked