Illinois Stun Gun and Taser Law

ILLINOIS: Legal with Restrictions

1. In order to possess a Taser or stun gun, an individual must have a valid FOID card, as is currently required for firearms.

2. Sellers of Taser or stun guns must check the buyers FOID card and keep the record of sale for ten years, the same requirements for firearms sales.

3. When a licensed firearms dealer sells a Taser or stun gun, they must request a background check of the buyer.

4. The 24-hour waiting period required for long guns, shotguns, and rifles, will also apply to Taser and stun gun purchases.

ILLINOIS STATE LAW: Legal with conditions (Illegal in Chicago). Compiled Stat. Ann. Chapter 430. Public Safety ACT 65. Firearms Owners Identification Card Act. Chapter 720. Criminal Law and Procedure, Article 24. Deadly Weapons. 5/24-1 Unlawful use of Weapons. (A) A person commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons when he knowingly: **** (8) Carries or possesses a firearm, stun gun or Taser or other deadly weapon in any place which is licensed to sell intoxicating beverages, or at any public gathering held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body or any public gathering at which an admission is charged, excluding a place where a showing, demonstration or lecture involving the exhibition of unloaded firearms is conducted; or (9) Carries or possesses in a vehicle or on or about his person any pistol, revolver, stun gun or Taser, or firearm or ballistic knife, when he is hooded, robed or masked in such a manner as to conceal his identity; or (10) Carries or possesses on or about his person, upon any public street, alley, or other public lands within the corporate limits of a city, village or incorporated town, except when an invitee thereon or therein, for the purpose of the display of such weapon or the lawful commerce in weapons, except when on his land or in his own abode or fixed place of business, any pistol, revolver, stun or Taser or other firearm. A “stun gun or Taser,” as used in this paragraph (a) means (i) any device which is powered by electrical charging units, such as batteries, and which fires one or several barbs attached to a length of wire and which, upon hitting a human, can send out a current capable of disrupting person?s nervous system in such a manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning or (ii) any device which is powered by electrical charging units, such as batteries, and which, upon contact with a human or clothing worn by a human, can send out a current capable of disrupting the person’s nervous system in such a manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning. (b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of Subsection 24-1(a)(8) and Subsection 24-1(a)(10) commits a Class A misdemeanor; a person convicted of a violation of Subsection 24(a)(9) commits a Class 4 felony. (c)(2) A person who violates Subsection 24-1(a)(9) in any school, regardless of the time of day or the time of year or residential property owned, operated and managed by a public housing agency or on the real property comprising any school, regardless of the time of day or the time of year or residential property owned, operated and managed by a public housing agency or any conveyance owned, leased or contracted by a school to transport students to or from school or a school-related activity commits a Class 3 felony. School is defined as any public or private elementary or secondary school, community college, college or university. Article 24 5/24-1.1 Unlawful Use of Possession of Weapons by Felons or Persons in the Custody of the Department of Corrections Facilities. Section 24-1.1. Unlawful Use of Possession of Weapons by Felons or Persons in the Custody of the Department of Corrections Facilities. (a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly possess on or about his person or on his land or in his abode or fixed place of business any weapons prohibited under Section 24-1 of this Act or any firearm ammunition if the person has been convicted of a felony under the law of the State or any other jurisdiction. This section does not apply if the person has been granted relief by the Director of the Department of State Police pursuant to Section 10 ***. Article 24 5/24-2 Exemptions (i) Nothing in this Article shall prohibit, apply to, or affect the transportation, carrying or possession, of any pistol or revolver, stun gun, Taser, or other firearm consigned to a Common Carrier operating under license of the State of Illinois or the Federal Government, where such transportation, carrying, or possession is incident to the lawful transportation in which such Common Carrier is engaged; and nothing in this Article shall prohibit, apply to or affect the transportation, carrying or possession of any pistol, revolver, stun gun, Taser, or other firearm, not the subject of and regulated by subsection 24-1(a)(7) or subsection 24-2(c) of this Article, which is unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container, by the possessor of a valid Firearm Owners Identification Card. SUMMARY: Possession of a Stunning Device is unlawful when in corporate limits of a city or incorporated town, school, in any place licensed to sell intoxicating beverages, at any public gathering held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body or any public gathering at which an admission is charged, or when a person’s identity is concealed. Possession is legal when on a person’s land or in his own abode or fixed place of business in Illinois.

CHICAGO: Illegal. Possession and sales of Stunning Devices are banned in Chicago.

If you are a citizen in Illinois who has a FOID card and would like to purchase an electronic stun device, check out these Stun Guns and Tasers.

Please contact your local law enforcement or legal authority with any specific questions you may have to verify legality.