Daley pushing new gun ban measure
Despite pressure, city holds on to handgun ban
July 26, 2008
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BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/
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Chicago is fighting tooth and nail to keep its 1982 handgun freeze, in part to protect first-responders, even as suburbs such as Wilmette and Morton Grove are throwing in the towel, Mayor Daley said today.
In fact, Daley is talking about drafting yet another ordinance to spell out the responsibilities and liabilities of homeowners in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn Washington D.C.'s handgun ban.
If the nation's highest court says it's OK to keep guns in your home for self-defense, what's to prevent those guns from being used against police officers and firefighters who respond to a domestic quarrel or other emergency, the mayor said.
"What does a policeman do when there's a domestic battery [call] and they're both armed? Do they enter the home or apartment or do they wait outside? ... How 'bout the neighbors? How 'bout the postman -- all the other issues that go with people coming into your home or close to your home? ... Whose responsibility is it when your son takes the gun outside and police come by?" Daley told reporters at a senior citizen development in Roseland.
"You have to look at a new ordinance in order to protect firemen and policemen going to the scenes of people who have armed themselves in their home. ... We serve and protect. We're not supposed to lose our lives ... Morton Grove can do anything they want. What I'm saying is you have to look at the first- responders and how it's gonna jeopardize their lives."
The mayor's laundry list of questions does not stop at the safety of first-responders. He wants to know just how far the Supreme Court is prepared to go to protect the 2nd Amendment.
"It's just not allowing people to arm themselves. How many guns do you have -- 50, 60? Can they have a .357 Magnum? Can they have ammunition that will go through a wall? What is the liability of the owners? ... Do you have to have insurance if you have a gun? How much ammunition can you have if there's a fire? If a fireman is going to your home and you have 40 weapons and 1,000 rounds, do we have a responsibility to notify all the neighbors?" Daley said.
"There's a lot of questions to be asked. I don't look at this lightly [and say], 'Oh, because the Supreme Court [overturned Washington's handgun ban], we're just gonna dismiss it and, all the sudden, people can arm themselves.'"
In a 5-to-4 decision issued June 26, the Supreme Court overturned the Washington D.C. handgun ban on grounds that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right to possess a handgun in your home for self-defense. Daley called it a "frightening" ruling that harkens "back to the Old West."
Hours later, the National Rifle Association put Chicago, Morton Grove, Evanston and Oak Park directly in the crosshairs. The NRA filed lawsuits seeking to overturn handgun bans in all four jurisdictions.
Wilmette repealed its handgun ban on Tuesday. Morton Grove is expected to do the same next week.
Chicago's Corporation Counsel Mara Georges has expressed confidence that a federal judge would dismiss the lawsuit. She told aldermen this week that Chicago's handgun freeze was "not invalidated" by the Washington D.C. ruling because three prior Supreme Court decisions have "found that the Second Amendment does not apply to state and municipalities." Washington D.C. is a federal jurisdiction.
