Bill Text: IL HB4550 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony the penalty for a first violation of the provisions that prohibit the knowing possession, transportation, purchase, or receipt of an unfinished frame or receiver of a firearm unless: (1) the party possessing or receiving the unfinished frame or receiver is a federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer; (2) the unfinished frame or receiver is possessed or transported by a person for transfer to a federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer; or (3) the unfinished frame or receiver has been imprinted with a serial number issued by a federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4550 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4550-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4550 Introduced , by Rep. Margaret Croke SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/24-5.1
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony the penalty for a first violation of the provisions that prohibit the knowing possession, transportation, purchase, or receipt of an unfinished frame or receiver of a firearm unless: (1) the party possessing or receiving the unfinished frame or receiver is a federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer; (2) the unfinished frame or receiver is possessed or transported by a person for transfer to a federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer; or (3) the unfinished frame or receiver has been imprinted with a serial number issued by a federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer.
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A BILL FOR
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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 2012 is amended by
changing Section 24-5.1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/24-5.1)
Sec. 24-5.1. Serialization of unfinished frames or
receivers; prohibition on unserialized firearms; exceptions;
penalties.
(a) In this Section:
"Bona fide supplier" means an established business entity
engaged in the development and sale of firearms parts to one or
more federal firearms manufacturers or federal firearms
importers.
"Federal firearms dealer" means a licensed manufacturer
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(11).
"Federal firearms importer" means a licensed importer
pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(9).
"Federal firearms manufacturer" means a licensed
manufacturer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(10).
"Frame or receiver" means a part of a firearm that, when
the complete weapon is assembled, is visible from the exterior
and provides housing or a structure designed to hold or

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integrate one or more fire control components, even if pins or
other attachments are required to connect those components to
the housing or structure. For models of firearms in which
multiple parts provide such housing or structure, the part or
parts that the Director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has determined are a frame or
receiver constitute the frame or receiver. For purposes of
this definition, "fire control component" means a component
necessary for the firearm to initiate, complete, or continue
the firing sequence, including any of the following: hammer,
bolt, bolt carrier, breechblock, cylinder, trigger mechanism,
firing pin, striker, or slide rails.
"Security exemplar" means an object to be fabricated at
the direction of the United States Attorney General that is
(1) constructed of 3.7 ounces of material type 17-4 PH
stainless steel in a shape resembling a handgun and (2)
suitable for testing and calibrating metal detectors.
"Three-dimensional printer" means a computer or
computer-drive machine capable of producing a
three-dimensional object from a digital model.
"Undetectable firearm" means (1) a firearm constructed
entirely of non-metal substances; (2) a firearm that, after
removal of all parts but the major components of the firearm,
is not detectable by walk-through metal detectors calibrated
and operated to detect the security exemplar; or (3) a firearm
that includes a major component of a firearm, which, if

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subject to the types of detection devices commonly used at
airports for security screening, would not generate an image
that accurately depicts the shape of the component.
"Undetectable firearm" does not include a firearm subject to
the provisions of 18 U.S.C. 922(p)(3) through (6).
"Unfinished frame or receiver" means any forging, casting,
printing, extrusion, machined body, or similar article that:
(1) has reached a stage in manufacture where it may
readily be completed, assembled, or converted to be a
functional firearm; or
(2) is marketed or sold to the public to become or be
used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm once
completed, assembled, or converted.
"Unserialized" means lacking a serial number imprinted by:
(1) a federal firearms manufacturer, federal firearms
importer, federal firearms dealer, or other federal
licensee authorized to provide marking services, pursuant
to a requirement under federal law; or
(2) a federal firearms dealer or other federal
licensee authorized to provide marking services pursuant
to subsection (f) of this Section.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, offer
to sell, or transfer an unserialized unfinished frame or
receiver or unserialized firearm, including those produced
using a three-dimensional printer, unless the party purchasing
or receiving the unfinished frame or receiver or unserialized

