Homicides in the US declined in 2023 compared to the year prior, including in cities like New York. (Theodore Parisienne / For NY Daily News / Getty Images)

National data from the FBI covering January to September 2023 showed an 8.2% drop in all violent crime, including a 15.6% drop in murders, compared to the same period in 2022. These declines were seen in cities over 1 million people and those under 10,000, and across all four regional quadrants of the US.

Top left: Mayor Brandon Johnson takes “Chicago Tonight” co-host Brandis Friedman around the Austin community on April 13, 2023. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News) Top right: The state Capitol. (WTTW News) Bottom left: Field Museum staff collected 1,000 dead birds Oct. 5, 2023, from the grounds of McCormick Place. (Courtesy of Taylor Hains) Bottom right: File photo of guns. (WTTW News)
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Chicago elected a new mayor, Illinois banned so-called assault weapons and the Boss played at Wrigley Field. Here’s what people were reading in 2023.

(WTTW News)

The law prohibits the possession, manufacture or sale of semiautomatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. It takes effect Jan. 1.

A handgun is pictured in a file photo. (Brett Hondow / Pixabay)

The story of one Indiana store demonstrates how the more than 60,000 gun retailers in America have little financial incentive to say no to questionable buyers and face limited penalties for failing to prevent illegal transactions.

Illinois State Police acting chief legal counsel Suzanne Bond told lawmakers the agency has listened to gun owners’ concerns and made changes to the rules that were first proposed in September. (Capitol News Illinois)
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Firearm owners in Illinois will have to wait at least another month before knowing exactly what items they must register with the Illinois State Police under the state’s assault weapons ban, even as the deadline for submitting those registrations is less than three weeks away.

The Illinois Supreme Court building is pictured in Springfield. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people may obtain records about their own Firearm Owners Identification cards, but they may not use the state’s Freedom of Information Act to do so.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Nov. 28, 2023. (WTTW News)

“In cities like Chicago dealing with the constant drumbeat of gun violence, it has turned these public health officials into battlefield experts,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said. “They’ve seen the aftermath of bullets tearing through bone like it’s tissue paper.”

(WTTW News)

Since the Protect Illinois Communities Act became law in early 2023, the sale of numerous types of guns, cartridges and accessories has been illegal in Illinois. People who owned the covered guns prior to the law can keep them but are required to register them with the state.

(WTTW News)

The study compares firearm injury emergency department visits for kids at nine urban hospitals across the U.S. before and during the pandemic.

A gun store display is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)
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Illinois’ nearly year-old ban on guns deemed assault weapons can stand, per a decision issued Friday by a federal appeals court. Still, other legal challenges could be ahead.

Rylan Wilder and his attorney Tim Cavanagh speak during a press conference on Oct. 19, 2023. (WTTW News)

Attorneys for Rylan Wilder announced Thursday their client had settled with the city of Des Plaines, just as they were about to go to trial over claims that the officer’s actions were excessive and represented willful and wanton conduct.

An Illinois State Police squad car is pictured in a file photo. (Jerry Nowicki / Capitol News Illinois)
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People who own certain guns and other items now prohibited under the state’s assault weapons ban still need to register them with the Illinois State Police. But ISP says it plans to hold additional public hearings about that process and may refine the rules before they become permanent next year. 

(WTTW News)

The previously stalled measure that she said will help to protect future victims by requiring police to temporarily take guns from firearm owners under certain orders of protection.

Chicago police Officer Ella French (@TomAhernCPD / Twitter)

Eric Morgan, who faced charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and obstruction of justice, has reached a plea agreement more than two years after the shooting, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office announced.

U.S. Supreme Court building. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images)
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The docket already includes major cases concerning the intersection between the First Amendment and social media, gun rights, racial gerrymandering and the power of the executive branch when it comes to regulation.

A gun store display is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)

The law provides an exception for Illinoisans who already owned such items before it went into effect. Those people are required to submit an endorsement affidavit through their Firearm Owner’s Identification Card account before Jan. 1, 2024.