(A) No person shall knowingly:
(1) (a) Sell, manufacture, purchase, possess, or carry any bludgeon, black- jack, slung-shot, sand-club, sand-bag, metal knuckles or other knuckle weapon regardless of its composition, throwing star, or any knife, commonly referred to as a switch-blade knife, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring, or other device in the handle of the knife, or a ballistic knife, which is a device that propels a knifelike blade as a projectile by means of a coil spring, elastic material or compressed gas, but which shall not be deemed to include crossbows, common or compound bows, or underwater spearguns in accordance with ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 24-1(e);
(b) The provision of division (A)(1) of this section prohibiting the sale, manufacture, purchase, possession, or carrying of any knife, commonly referred to as a switchblade knife, which has a blade that opens automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other device in the handle of the knife, does not apply to a person who possesses a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued in his or her name by the Illinois State Police or to a person or an entity engaged in the business of selling or manufacturing switchblade knives.
(2) Carry or possess with intent to use the same unlawfully against another, a dagger, dirk, billy, dangerous knife, razor, stiletto, broken bottle or other piece of glass, stun gun or taser, or any other dangerous or deadly weapon or instrument of like character;
(3) Carry on or about his person or in any vehicle, a tear gas gun projector or bomb or any object containing noxious liquid gas or substance, other than an object containing a non-lethal noxious liquid gas or substance designed solely for personal defense carried by a person 18 years of age or older;
(4) Set a spring gun;
(5) Carry or possess any firearm, stun gun or taser or other deadly weapon in any place which is licensed to sell intoxicating beverages, or at any public gathering held pursuant to a license issued by any governmental body or any public gathering at which an admission is charged, excluding a place where a showing, demonstration, or lecture involving the exhibition of unloaded firearms is conducted;
(6) Sell, manufacture, deliver, import, possess, or purchase any assault weapon attachment or 0.50 caliber cartridge in violation of state law or any explosive bullet. EXPLOSIVE BULLET shall mean the projectile portion of an ammunition cartridge which contains or carries an explosive charge which will explode upon contact with the flesh of a human or an animal. CARTRIDGE means a tubular metal case having a projectile affixed at the front thereof and a cap or primer at the rear end thereof, with the propellant contained in the tube between the projectile and the cap; or
(7) Carries or possesses on or about his or her person while in a building occupied by a unit of government, a billy club, or other weapon of like character, or other instrument of like character intended for use as a weapon. For purposes of this section, BILLY CLUB means a short stick or club commonly carried by police officers which is either telescopic or constructed of a solid piece of wood or other man-made material.
(B) A STUN GUN or TASER, as used in division (A), means:
(1) Any device which is powered by elec- trical charging units, such as batteries, and which fires one or several barbs attached to a length of wire and which, upon hitting a human, can send out a current capable of disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning; or
(2) Any device which is powered by electrical charging units, such as batteries, and which, upon contact with a human or clothing worn by a human, can send out a current capable of disrupting the person's nervous system in such a manner as to render him incapable of normal functioning.
(ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 24-1) ('74 Code, § 19-50) Penalty, see § 130.99
Statutory reference:
For provisions concerning silencers on guns; machine guns; possession of weapon while hooded, robed and/or masked; or possession of weapons on school or university grounds (all of which are felonies), see ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, §§ 24-1(a)(6), (7), and (9) and § 24-1(c)(2) respectively