Gun control laws in Chicago just got even more restrictive. The city with both some of the most stringent gun laws in the nation and among the highest gun violence rates, passed a new ordinance to limit firearms purchase and added a videotape mandate to all buys.
Chicago lawmakers gave preliminary approval to a new gun control law that restricts handgun purchases to one per month, added a records storage requirement, and restricted areas where firearms stores can be located. The Chicago gun control law comes on the heels of a federal court ruling that deemed it unconstitutional for the city to ban all gun sales. Second Amendment advocates and gun rights group staunchly opposed weapons laws in the Illinois city.
Instead of simply revoking the gun ban deemed as an infringement upon Second Amendment rights, Chicago officials decided to “craft rules that comply with the court order, yet still make it nearly impossible to buy a gun within city limits,” the Chicago Business Journal reports.
The new gun control ordinance in Chicago also requires a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of handguns and a 24-hour waiting period to buy a shotgun or a rifle. Gun stores will soon be required to keep extensive records pertaining to gun purchases and the documents will be inspected quarterly.
Chicago Council Public Safety Committee Chair Alderman James Balcer said, “The courts have ruled we had to do this so we did it and I think it’s a common sense approach. It is well-crafted and it’s good.” Alderman Ameya Pawar appears to agree with her peer and called on other towns in the area that permit gun sales to “step up” and pass more restrictive ordinances on firearms transactions.
Pawar also had this to say about the new Chicago gun control laws:
“I want to know why the county isn’t stepping up. Why aren’t they here? Why aren’t they introducing a similar ordinance? It’s easy to throw darts at Chicago and say we’ve got a gun problem and we’ve got a murder problem when the guns are coming from outside Chicago.”
Those opposed to the new gun ordinance are quick to note that guns can still be ordered online and that the vast majority of the gun violence committed in the city stems from illegal guns.
Rahm Emanual, the mayor of Chicago, is being “credited” with being the driving force behind the new gun control law in the city. The ordinance reportedly follows Emanuel’s 2013 proposal to utilize zoning laws to prevent gun stores from opening within 500 feet of a park or school.
The full city council is expected to quickly pass the ordinance next week. Although gun rights advocates did not attempt to debate the issue during public meetings, Second Amendment groups are expected to challenge the new Chicago gun control law in court after it is formally passed.
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