Compliance with the AWB Registry By County
The Department of State Police (ISP) has released data on county-by-county compliance with the PICA "Assault Weapon" Ban registry. We matched these data up against the number of FOID cards held county-by-county as a proxy for compliance rate. Using this measure, we can draw some not unexpected conclusions about compliance rates county-by-county.
TOP 15 Highest County Compliance Rates
Unsurprisingly, it's northern Illinois (except Cook County), suburban St. Louis, Sangamon (Springfield), and the big university towns.
| County | FOID CARDS | Affidavits | Number of Individuals | % FOIDS |
| McLean | 34,757 | 2,361 | 624 | 1.8% |
| Lake | 112,728 | 8,572 | 1,986 | 1.8% |
| Kendall | 27,585 | 1,918 | 478 | 1.7% |
| DuPage | 150,173 | 10,817 | 2,535 | 1.7% |
| St. Clair | 60,058 | 3,865 | 1,012 | 1.7% |
| Sangamon | 49,354 | 2,959 | 804 | 1.6% |
| Rock Island | 26,038 | 1,716 | 411 | 1.6% |
| McHenry | 71,055 | 4,324 | 1,117 | 1.6% |
| Madison | 70,016 | 4,398 | 1,097 | 1.6% |
| Champaign | 34,144 | 2,206 | 532 | 1.6% |
| Will | 153,227 | 9,581 | 2,316 | 1.5% |
| Boone | 12,121 | 700 | 180 | 1.5% |
| Piatt | 5,131 | 380 | 76 | 1.5% |
| Kane | 88,381 | 5,180 | 1,291 | 1.5% |
| Menard | 4,223 | 175 | 61 | 1.4% |
BOTTOM 15 Lowest County Compliance Rates
| County | FOID CARDS | Affidavits | Number of Individuals | % FOIDS |
| Pope | 1,374 | 15 | 5 | 0.4% |
| Pike | 4,863 | 87 | 21 | 0.4% |
| Fayette | 6,606 | 136 | 33 | 0.5% |
| White | 4,370 | 87 | 23 | 0.5% |
| Jasper | 3,593 | 126 | 19 | 0.5% |
| Wabash | 2,965 | 36 | 16 | 0.5% |
| Gallatin | 1,634 | 30 | 9 | 0.6% |
| Wayne | 5,589 | 102 | 32 | 0.6% |
| Edwards | 2,199 | 43 | 13 | 0.6% |
| Massac | 3,789 | 79 | 25 | 0.7% |
| Calhoun | 1,920 | 51 | 13 | 0.7% |
| Moultrie | 4,365 | 159 | 30 | 0.7% |
| Crawford | 5,641 | 279 | 41 | 0.7% |
| Vermilion | 18,739 | 386 | 140 | 0.7% |
| Hamilton | 2,810 | 81 | 21 | 0.7% |
Overall Averages and Cook County:
The overall average is 1.2% of FOID holders statewide registered something. Cook County comes in at 0.9% registering something. Considering the density of much of the county and the pre-existing county and Chicago bans, this low registration rate isn't a huge surprise.
Late Registrations
The ISP and Governor have stated that the registry remains open beyond the December 31, 2023 registration deadline. The Act requires the registry to remain open for people moving into Illinois.
We saw, but cannot find a link to an ISP report that an additional 5,867 FOID holders have fled affidavits post-deadline. The numbers above are for the 29,357 registrants reported on the ISP website.
While this ISP has said they won't prosecute late registrants, and the department does have discretion to do that, the current stance of the department does not control what a rabidly anti-gun State's Attorney office might do. By registering late, these 5,867 individuals (other than those moving into the state during that period) have forever memorialized that they broke the law.
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