Illinois Sen. Peters’ firearm violence prevention bill passes House and Senate

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Robert Peters seeks to establish the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention to coordinate programs and distribute grants aimed at reducing gun violence across Illinois communities, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 71 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while 36 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 37 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while eight Republicans voted against it.

Peters introduced the bill in the Illinois Senate on Feb. 7, 2025 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as SB2280, was passed on May 23, 2025 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill’s official text as follows: “Amends the Reimagine Public Safety Act. Provides that the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall issue a report to the General Assembly annually (rather than no later than January 1 of each year) that identifies communities within Illinois municipalities of 1,000,000 or more residents and municipalities with less than 1,000,000 residents and more than 35,000 residents that are experiencing concentrated firearm violence, explaining the investments that are being made to reduce concentrated firearm violence, and making further recommendations on how to end Illinois’ firearm violence epidemic. Provides that the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall compile recommendations from all Lead Violence Prevention Conveners and report to the General Assembly annually (rather than bi-annually) on these funding recommendations.”

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill establishes the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention within the Illinois Department of Human Services to address gun violence, with the Assistant Secretary of Violence Prevention reporting to the department’s secretary and the governor. The office is tasked with coordinating programs and distributing funds to organizations that focus on violence prevention, youth development, and high-risk youth intervention. Grants are available to support behavioral health, capacity-building, legal aid, housing, workforce development, re-entry, and victim services. Illinois municipalities with populations over 1 million will have their 10 most violent neighborhoods identified for targeted intervention, with additional funding for selected contiguous neighborhoods. For municipalities with 35,000 to 999,999 residents, the 10 areas with the highest concentration of gun violence will be eligible for grants, with the possibility of expanding this to five additional areas. Violence prevention organizations will serve as Lead Violence Prevention Conveners and cooperatively work to prevent gun violence while providing data-driven, comprehensive services.

The bill was sponsored only by Rep. Justin Slaughter (Democrat-27th District).

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Peters graduated from Kansas State University in 2009 with a BS.

Peters, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 2019 to represent the state’s 13th Senate District, replacing previous state senator Kwame Raoul.

Lawmakers listed as “Not Voting” were present for the vote but did not cast a vote. Those marked as having an “Excused Absence” were not present and formally provided a reason for their absence, which was accepted.