Does Illinois have ammunition restrictions? Yes. Armor-piercing ammunition is prohibited. “Armor piercing bullet” means any handgun bullet or handgun ammunition with projectiles or projectile cores, or fully jacketed bullets larger than 22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun.
What is this saying? Could someone use FMJ practice ammo there, or all FMJ is total illegal and deemed armor piercing rounds? I can’t tell…
@Dawn weren’t you just talking about going to Illinois?
FMJ ammo is 100% good to go here in Illinois. It’s the actual “armor piercing” stuff that is No Bueno. FMJ, and even solid copper rounds aren’t armor piercing. True AP ammo has a hardened core material, with the intention of “penetrating” hard barriers and body armor. That doesn’t mean other ammo won’t defeat some body armor. High velocity, hard cast lead ammo can be quite effective in barrier and some soft armor penetration.
Yes, I have the distinct pleasure of traveling through Illinois when I head south.
Here’s what our legal guru shared with me:
“Armor piercing bullet” means any handgun bullet or handgun ammunition with projectiles or projectile cores constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper or depleted uranium, or fully jacketed bullets larger than 22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25% of the total weight of the projectile, and excluding those handgun projectiles whose cores are composed of soft materials such as lead or lead alloys, zinc or zinc alloys, frangible projectiles designed primarily for sporting purposes, and any other projectiles or projectile cores that the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury finds to be primarily intended to be used for sporting purposes or industrial purposes or that otherwise does not constitute “armor piercing ammunition” as that term is defined by federal law.
Does the weight of your training ammo FMJ’s jacket exceed 25% of the total weight of the round?
Is the latter half of the ammo definition an attorney interpretation or actually Illinois written law somewhere? Maybe it was just edited down for convenience and space?
Of course one would assume that standard FMJ ammo would be legal, but that’s NOT what the synopsis on USCCA’s law page indicates.
We’re working on that right this very instant, @Glock27ccw! Your question has gotten us to dig a bit further to ensure we give the best information possible!!
The feedback and questions we get from our members and other responsibly armed Americans help us improve the reciprocity map on a daily basis.
** The IL page will be updated today with additional details about FMJ in IL.
