(430 ILCS 66/80)
    Sec. 80. Certified firearms instructors.
    (a) Within 60 days of the effective date of this Act, the Illinois State Police shall begin approval of certified firearms instructors and enter certified firearms instructors into an online registry on the Illinois State Police's website.
    (b) A person who is not a certified firearms instructor shall not teach applicant training courses or advertise or otherwise represent courses they teach as qualifying their students to meet the requirements to receive a license under this Act. Each violation of this subsection is a business offense with a fine of at least $1,000 per violation.
    (c) A person seeking to become a certified firearms instructor shall:
        (1) be at least 21 years of age;
        (2) be a legal resident of the United States; and
        (3) meet the requirements of Section 25 of this Act,
    
except for the Illinois residency requirement in item (xiv) of paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Section 4 of the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act; and any additional uniformly applied requirements established by the Illinois State Police.
    (d) A person seeking to become a certified firearms instructor, in addition to the requirements of subsection (c) of this Section, shall:
        (1) possess a high school diploma or State of
    
Illinois High School Diploma; and
        (2) have at least one of the following valid firearms
    
instructor certifications:
            (A) certification from a law enforcement agency;
            (B) certification from a firearm instructor
        
course offered by a State or federal governmental agency;
            (C) certification from a firearm instructor
        
qualification course offered by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board; or
            (D) certification from an entity approved by the
        
Illinois State Police that offers firearm instructor education and training in the use and safety of firearms.
    (e) A person may have his or her firearms instructor certification denied or revoked if he or she does not meet the requirements to obtain a license under this Act, provides false or misleading information to the Illinois State Police, or has had a prior instructor certification revoked or denied by the Illinois State Police.
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-1100, eff. 1-1-23.)