Bill Text: IL HB4703 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the unlawful use of weapons.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB4703 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB4703-Introduced.html

---

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB4703 Introduced , by Rep. Jerry F. Costello, II SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/24-1 from Ch. 38, par. 24-1
Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning the unlawful use of weapons.
LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
A BILL FOR
HB4703 LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing
Section 24-1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/24-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 24-1)
Sec. 24-1. Unlawful Use of Weapons.
(a) A person commits the the offense of unlawful use of
weapons when he knowingly:
(1) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or
carries any bludgeon, black-jack, slung-shot, sand-club,
sand-bag, metal knuckles or other knuckle weapon
regardless of its composition, throwing star, or any knife,
commonly referred to as a switchblade knife, which has a
blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to
a button, spring or other device in the handle of the
knife, or a ballistic knife, which is a device that propels
a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil
spring, elastic material or compressed gas; or
(2) Carries or possesses with intent to use the same
unlawfully against another, a dagger, dirk, billy,
dangerous knife, razor, stiletto, broken bottle or other
piece of glass, stun gun or taser or any other dangerous or

HB4703 - 2 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
deadly weapon or instrument of like character; or
(3) Carries on or about his person or in any vehicle, a
tear gas gun projector or bomb or any object containing
noxious liquid gas or substance, other than an object
containing a non-lethal noxious liquid gas or substance
designed solely for personal defense carried by a person 18
years of age or older; or
(4) Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on
or about his person except when on his land or in his own
abode, legal dwelling, or fixed place of business, or on
the land or in the legal dwelling of another person as an
invitee with that person's permission, any pistol,
revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm, except that
this subsection (a) (4) does not apply to or affect
transportation of weapons that meet one of the following
conditions:
(i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or
(ii) are not immediately accessible; or
(iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm
carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a
person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm
Owner's Identification Card; or
(5) Sets a spring gun; or
(6) Possesses any device or attachment of any kind
designed, used or intended for use in silencing the report
of any firearm; or

HB4703 - 3 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
(7) Sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses or
carries:
(i) a machine gun, which shall be defined for the
purposes of this subsection as any weapon, which
shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily
restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot
without manually reloading by a single function of the
trigger, including the frame or receiver of any such
weapon, or sells, manufactures, purchases, possesses,
or carries any combination of parts designed or
intended for use in converting any weapon into a
machine gun, or any combination or parts from which a
machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the
possession or under the control of a person;
(ii) any rifle having one or more barrels less than
16 inches in length or a shotgun having one or more
barrels less than 18 inches in length or any weapon
made from a rifle or shotgun, whether by alteration,
modification, or otherwise, if such a weapon as
modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches;
or
(iii) any bomb, bomb-shell, grenade, bottle or
other container containing an explosive substance of
over one-quarter ounce for like purposes, such as, but
not limited to, black powder bombs and Molotov
cocktails or artillery projectiles; or

HB4703 - 4 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
(8) Carries or possesses any firearm, stun gun or taser
or other deadly weapon in any place which is licensed to
sell intoxicating beverages, or at any public gathering
held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body
or any public gathering at which an admission is charged,
excluding a place where a showing, demonstration or lecture
involving the exhibition of unloaded firearms is
conducted.
This subsection (a)(8) does not apply to any auction or
raffle of a firearm held pursuant to a license or permit
issued by a governmental body, nor does it apply to persons
engaged in firearm safety training courses; or
(9) Carries or possesses in a vehicle or on or about
his person any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or
firearm or ballistic knife, when he is hooded, robed or
masked in such manner as to conceal his identity; or
(10) Carries or possesses on or about his person, upon
any public street, alley, or other public lands within the
corporate limits of a city, village or incorporated town,
except when an invitee thereon or therein, for the purpose
of the display of such weapon or the lawful commerce in
weapons, or except when on his land or in his own abode,
legal dwelling, or fixed place of business, or on the land
or in the legal dwelling of another person as an invitee
with that person's permission, any pistol, revolver, stun
gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection

HB4703 - 5 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
(a) (10) does not apply to or affect transportation of
weapons that meet one of the following conditions:
(i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or
(ii) are not immediately accessible; or
(iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm
carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a
person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm
Owner's Identification Card.
A "stun gun or taser", as used in this paragraph (a)
means (i) any device which is powered by electrical
charging units, such as, batteries, and which fires one or
several barbs attached to a length of wire and which, upon
hitting a human, can send out a current capable of
disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as
to render him incapable of normal functioning or (ii) any
device which is powered by electrical charging units, such
as batteries, and which, upon contact with a human or
clothing worn by a human, can send out current capable of
disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as
to render him incapable of normal functioning; or
(11) Sells, manufactures or purchases any explosive
bullet. For purposes of this paragraph (a) "explosive
bullet" means the projectile portion of an ammunition
cartridge which contains or carries an explosive charge
which will explode upon contact with the flesh of a human
or an animal. "Cartridge" means a tubular metal case having

