Assault Weapons Registration, Paid Leave, Deepfakes, Vaping Laws New For 2024

Dalton Brown, News Reporter

January 2, 2024 6:13 AM January 2, 2024 3:24 PM

:text=%E2%80%9CWith%20this%20new%20minimum%20wage,%2413%20to%20next%20year's%20%2414.?utm_source=riverbender&utm_medium=article_link" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">minimum wage increase and more, several other laws are also slated to take effect in Illinois at the start of the new year in 2024.

Effective Jan. 1, 2024, new laws will be on the books concerning the state’s assault weapons ban, paid leave for all workers, victims of deepfakes, indoor vaping, and more.

Registration Required For “Assault Weapons”

Starting Jan. 1, 2024, those in possession of guns and accessories banned under the Protect Illinois Communities Act who haven’t filed an “endorsement affidavit” with the Illinois State Police will be in violation of state law.

The act defines an “assault weapon” as “a semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine or that may be readily modified to accept a detachable magazine,” if the rifle has certain features or accessories such as a pistol grip, folding stock, magazine capacity larger than 10 rounds, and more as outlined in 720 ILCS 5/24-1.9.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to put the assault weapons ban on hold. The law had previously been upheld by the 7th District U.S. Court of Appeals on a 2-1 vote in November and by the Illinois Supreme Court with a 4-3 vote in August.

Paid Leave For All Workers

The new year will also mean new paid leave benefits for full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers in Illinois who previously had no form of paid leave.

According to the Illinois Department of Labor, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Paid Leave For All Workers Act (SB208) into law in March of 2023. The law entitles all workers in Illinois a minimum of 40 hours of paid leave during a 12-month period.

Leave accrues at a rate of one hour of paid leave per 40 hours worked and applies to all workers in Illinois, including municipal employees, with exceptions for certain industries and independent contractors.

Under the new law, employees can take paid leave “for any reason of the employee's choosing” and are not required to provide documentation or a reason for taking the leave. The law also forbids employers from requiring employees to find replacement workers to cover the hours they choose to take their paid leave.

Deepfake Victims Can Now Sue

Under the new Digital Forgeries Act, individuals depicted in “digital forgeries” or deepfakes without their consent now have the ability to sue the creator, distributor, or solicitor of the photos and/or videos falsely depicting them.

This law also includes victims depicted in deepfake porn, who now have the right to sue the person or persons behind its creation and/or distribution. Among other measures, it amends the Civil Remedies for Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images Act to expand the definition of “sexual images” to include deepfakes.

The law specifically targets images or videos created or distributed “in order to harass, extort, threaten, or cause physical, emotional, reputational, or economic harm to an individual falsely depicted.” Individuals can also be sued for their “reckless disregard” for the harm caused to the person falsely depicted, or if they created/distributed the false depiction “in order to incite violence or interfere with an official proceeding.”

Indoor Vaping = Indoor Smoking

Vaping and using e-cigarettes in indoor public spaces will no longer be allowed in Illinois beginning Jan. 1, 2024. A new amendment to the Smoke Free Illinois Act adds vapes and e-cigarettes to the list of items prohibited for public indoor use, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The new law applies both within indoor public spaces and within 15 feet of a public entrance, with certain exceptions for certain establishments.

Retail tobacco stores that derive at least 80% of their gross revenue from the sale of e-cigarettes and accessories, which were already in operation before the effective date of this new law, qualify for an exemption from this ban for electronic cigarettes only. Traditional tobacco retail shops may also claim exemptions, but are required to file their percentage of e-cigarette-related income annually with the state.

Check Riverbender.com for more stories about the new laws taking effect in Illinois on Jan. 1, 2024.

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