AR style rifle in cook county

[BrowningHP]

Anyone familiar with the cook county "assault weapon" laws? Are there any AR-like builds which wouldn't make me a felon for possessing?

[Cec]

Depends on where you live. I live in Cook County and the Village I am in has home rule and they abide by State law, not county. I have plenty of AR's and they are readily sold around me at the local gun shops.

[BobPistol]

If a home rule city does not have a magazine restriction, does Cook County's 10 round mag limit have legal force?

[Cec]

Someone other than me would have to answer that. I can tell you I purchase pistols with magazines over 10 rounds and the pistols sold around here do not have a limit on them. They are sold as designed by the manufacturer. Just want to add none of my AR or shotgun mags are limited either.

[AlphaKoncepts aka CGS]

Depends on where you live. I live in Cook County and the Village I am in has home rule and they abide by State law, not county. I have plenty of AR's and they are readily sold around me at the local gun shops.

I see AR's at cook county gun shops for sale nearly every visit. I also see standard capacity 30 round magazines for sale as well.

 

A friend contacted his local PD before buying his AR and the officer on the phone said "so long as you have a foid, it's legal here." he lives in cook county.

[Nic]

IANAL:

 

The CC AWB and mag limit applies to all of Cook County UNLESS you live in a home-rule unit. The home-rule unit's own rules, laws, and regulations TRUMP CC law in regards to AWB and mag limit. You might be surprised to find out that most incorporated municipalities in Cook County ARE home-rule units. This is the reason why CC mag limit is 10 rounds BUT Chicago allows up to 12 rounds.

[Leth]

Interesting. Is there a listing of CC villages with home rule that also includes the rules pertaining to handguns and modern sporting rifles?

[Nic]

Interesting. Is there a listing of CC villages with home rule that also includes the rules pertaining to handguns and modern sporting rifles?

 

You would have an easier time contacting the CC village in question and finding out if they are home-rule. You can then search for their ordinances and laws that preempts CC law. The home rule unit MUST have a home rule law that preempts CC laws, otherwise CC laws are in effect.

[Capt_Destro]

Interesting. Is there a listing of CC villages with home rule that also includes the rules pertaining to handguns and modern sporting rifles?

 

You would have an easier time contacting the CC village in question and finding out if they are home-rule. You can then search for their ordinances and laws that preempts CC law. The home rule unit MUST have a home rule law that preempts CC laws, otherwise CC laws are in effect.

 

 

Look up municipality ordinances, if there are laws that conflict with county law; the municipality law takes priority. This is based on the Illinois constitution I believe.

 

This is how a village that is not home rule can have an ordinance that over rules a county law. Home rule is just a classification of a population over 25k I believe. Some home rule municipalities probably have cook county's laws in effect. So check local laws.

 

IANAL though.

 

May I ask which township or village? Feel free to PM it.

[Leth]

Thanks for the great info! Captain, the OP might have a specific village in mind, but I currently don't. I'm a Lake county resident, but if I were to ever buy a property in CC I would want to determine in advance which villages have ordinances permitting handguns and MSRs.

Cheers!

[UrbanSi]

Not sure where you live but Midwest sells AR's and accessories now. Has so for a bout a year.

 

Prices are elevated but they have them.

 

I would prefer to just buy a stripped lower and buy a parts kit, assembly is really easy even if you have never done it.

 

I would help you put it together if you are close.

[BrowningHP]

Thanks, these responses were helpful. As stupid as the laws might be, would like to do my best to be in compliance.

[BackForward]

http://library.municode.com/HTML/13805/level4/PTIGEOR_CH54LIPEMIBURE_ARTIIIDEWEDE_DIV4BLHOASWEBA.html

[Skorpius]

And now...just hang on for a few days and see what happens. May all be rendered moot.

[AlphaKoncepts aka CGS]

And now...just hang on for a few days and see what happens. May all be rendered moot.

Yup.

[wtr100]

And now...just hang on for a few days and see what happens. May all be rendered moot.

 

it maybe be soon but not days - I bet quinn sits on it - won't veto but won't sign either

[AlphaKoncepts aka CGS]

Quinn has only weeks before the cliff they seam to fear so much. You think he signs June 8th at 11:59pm?

[il.bill]

I expect Quinn to do some discretionary veto of items like AWB and "high capacity" magazine state preemption and we will be stuck with that and all the prohibitions agreed to in the final bill. Insufficient votes will be assembled by Madigan to override any vetoed provisions at the end, and the knife will be planted firmly in our backs.

I apologize for using a violent metaphor on any firearm forum.