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firearm is a federal firearms importer, federal firearms
manufacturer, or federal firearms dealer.
(c) Beginning 180 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, it is unlawful
for any person to knowingly possess, transport, or receive an
unfinished frame or receiver, unless:
(1) the party possessing or receiving the unfinished
frame or receiver is a federal firearms importer or
federal firearms manufacturer;
(2) the unfinished frame or receiver is possessed or
transported by a person for transfer to a federal firearms
importer or federal firearms manufacturer; or
(3) the unfinished frame or receiver has been
imprinted with a serial number issued by a federal
firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer in
compliance with subsection (f) of this Section.
(d) Beginning 180 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, unless the party
receiving the firearm is a federal firearms importer or
federal firearms manufacturer, it is unlawful for any person
to knowingly possess, purchase, transport, or receive a
firearm that is not imprinted with a serial number by (1) a
federal firearms importer or federal firearms manufacturer in
compliance with all federal laws and regulations regulating
the manufacture and import of firearms or (2) a federal
firearms manufacturer, federal firearms dealer, or other

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federal licensee authorized to provide marking services in
compliance with the unserialized firearm serialization process
under subsection (f) of this Section.
(e) Any firearm or unfinished frame or receiver
manufactured using a three-dimensional printer must also be
serialized in accordance with the requirements of subsection
(f) within 30 days after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 102nd General Assembly, or prior to reaching a stage
of manufacture where it may be readily completed, assembled,
or converted to be a functional firearm.
(f) Unserialized unfinished frames or receivers and
unserialized firearms serialized pursuant to this Section
shall be serialized in compliance with all of the following:
(1) An unserialized unfinished frame or receiver and
unserialized firearm shall be serialized by a federally
licensed firearms dealer or other federal licensee
authorized to provide marking services with the licensee's
abbreviated federal firearms license number as a prefix
(which is the first 3 and last 5 digits) followed by a
hyphen, and then followed by a number as a suffix, such as
12345678-(number). The serial number or numbers must be
placed in a manner that accords with the requirements
under federal law for affixing serial numbers to firearms,
including the requirements that the serial number or
numbers be at the minimum size and depth, and not
susceptible to being readily obliterated, altered, or

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removed, and the licensee must retain records that accord
with the requirements under federal law in the case of the
sale of a firearm. The imprinting of any serial number
upon a undetectable firearm must be done on a steel plaque
in compliance with 18 U.S.C. 922(p).
(2) Every federally licensed firearms dealer or other
federal licensee that engraves, casts, stamps, or
otherwise conspicuously and permanently places a unique
serial number pursuant to this Section shall maintain a
record of such indefinitely. Licensees subject to the
Firearm Dealer License Certification Act shall make all
records accessible for inspection upon the request of the
Illinois State Police or a law enforcement agency in
accordance with Section 5-35 of the Firearm Dealer License
Certification Act.
(3) Every federally licensed firearms dealer or other
federal licensee that engraves, casts, stamps, or
otherwise conspicuously and permanently places a unique
serial number pursuant to this Section shall record it at
the time of every transaction involving the transfer of a
firearm, rifle, shotgun, finished frame or receiver, or
unfinished frame or receiver that has been so marked in
compliance with the federal guidelines set forth in 27 CFR
478.124.
(4) Every federally licensed firearms dealer or other
federal licensee that engraves, casts, stamps, or

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otherwise conspicuously and permanently places a unique
serial number pursuant to this Section shall review and
confirm the validity of the owner's Firearm Owner's
Identification Card issued under the Firearm Owners
Identification Card Act prior to returning the firearm to
the owner.
(g) Within 30 days after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Director of
the Illinois State Police shall issue a public notice
regarding the provisions of this Section. The notice shall
include posting on the Illinois State Police website and may
include written notification or any other means of
communication statewide to all Illinois-based federal firearms
manufacturers, federal firearms dealers, or other federal
licensees authorized to provide marking services in compliance
with the serialization process in subsection (f) in order to
educate the public.
(h) Exceptions. This Section does not apply to an
unserialized unfinished frame or receiver or an unserialized
firearm that:
(1) has been rendered permanently inoperable;
(2) is an antique firearm, as defined in 18 U.S.C.
921(a)(16);
(3) was manufactured prior to October 22, 1968;
(4) is an unfinished frame or receiver and is
possessed by a bona fide supplier exclusively for transfer

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