FOR RELEASE:
June 3, 2025
PRESS CONTACT:
Deanna Shoss, Communications, 773-478-8417
The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published an inquiry into the implementation and enforcement of the City’s Gun Offender Registration Ordinance (Municipal Code of Chicago § 8-26). The ordinance requires all Chicago residents who have been convicted of specific gun-related offenses to register with the Chicago Police Department (CPD). CPD is responsible for notifying individuals who are required to register and for maintaining the registry. OIG found that the current registry is incomplete and unreliable, due in part to CPD’s lack of proactive enforcement of the ordinance. Consequently, an incomplete and inaccurate gun offender registry undermines the utility that the registry might have as a public safety tool.
The ordinance requires all individuals convicted of a gun-related charge to register in person within five days after receiving notification during their release from custody or sentencing. The ordinance permits CPD to coordinate with the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and other agencies to ensure that individuals who need to register receive the required written notice. OIG found that CPD lacks procedural controls to communicate effectively with collaborating agencies. Additionally, due to the broad scope of the ordinance, CPD has no way to ensure that all qualifying offenders are notified. OIG also found that CPD provides inconsistent guidance on where and how gun offenders should register, and few locations, limited hours, and long lines have been barriers to registration. Furthermore, CPD does not conduct routine residency verifications or proactive missions intended to enforce the ordinance, and the City rarely seeks penalties for ordinance violations.
“As Chicago reckons with the scourge of gun violence, we ought to be measuring up every available tool to control it,” says Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. “If a law enforcement tool has a meaningful operational benefit, then we must invest the time and resources to make it effective in keeping Chicagoans safer. If the costs of thorough, consistent implementation and enforcement outweigh the impact of this particular tool, then we ought not stand it up as window dressing. That is, if we have a law on the books that is effective in curbing gun violence, let’s enforce it like we mean it. If we are wasting time and law enforcement resources on the incomplete implementation of a tool that was never built to work in the first place, we ought to put that aside and invest in things that work.”
OIG urges the Mayor’s Office, City Council, and CPD to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the ongoing utility and impact of the Gun Offender Registration Ordinance. If there is a public safety benefit to law enforcement and to communities in building a robust and comprehensive registry, OIG encourages the City to invest the resources into ensuring it is complete. If not, the City should not continue to pursue an effort that has not proven its utility in creating a safer Chicago, and should take appropriate legislative action.
Read the Report
Read the full report, released on June 3, 2025.
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