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In wooing Cabela's, village suspends local gun rules
BY PATRICK CORCORAN
STAFF WRITER
With no public discussion, the Hoffman Estates Village Board on Monday voted unanimously to eliminate parts of the village's local firearms ordinance.
The changes mean that gun purchases will not have to be reported to the Hoffman Estates Police Department. It also means that the police department will no longer run its own background checks on gun buyers and it will not issue permits.
Firearms retailers and consumers, however, must still comply with state and federal gun laws, which require buyers to obtain an Illinois Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card, submit to a background check and comply with the standard 24- or 72-hour waiting period, depending on what type of gun is being bought.
The new ordinance was tailored on behalf of Cabela's, a national camping and hunting outfitter which is planning to open a 200,000-square-foot store in Hoffman Estates in 2007. Cabela's will sell shotguns, long rifles and handguns in addition to second-hand firearms. The retailer is expected to generate annual sales tax revenues of about $2 million.
Trustees Cary Collins said he approved the measure because he was told by Village Manager Jim Norris that Cabela's would pull their plans if it failed.
"We were limited as far as what we could do (earlier this week)," Collins said.
Norris said he told trustees only that the ordinance change was important to Cabela's.
"By no means was this a deal-breaker. Cabela's already closed on the land ... I told trustees that this was important to Cabela's, but I never told them this was a deal-breaker," he said.
Trustee Fred Crespo, chairman of the village's Public Health and Safety Committee, said Cabela's is an essential part of the burgeoning entertainment district in the Prairie Stone Business Park, where the store will be located.
"Securing Cabela's, along with the Sears Centre ... is paramount. It will be good for the village and good for the region," he said. "But if I thought for any reason this would put our police or our residents at risk, I wouldn't have hesitated to vote against it."
For the volume of estimated gun sales at Cabela's, the old ordinance was a poor fit, Norris said. Previously, it required firearms buyers to submit to a background check and receive a permit. Completing the process could take several days.
"[Cabela's] sells so many weapons that are used for hunting that for them to manage the paperwork and the frequency with which that paperwork would need to be turned over ... it would be a burden for them," Norris said. "[Cabela's officials] have been very open with us since the very beginning and they told us early on that they thought this might be a burden."
The lack of comments, from the public and from the Village Board, indicated the amended ordinance was a non-issue, Norris said.
Hoffman Estates has been without a firearms retailer for more than a decade.
Trustee Lloyd Boester said he was unsure whether or not Cabela's plans hinged on the ordinance. Regardless, the amended ordinance provides sufficient oversight of gun sales, he said.
"[Cabela's] may or may not have had other plans to go elsewhere. I know they've been looking all over in this area for a site, but at the same time (Police Chief) Clint Herdegen and (Village Attorney) Dick Williams said they were satisfied with it. I am not a gun person and I am not a gun-control person, and this change doesn't bother me," Boester said.
Cabela's officials are tentatively scheduled to introduce plans for the new Hoffman Estates store next month.
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/he/02-09-06-823837.html
BY PATRICK CORCORAN
STAFF WRITER
With no public discussion, the Hoffman Estates Village Board on Monday voted unanimously to eliminate parts of the village's local firearms ordinance.
The changes mean that gun purchases will not have to be reported to the Hoffman Estates Police Department. It also means that the police department will no longer run its own background checks on gun buyers and it will not issue permits.
Firearms retailers and consumers, however, must still comply with state and federal gun laws, which require buyers to obtain an Illinois Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card, submit to a background check and comply with the standard 24- or 72-hour waiting period, depending on what type of gun is being bought.
The new ordinance was tailored on behalf of Cabela's, a national camping and hunting outfitter which is planning to open a 200,000-square-foot store in Hoffman Estates in 2007. Cabela's will sell shotguns, long rifles and handguns in addition to second-hand firearms. The retailer is expected to generate annual sales tax revenues of about $2 million.
Trustees Cary Collins said he approved the measure because he was told by Village Manager Jim Norris that Cabela's would pull their plans if it failed.
"We were limited as far as what we could do (earlier this week)," Collins said.
Norris said he told trustees only that the ordinance change was important to Cabela's.
"By no means was this a deal-breaker. Cabela's already closed on the land ... I told trustees that this was important to Cabela's, but I never told them this was a deal-breaker," he said.
Trustee Fred Crespo, chairman of the village's Public Health and Safety Committee, said Cabela's is an essential part of the burgeoning entertainment district in the Prairie Stone Business Park, where the store will be located.
"Securing Cabela's, along with the Sears Centre ... is paramount. It will be good for the village and good for the region," he said. "But if I thought for any reason this would put our police or our residents at risk, I wouldn't have hesitated to vote against it."
For the volume of estimated gun sales at Cabela's, the old ordinance was a poor fit, Norris said. Previously, it required firearms buyers to submit to a background check and receive a permit. Completing the process could take several days.
"[Cabela's] sells so many weapons that are used for hunting that for them to manage the paperwork and the frequency with which that paperwork would need to be turned over ... it would be a burden for them," Norris said. "[Cabela's officials] have been very open with us since the very beginning and they told us early on that they thought this might be a burden."
The lack of comments, from the public and from the Village Board, indicated the amended ordinance was a non-issue, Norris said.
Hoffman Estates has been without a firearms retailer for more than a decade.
Trustee Lloyd Boester said he was unsure whether or not Cabela's plans hinged on the ordinance. Regardless, the amended ordinance provides sufficient oversight of gun sales, he said.
"[Cabela's] may or may not have had other plans to go elsewhere. I know they've been looking all over in this area for a site, but at the same time (Police Chief) Clint Herdegen and (Village Attorney) Dick Williams said they were satisfied with it. I am not a gun person and I am not a gun-control person, and this change doesn't bother me," Boester said.
Cabela's officials are tentatively scheduled to introduce plans for the new Hoffman Estates store next month.
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/he/02-09-06-823837.html
I better start saving more money.
