SPRINGFIELD, IL – Today, Everytown for Gun Safety launched the updated “Gun Law Rankings” for 2024, an online tool and website that ranks all 50 states based on the strength of their gun laws and catalogs gun safety laws state by state. This year, Everytown’s state gun law rankings also shows whether states’ rankings increased or decreased over the past year, reflecting progress made by passing common-sense gun safety policies or setbacks as a result of enacting dangerous measures backed by the gun lobby. Everytown’s analysis found that Illinois ranks third in the nation for its comprehensive gun laws, climbing four spots from a rank of 7 last year.
In 2023, gun-sense legislators in Illinois took action to pass common-sense gun safety policies including a prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and a measure to help hold bad actors in the gun industry accountable.
“Last session, our lawmakers worked tirelessly to protect our communities from senseless acts of gun violence and this ranking shows how far we’ve come,” said Sheri Williams, co-lead for the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Yet as gun violence continues to be the leading cause of death of children and teenagers in the country, we must continue pushing for policies that safeguard our communities and allow the next generation to grow and thrive without the threat of gun violence.”
“When young people rise up and demand our voices be heard, we save lives. It’s a relief to live in a state that has lawmakers who value student’s perspectives on this issue and remain committed to being gun-sense champions,” said Mirabella Johnson, a volunteer leader with the Northwestern University Students Demand Action chapter. “We’ve come so far over the past few years to reduce gun violence here in Illinois, but we’re also just getting started. We’ll stop at nothing to make sure our state–and country–can live free from the fear of gun violence.”
In an average year, 1,622 people die by guns in Illinois. With a rate of 12.9 deaths per 100,000 people, Illinois has the 35th-highest rate of gun deaths in the US. More information about gun violence in Illinois is available here. To speak with an expert about Everytown’s State Gun Law Rankings or gun violence prevention efforts in Illinois, please contact [email protected]