Skip to content

Bill Status

Introduced In House

MAKE GUN ENHANCEMENTS FOR YOUNG ADULTS DISCRETIONARY – HB 5

House Sponsor: Representative La Shawn Ford

Read full bill Download Fact Sheet

Bill overview

People ages 18 to 20 should receive the same judicial discretion as people 17 and younger.

HB 5 would expand the Youth Firearm Sentencing Law to 18, 19, and 20 year olds, building on the years-long success of the 2015 law. Judges would have the authority to decide whether enhancements make sense on a case-by-case basis using the existing nine-point guidelines and could apply the additional years to a sentence if appropriate.

BACKGROUND

Illinois law adds a mandatory 15, 20, or 25 years to prison sentences of people who had firearms during the commission of certain felonies.

A bipartisan 2015 law made those enhancements discretionary for people 17 and younger.

Firearm enhancements do not reduce gun crime.

  • Public safety benefits of longer prison sentences diminish during the latter years because of documented reduced criminal behavior due to age (Council on Criminal Justice, 2022).
  • There is no evidence long Illinois prison sentences for gun crimes reduce recidivism (Loyola University’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy & Practice, 2021)

Get Involved

join our advocacy team

Help us advance legislative change in Illinois!

Join

learn more about the issues

Restore Justice focuses on sentencing, prison conditions and practices, and pathways to release.

Learn More