HB4703 - 6 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
a projectile affixed at the front thereof and a cap or
primer at the rear end thereof, with the propellant
contained in such tube between the projectile and the cap;
or
(12) (Blank); or
(13) Carries or possesses on or about his or her person
while in a building occupied by a unit of government, a
billy club, other weapon of like character, or other
instrument of like character intended for use as a weapon.
For the purposes of this Section, "billy club" means a
short stick or club commonly carried by police officers
which is either telescopic or constructed of a solid piece
of wood or other man-made material.
(b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of
subsection 24-1(a)(1) through (5), subsection 24-1(a)(10),
subsection 24-1(a)(11), or subsection 24-1(a)(13) commits a
Class A misdemeanor. A person convicted of a violation of
subsection 24-1(a)(8) or 24-1(a)(9) commits a Class 4 felony; a
person convicted of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(6) or
24-1(a)(7)(ii) or (iii) commits a Class 3 felony. A person
convicted of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(7)(i) commits a
Class 2 felony and shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment
of not less than 3 years and not more than 7 years, unless the
weapon is possessed in the passenger compartment of a motor
vehicle as defined in Section 1-146 of the Illinois Vehicle
Code, or on the person, while the weapon is loaded, in which

HB4703 - 7 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
case it shall be a Class X felony. A person convicted of a
second or subsequent violation of subsection 24-1(a)(4),
24-1(a)(8), 24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) commits a Class 3
felony. The possession of each weapon in violation of this
Section constitutes a single and separate violation.
(c) Violations in specific places.
(1) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(6) or
24-1(a)(7) in any school, regardless of the time of day or
the time of year, in residential property owned, operated
or managed by a public housing agency or leased by a public
housing agency as part of a scattered site or mixed-income
development, in a public park, in a courthouse, on the real
property comprising any school, regardless of the time of
day or the time of year, on residential property owned,
operated or managed by a public housing agency or leased by
a public housing agency as part of a scattered site or
mixed-income development, on the real property comprising
any public park, on the real property comprising any
courthouse, in any conveyance owned, leased or contracted
by a school to transport students to or from school or a
school related activity, in any conveyance owned, leased,
or contracted by a public transportation agency, or on any
public way within 1,000 feet of the real property
comprising any school, public park, courthouse, public
transportation facility, or residential property owned,
operated, or managed by a public housing agency or leased

HB4703 - 8 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
by a public housing agency as part of a scattered site or
mixed-income development commits a Class 2 felony and shall
be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 3
years and not more than 7 years.
(1.5) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(4),
24-1(a)(9), or 24-1(a)(10) in any school, regardless of the
time of day or the time of year, in residential property
owned, operated, or managed by a public housing agency or
leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered
site or mixed-income development, in a public park, in a
courthouse, on the real property comprising any school,
regardless of the time of day or the time of year, on
residential property owned, operated, or managed by a
public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency
as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development, on
the real property comprising any public park, on the real
property comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance
owned, leased, or contracted by a school to transport
students to or from school or a school related activity, in
any conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a public
transportation agency, or on any public way within 1,000
feet of the real property comprising any school, public
park, courthouse, public transportation facility, or
residential property owned, operated, or managed by a
public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency
as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development

HB4703 - 9 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
commits a Class 3 felony.
(2) A person who violates subsection 24-1(a)(1),
24-1(a)(2), or 24-1(a)(3) in any school, regardless of the
time of day or the time of year, in residential property
owned, operated or managed by a public housing agency or
leased by a public housing agency as part of a scattered
site or mixed-income development, in a public park, in a
courthouse, on the real property comprising any school,
regardless of the time of day or the time of year, on
residential property owned, operated or managed by a public
housing agency or leased by a public housing agency as part
of a scattered site or mixed-income development, on the
real property comprising any public park, on the real
property comprising any courthouse, in any conveyance
owned, leased or contracted by a school to transport
students to or from school or a school related activity, in
any conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a public
transportation agency, or on any public way within 1,000
feet of the real property comprising any school, public
park, courthouse, public transportation facility, or
residential property owned, operated, or managed by a
public housing agency or leased by a public housing agency
as part of a scattered site or mixed-income development
commits a Class 4 felony. "Courthouse" means any building
that is used by the Circuit, Appellate, or Supreme Court of
this State for the conduct of official business.

HB4703 - 10 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
(3) Paragraphs (1), (1.5), and (2) of this subsection
(c) shall not apply to law enforcement officers or security
officers of such school, college, or university or to
students carrying or possessing firearms for use in
training courses, parades, hunting, target shooting on
school ranges, or otherwise with the consent of school
authorities and which firearms are transported unloaded
enclosed in a suitable case, box, or transportation
package.
(4) For the purposes of this subsection (c), "school"
means any public or private elementary or secondary school,
community college, college, or university.
(5) For the purposes of this subsection (c), "public
transportation agency" means a public or private agency
that provides for the transportation or conveyance of
persons by means available to the general public, except
for transportation by automobiles not used for conveyance
of the general public as passengers; and "public
transportation facility" means a terminal or other place
where one may obtain public transportation.
(d) The presence in an automobile other than a public
omnibus of any weapon, instrument or substance referred to in
subsection (a)(7) is prima facie evidence that it is in the
possession of, and is being carried by, all persons occupying
such automobile at the time such weapon, instrument or
substance is found, except under the following circumstances:

HB4703 - 11 - LRB097 19561 RLC 64815 b
(i) if such weapon, instrument or instrumentality is found upon
the person of one of the occupants therein; or (ii) if such
weapon, instrument or substance is found in an automobile
operated for hire by a duly licensed driver in the due, lawful
and proper pursuit of his trade, then such presumption shall
not apply to the driver.
(e) Exemptions. Crossbows, Common or Compound bows and
Underwater Spearguns are exempted from the definition of
ballistic knife as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (a)
of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-809, eff. 1-1-09;
95-885, eff. 1-1-09; 96-41, eff. 1-1-10; 96-328, eff. 8-11-09;
96-742, eff. 8-25-09; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)