Gun-violence prevention leaders and local advocates are converging on St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham on Wednesday morning for a 9 a.m. press conference, pressing lawmakers to pass the Responsibility in Firearm Legislation (RIFL) Act. The proposal would require firearms manufacturers to obtain state licenses and pay into a new RIFL Fund that would support people hurt by gunfire and their families. Supporters say the change would shift a slice of the public cost of firearm injuries off taxpayers and onto the gun industry.
Under the RIFL Act, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation would run a licensing program for manufacturers and a dedicated RIFL Fund that gathers license fees and civil penalties, then distributes that money to victims of firearm injury. The bill defines “direct costs” to include medical treatment, mental-health care, lost wages, emergency relocation, and funeral expenses, according to the Illinois General Assembly. Sponsors instruct the department to set fee levels based on the state’s estimate of public-health costs tied to firearm injuries.
The measure surfaced during the 2025 session as SB2279 in the Senate and HB3320 in the House, and legislative tracking shows it picked up a growing list of co-sponsors but never reached a floor vote last session, per LegiScan. Backers say they are regrouping in Chicago to re-energize support ahead of hearings this year, and they chose St. Sabina to keep survivors and front-line providers who treat gun injuries at the center of the conversation.
Press Conference At St. Sabina
National gun-violence prevention leaders, Illinois lawmakers, trauma doctors, and law-enforcement officials are slated to take the mic, and Parkland survivor David Hogg is among those expected to join organizers, according to CBS Chicago. Organizers say they want first-hand stories and clinical experience laid side by side with policy outlines to drive home the human cost of shootings. The press conference is set for 9 a.m. on St. Sabina’s Auburn Gresham campus.
What The Bill Would Require
SB2279 directs the department to calculate a “total annual aggregate fee” that matches the public-health costs of firearm injuries, then split that amount among firearms manufacturers based on their market share, with a first-year program cap laid out in the bill. Beginning January 1, 2028, manufacturers would be barred from operating in Illinois without a RIFL license. The RIFL Fund would pay out financial assistance under rules adopted by the department and administered through a contracted program administrator, according to the Illinois General Assembly. The proposal also sets civil penalties for noncompliance and authorizes the Attorney General to enforce the law.
Supporters And Opponents
Supporters at the event frame the licensing scheme as a public-health tool to offset Illinois’ steep costs from gun violence. Advocates estimate those costs at roughly $18 billion to $20 billion a year and say the RIFL Fund would help cover medical bills, lost wages and funeral expenses. Opponents, including the National Rifle Association, have blasted the measure as unconstitutional and argue it unfairly forces manufacturers to “pre-confess” responsibility for crimes, according to CBS Chicago. The bill’s creators counter that the fees are aimed at victim assistance and violence-prevention programs, not criminal punishment…