Illinois lawmakers and gun safety advocates push for tougher gun storage laws after Georgia school shooting

Illinois Democrats are pushing for tougher gun laws just days after 14-year-old Colt Gray allegedly killed two teachers and two students at a Georgia high school with an AR-15-style rifle purchased by his father.

The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Laura Ellman, D-Naperville, and state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, would require gun owners to securely lock up their weapons in homes with anyone 18 or younger. Current state law requires guns to be stored in homes with anyone 13 or younger.

Similar legislation was introduced in the spring session, but Hirschauer said she hopes to pass a new version — with some changes negotiated with Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office — during a veto session in November or early January.

The Illinois Gun Violence Prevention PAC is also launching a campaign to pass the measure, as well as tighten reporting requirements for lost and stolen guns.

“We just saw that age is too young,” Hirschauer said. “When we see kids accessing firearms and using them to harm themselves or others, they’re usually in their teens, so we need to strengthen that law.”

The measure would also prohibit leaving firearms out of one’s possession unless they are unloaded and secured in a safe where only the owner or other authorized user has access to them.

It would also bar people who are “at risk” — those who have made statements or exhibited behaviors that indicate they are at risk of attempting suicide or harming others — from having access to weapons.

A civil penalty for failing to secure a firearm would also be added to state law, with violations starting at $500 and increasing to $1,000 if a person obtains a firearm they don’t have access to. Those fines would go to the state’s mental health fund. A first violation could result in community service or restitution — instead of civil penalties.

Hirschauer said she also plans to introduce legislation that would provide a tax incentive for manufacturers of firearm safety devices.

“This policy is really common sense, best practices, responsible gun ownership, something we’ve been working on for many years. And the Illinois Department of Public Health is moving forward with a state-funded educational campaign that will go throughout the state to talk about how to properly store firearms, and you know why it’s necessary,” Hirschauer said.

“So we feel good that we have an educational component, a policy component, and we’re also looking at some incentives, tax breaks for secure storage facilities,” Hirschauer continued. “I feel like we’ve just put ourselves in a sweet spot where we’re educating, encouraging and reinforcing policy.”

Colt Gray has been charged with four counts of murder in a shooting that left four people dead and nine injured in Winder, Georgia, last week. His father, Colin Gray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder — and his arrest warrant states that he caused the deaths of others “by providing a firearm to Colt Gray, knowing he was a danger to himself or others,” the Associated Press reported.

In May 2023, Colt Gray denied threatening to shoot up a school when questioned about a social media post. No charges were filed at that time.

In April, Jennifer and James Crumbley became the first parents convicted in a mass school shooting in the U.S. They were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to secure weapons in their home and recognize signs of their son’s mental state before he killed four students at a Michigan school in 2021.

And in Illinois’ deadliest mass shooting — the Highland Park Fourth of July massacre that left seven people dead and dozens injured — the shooter’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty in November 2023 to seven counts of misdemeanor reckless conduct by signing his son’s application for an Illinois firearms identification card in 2019, even after police reported his son had threatened to “kill everybody.”

Crimo Jr. was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation — but was released early for good behavior. He also agreed to testify against his son, who withdrew from a deal in June that would have sentenced him to life in prison.