The Illinois capitol was a site of celebration on Tuesday, as state legislators passed a ban on military-style firearms. The legislation made Illinois the ninth US state to enact a ban on such weapons, which have been used in many of the country’s most devastating mass shootings.
“Illinois now officially prohibits the sale and distribution of these mass killing machines and rapid-fire devices,” the Democratic governor JB Pritzker said as he signed the bill. He added: “We must keep fighting, voting and protesting to ensure that future generations will only have to read about massacres.”
In recent years, the US has seen a flurry of activity at the state level to combat gun violence, which the American Public Health Associations has classified as an epidemic. According to the Gun Violence Archive, guns claimed the lives of more than 44,000 Americans in 2022, including 24,000 who died by suicide. Gun safety groups say passing new laws like the Illinois assault weapons ban will become even more crucial in the coming months to address this issue: with Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives, the prospects for enacting additional federal gun legislation in the near future appear bleak.
Republicans regained their majority in the House this month on the heels of one of the most successful years for the gun safety movement in decades. Last June, Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded background checks for the youngest gun buyers and provided funding for mental health and violence intervention programs, among other initiatives. The passage of the BSCA marked the first time in nearly 30 years that the US Congress approved a major gun safety bill.
“That’s just the beginning, and we’re just scratching the surface there,” said Zeenat Yahya, director of policy for the gun safety group March For Our Lives. “That’s not the end all, be all, but it was really exciting to see that progress.”
Despite gun safety advocates’ demands for more action at the federal level, including a nationwide assault weapons ban, such reform will be difficult to achieve. Even if Senate Democrats manage to pass additional gun regulations, the newly elected House speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy, will be able to block those bills from receiving a vote in the lower chamber.
While acknowledging the challenges posed by a divided Congress, Yahya dismissed suggestions that Republicans’ House majority eliminates the possibility of new federal laws. Biden could still issue executive orders on gun safety, and the passage of the BSCA demonstrated the possibility for bipartisan cooperation on the issue, she argued.
“I do believe that there’s still opportunity regardless of the fact that obviously the House is under Republican control now,” Yahya said. “We want to be able to make sure that gun violence prevention is still at the forefront of a conversation, and we’re playing an active role at the federal level.”
Still, Yahya agreed that reform at the state level has become “even more important with the Republican control of the House”. In the past year, states have already enacted a number of new gun laws championed by groups like March For Our Lives. According to the group Everytown for Gun Safety, at least 51 new laws aimed at reducing gun violence were passed in 2022, while dozens of bills backed by the gun lobby were defeated.
New York’s legislative progress was a particular point of pride for gun safety advocates last year. The state passed a slate of gun proposals in the wake of the massacre at a supermarket in Buffalo, where a white supremacist fatally shot 10 Black shoppers and workers last May. In response, New York legislators raised the age requirement to purchase a long gun from 18 to 21. Lawmakers also established a code of conduct for gun dealers and closed a legal loophole regarding the ownership of high-capacity magazines.
But New York’s efforts to reform its laws simultaneously underscored the significant challenges that the gun safety movement faces. Last June, the conservative-leaning supreme court struck down a New York law that placed strict regulations on carrying a firearm in public. In response to the court’s ruling, New York legislators enacted a new law that included an extensive list of sensitive places where guns would be prohibited – such as schools, medical facilities and government buildings. The new policy is now facing legal challenges, although the supreme court ruled Wednesday that the law can remain in effect for the time being.
Gun safety advocates highlight New York’s legislative response to the supreme court’s ruling as a key example of how states can proactively address gun violence, even as federal legislation remains stalled.
“This year, we’ll be doubling down on our efforts to go statehouse by statehouse to continue to pass life-saving laws,” said Monisha Henley, managing director of state government affairs at Everytown. “That is happening no matter what’s going on in DC.”
If history is any indication, the policies now being advanced by state legislatures could one day filter up to the federal level. The BSCA included funding to help states establish “red flag laws,” which allow courts to temporarily confiscate guns from those considered a danger to themselves or others. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have already enacted such policies.
“As states are passing critical legislation around safe storage, background checks, red flags … it gives us the opportunity to ladder up at the federal level and say, hey, the majority of states are already doing this,” Yahya said.
While advocacy press for more action at the state and federal levels, Americans continue to grapple with the daily reality of gun violence. According to Everytown, more than 110 Americans are killed with guns every day, and more than 200 are shot and wounded.
Gun owners also make up a growing share of the US population, although they still represent a minority. Americans have bought roughly 150m firearms since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. One recent study found that an estimated 6 million Americans carried a loaded handgun on a daily basis in 2019, compared to 3 million who said the same in 2015.
In America’s capital city, a local nonprofit has started hanging posters reading “Thou shalt not kill” in a poetic attempt to combat the alarming rise in gun violence that has gripped Washington in recent years.
The violence has made Henley and her allies more determined to enact reform across the country, and she predicted that 2023 would bring more change. After the midterm elections, four additional states – Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota – now have Democrats controlling both the state legislature and the governor’s mansion, clearing the way for lawmakers to pas new gun laws.
“The states have been leading the way. They will continue leading the way,” Henley said. “[With] these brand new trifectas with gun safety majorities, there will be a lot of positive action that’ll continue to happen on this issue.”
