With the deadline of January 1, 2024 for gun owners to register with the state if they own certain rifles and magazines just days away, a federal judge has just declined to halt the law.

This means any gun owner who hasn’t registered their AR-15 sporting rifle (and many others) or their high capacity magazine risks being charged with a crime, first a misdemeanor and then a felony.

Here’s more from Courthouse News:

Opponents to Illinois’ assault weapon and extended ammo magazine bans hit another hurdle on Friday, when a federal judge declined to block one of the bans’ key enforcement provisions.

That provision allows people who currently own assault weapons or extended ammo magazines to keep them, so long as the guns were legally bought before Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the bans into law this past January. However, it also requires they register the guns and magazines with state police before Jan. 1, 2024.

Come New Year’s Day, anyone found in possession of an unregistered assault weapon or extended ammo magazine — defined as any magazine with a capacity of 15 or more rounds for hand guns and 10 or more rounds for long guns — could face criminal penalties, including felony charges.

The federal judge is a Trump appointee and Courthouse News gets into the weeds of why he wouldn’t block the registration portion of the law. You can read it if you like.

But the bottom line is, for now, that residents of Illinois will be forced to register their guns if they fall into the criteria listed in the law. You can find a non-exhaustive list of those guns here.

Also manufacturers won’t be able to make or sell these guns or high capacity magazines in the state any longer. It’s ridiculous and hopefully the Supreme Court will undo this madness.