Federal act requires police to do thorough background checks for those under 21 who want to purchase firearms

SPRINGFIELD, ILL (WICS/WRSP) — Just over a week ago Illinois firearm owners were required to register their assault rifles online, but with this comes more restrictions.

A federal act called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act requires state police to conduct more thorough background checks for those under 21 who are looking to purchase a firearm.

Since June of 2022 Illinois State Police reviewed over 3,000 background checks under the act with the purpose of looking for juvenile records.

The federal act is looking to not only curve teen gun violence but violence overall.

“You typically don't have an adolescent going to your local gun store and purchasing firearms to commit an act of violence, it's basically things that happen while acquiring it, unbeknownst to the to the gun owner," said Jim Baker, chief deputy of the Christian County Sheriff’s Office.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act not only focuses on things like background checks and age limitations under the age of 21, but also has funding towards mental health within school systems.

“This bill does tie in a lot with funding for mental health within the schools to help those kids that don't have the resources or that their parents aren't even aware of,” Baker said.

Baker said the funding for mental health resources is one of the most important parts.

“I really think that that's where we fall short," Baker said, "in our county alone, we've seen a closure of the mental health and there really is no help, you put the burden when we deal with mental health patients on the local hospitals.”

The state of Illinois already has strict gun laws but since the act targets the younger age group, just how much will this keep communities safe?

“I think every step that they take to strengthen the protection of the kids and things like that within a school it's a positive attitude or attempt," Baker said, "only time will tell in statistics, whether or not it will curve.”

“When are people mature enough to drive a car? The same question I think can be applied to when are people mature enough to own gun," said Kent Redfield, a retired political science professor at the University of Illinois Springfield.

This poses the question of how this will be enacted especially with the argument that it infringes on people’s Second Amendment Rights.

“There is uncertainty in terms of how uniformly this is going to be applied," Redfield said, "the more that you can keep guns out of the hands of immature individuals, people with behavioral problems in terms of either mental health or anti-social behavior, those are all good things. But it butts up against there's not a constitutional right to have a drivers license then to drive a car, there's a constitutional right to own a gun under the Second Amendment."

According to ISP since June of 2022, three firearm transactions were denied out of the over 3,000 background checks that were completed.

Baker added that Illinois already has some of the strictest gun protections including red flag laws that go towards combatting domestic violence situations.