(NewsNation) — Illinois became the first Midwest state to ban so-called ghost guns on Wednesday, as gun violence continues to plague cities across America.
Ghost guns are homemade firearms, usually assembled from gun parts kits, that lack the serial numbers used to trace them.
“Last year, over 20,000 ghost guns were involved in criminal investigations nationwide,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said, according to NewsNation local affiliate WGN-TV in Chicago. “These easy to access weapons will be phased out of existence, promoting safe legal gun ownership in every corner of the state.”
Under the new law, anyone who sells or transfers a ghost gun can be found guilty of a Class 4 felony (punishable by one to three years in prison) for the first violation. A subsequent violation would be a Class 2 felony (three to seven years).
People found possessing, transporting or receiving a ghost gun can be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor (up to 364 days in prison, fines of up to $2,500) for the first violation, and a Class 3 felony (five to 10 years, fines of up to $25,000) for additional violations.
Chicago Police have seen an increase over the years in ghost guns’ presence on the streets, WGN reported. CPD recovered only two ghost guns in 2016, with that number increasing to 139 in 2020, then 455 in 2021, according to the station.
Pritzker’s signing of the ghost gun ban comes as more local and national leaders attempt to crack down on ghost guns, as well as gun violence in general. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, firearm homicides are at the highest level they’ve been at in 26 years.
Recent shootings in Buffalo, New York, where a white supremacist gunman targeted Black people in a local supermarket, and a deadly attack on a Southern California church by a man motivated by hate for Taiwanese people, have put an even brighter spotlight on the issue.
In April, President Joe Biden announced new regulations to crack down on ghost guns, including classifying gun kits as firearms. Sellers of those kits must become federally licensed, and buyers will have to submit to background checks. The previous year, the president issued a half-dozen executive actions to tackle the United States’ gun violence problem.
This included going after rogue gun dealers; disrupting illegal gun trafficking; funding community policing and community violence intervention; as well as funding job training, drug treatment, and mental health services.