I received a PM from an AR15.com member asking if anything was planned to fix language in the SBR law....I'm not that knowledgeable on this issue so I asked those in the know and this was their answer.

The question:
do you know if there's any discussion on clarifying the SBR - under 26" overall length - ruling? I know at first the ATF was approving Form 1s for IL folks registering guns under 26" in overall length (as long as they were a C&R FFL holder), but the ATF later ruled that they would no longer approve IL Form 1s for those asking for a total length of under 26".

The answer I received:
Right now barrel may be less than 16 inches but the overall length cannot be less than 26 inches.  I believe a bill will be filed to remove the 26 inch requirement.

I can't speak as to the chances for the correction getting past the Democrats.

Mike
IllinoisCarry.com

Mike,

Thanks for checking into this.  Hopefully someone will introduce the bill and float it through, especially since it is more of an administrivia issue than an actual change (per se) to the law.  In fact, the problem isn't so much the text of the law in itself, it's the way the BATF currently interprets it, which is a change from how they initially interpreted it (probably erring on the side of caution)... But, there is certainly room for more clarity in how it's written.

I really wish they'd just get rid of the 26" requirement all together (as mentioned), and also just get rid of the C&R and the reenactor's group wording.  I have a 01 FFL, but I also have to have an 03 FFL just to have the SBRs in Illinois.  On the federal side of things, having an 01 and an 03 isn't really ideal... but that's a discussion for another day.

John Thomas

This is what made it happen.  To pass a straight SBR law wouldn't have gotten past the Chicago Dems and that is why this all has to be handled delicately.  

The CC law was pushed through by Courts, pressure by constituents, and perhaps a small change in attitude by Mike Madigan.

CC law was pushed through by Courts - yup
pressure by constituents, and perhaps a small change in attitude by Mike Madigan - not so much

I'm impressed the SBR was slipped through, I doubt we'd be able to go to that well again ...

I completely understand and fully concur.

John Thomas

I'll have to disagree.  We spent over 10 years working on CC.  We accumulated months in Springfield and spent months on the road doing dozens of town hall meetings and media interviews all over the state.  We saw the slow swing in attitudes of some media and the folks in general.  We talked to legislators that told us their people were driving them nuts over this issue and that they needed it to pass to make their (down state) democrat constituents happy.

We were in the committees when they did the support counts and there would be 1800 in support of a CC bill and 9 opposed...It caused a few chuckles and a lot of raised eyebrows.

We helped author previous CC bills and had limited input on the current law.  We had information on what was going on behind closed doors during the sausage making of this bill and we were there when Madigan stood on the floor and stated that for 20 years he had been on the wrong side of this issue.

But, as I stated...the Court cases is what forced their compliance in a timely fashion...  It was all things working together...Didn't hurt when we would show up on the Capital steps with 9K of gun folks wanting Concealed Carry Now!

Can the individual or individuals that pushed the SBR bill through, try to make an amendment to the current bill, changing the wording? Maybe, eliminating length, C&R/reenactment requirements?
Who would one contact about trying to make changes?

See original post with blue text.

Thank you for this post, it's something Ive been researching lately as I had planned on submitting my first F1 as something under 26".

Also: especially thankyou for all you've done and are doing on our behalf.

How long do you think it will be before it's something that you can float by the legislators? I'd love to have a SBR, but I'm not likely to do it without being able to use a trust.

Hard to say but the impression I got was that it would be introduced in near future...I really can't speak to its chances as we have a whole new ball game in Springfield.

Is there any work toward fixing the trust issue?

It would be great if I could let my C&R expire and not have to worry about that nonsense.

Oh yea, and Suppressors .