[Hoplite]

IANAL:

 

The CC AWB and mag limit applies to all of Cook County UNLESS you live in a home-rule unit. The home-rule unit's own rules, laws, and regulations TRUMP CC law in regards to AWB and mag limit.

 

Thats not exactly accurate..

 

Cook does not seem to WANT to 'push it' with their assault weapons ban unless the weapon was used to commit a crime or in furtherance of 'criminal activity', probably out of concern with what will happen when the AWB is challenged in a prosecution of a citizen who otherwise bought the firearm legally, resides in and possessed it in a home rule town, but did not use it in any criminal act.

There are very limited cases that a Cook Deputy would even come into contact with such person(s) to begin with outside of a eviction or process service.

 

Under the BHAWB, the Cook County Board directly cloned the text directly from the Illinois Constitution regarding the rights of Home Rule Units, which is the majority of towns in Cook County and most of its landmass - http://www.ilga.gov/...on/lrb/con7.htm

 

The state constitution says that a Home Rule law or ordinance overrides a County law or ordinance, except under a very limited set of circumstances,

but it can be interpreted to imply that this requires OVERT action by the Home Rule Unit. The BHAWB text says, straight from the IL Constitution, that any Home Rule unit within Cook can opt out of the BHAWB, not because they want this to happen or would CHOOSE to permit this 'opt out', but because its the only possible way they can attempt to exert control over Home Rule Units in such a manner that would be permissible under our constitution.

 

That all said - No one (Home Rule) that I am aware of in Cook County has actually passed any local ordinance to exempt themselves from Cook's BHAWB.

 

Sterling Codifiers contracts to write/maintain the local codes and ordinances for many Illinois Home Rule units, and I found this link that lists many of the links to the towns and cities in Illinois that they contract with-

http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/IL/

 

County-Level Law enforcement has no direct impact or contact with most residents in these Home Rule units or with Gun Stores or Ranges in such Home Rule towns that are dealt with by Home Rule zoning and ordinances.

In a N.W. Cook Town Range/Shop that sells AR-15's, Ak-47's, and allows any variety of 'Assault' rifles and hi-cap mags to be fired on a range in that town, no changes to any city code or weapons ordinance have been enacted since the BHAWB to exempt those within that town from the BHAWB.

 

It is really more of a uneasy peace than it is a clearly defined issue of legality in Cook County Home Rule units, and you need to understand that, as how matters are enforced or dealt with may be different in different circumstances or contacts.

 

Whether Cook County REALLY wants to fight it out over their AWB, as far as defending legally a assertion that they can impose this law on home rule citizens within their town of residence in cases where the town did not act to pass a deliberate ordinance exempting themselves from the AWB is not a decided or settled matter, and can still result in charges and litigation if they wanted to make a arrest and pursue the matter.

 

The biggest worry for Cook in this matter would be a concern that if they intervene without any invite into Home Rule Law Enforcement matters within these Home Rule units, they can be held liable for the costs of a lot of other matters and services by any town who now asserts that the Cook County Sheriff has adopted this liability by taking control in their internal LE matters.

 

The other main concern for Cook is obviously that arresting a non-criminal who merely OWNED a otherwise legal firearm and did not get arrested in the commission of a property or violent crime, would trigger a legal challenge to the law and a examination that they likely could lose over whether the County Board can impose LE obligations onto home rule units that did not themselves seek to enact such restrictions.

 

If you are getting evicted or served with process by a Sheriff's deputy (which would result in a Sheriffs deputy coming into a Home Rule LE Unit) or are in some other manner coming into contact with a Sheriffs deputy or even a Home Rule local LE who acts to enforce the provisions of the BHAWB, it is NOT a settled matter that you are legally able to ignore the provisions of the AWB inside of a Cook County Home Rule unit,

and no one should be dispensing advice to lead anyone to that conclusion.

 

If NOTHING ELSE.. I would not be at all surprised to see the potential for cases where the seized weapon is not returned to a resident of a Home Rule Unit who possessed the weapon inside that Home Rule Unit, even if criminal charges are not pursued resulting in the loss of a costly piece of property, which is in and of itself a severe expense.

 

All in all, nothing in any Cook Home Rule unit is really a settled matter on this issue until someone litigates the matter after being arrested in a test case where someone with a valid FOID and no other related criminal charges is charged and taken to trial for possessing a banned 'Assault' weapon or mag within the confines of a Cook Home Rule unit that did not actively pass a law exempting their jurisdiction from said ban.. and to my knowledge that has not happened yet.

[McCroskey]

If you wait until after June 9, the AWB may be gone and you can buy whatever you want