Council Approves Daley Gun Limits

Just four days after the Supreme Court effectively ruled aganist Chicago's handgun ban, the Chicago City Council voted unanimously to impose new gun restricions recommended by Mayor Daley.

Daley introduced the gun restrictions at a press conference Thursday.  With a unanimous 45-0 vote, aldermen approved the measure less than 24 hours later.

"We have responded to the law, we think... in a common sense and a very reasonable way," Daley said after the council passed the new legislation.

The new law will go into effect in 10 days, at which time citizens will need to comply with the following stipulations:

  • registration of no more than one handgun per month,
  • two step process to own and register
  • no ownership for anyone convicted of a violent crime
  • no ownership for anyone with 2 or more DUIs
  • no ownership for anyone convicted on a domestic violence charge
  • bans assault weapons
  • bans gun shops
  • requires firearms safety training
  • requires city firearms permit, state FOI card and registration with the Chicago Police Department.

The quick response was heralded by gun control activists, including Ron Holt, who heads Chicago's Alternative Policing Program.

"The Mayor and the City Council moved in the right direction today," said Holt.  "They took corrective measures with a reasonable gun regulation which makes sense."

Holt is a 19-year veteran of the CPD and the father of Blair Holt, a 16-year-old who was shot and killed aboard a Chicago Transit Authority bus in 2007.

The National Rifle Association, however, is already calling the new ordinance unconstitutional.

"The City Council and the Mayor have learned nothing from two Supreme Court decisions, so it seems that we're going back to court," said Shaun Kranish with the gun-rights advocacy group icarry.org

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