In the wake of the new concealed carry law passed in Illinois, Chicago’s city fathers are adding more guns to the ban list and setting strict new rules for who can have a gun and what sort of guns they can have. Specifically, the city is renewing a ban on “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” within city limits.
Illinois was the last state in the union to allow citizens to apply for concealed carry permits, but state legislators also gave local governments, municipalities and counties a ten day window to beef up their own individual gun banning rules before the permit process is begun.
Even as the new concealed carry law was being fought over in the state capitol in Springfield, some Democrats admitted that they intended to put so many restrictions on the right to carry that it would make it very difficult to evenbother with.
For instance, early in July, Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul told Chicago media that his goal was to make actually observing the new law so onerous that citizens would be discouraged from even trying to obtain a concealed carry permit.
“If you think about all the prohibited places there are,” Raoul said, “I don’t think you will see an overwhelming number of people actually (carrying weapons) because it becomes such a headache.”
Chicago was one of the targets of several pro-Second Amendment lawsuits that went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States and helped lead to the end of the state being the last holdout preventing concealed carry. Now that the state has joined the rest of the country in observing the U.S. Constitution, the city is looking to ban even more guns, seemingly in contravention to the lawsuits the city only recently lost.
During a special session called by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the city put a ban on ammunition magazines and feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds and firmed up a ban list of 150 specific firearms. The city already has an “assault weapon” ban, and the new rules expand those restrictions.
City politicos focused on so-called “assault weapons” during the special session, with Alderman Latasha Thomas proclaiming that no one “needs” such a weapon.
“There is absolutely no need for assault weapons; none,” Latasha claimed. “The only thing it does is kill people. There’s absolutely no need for it. Banning assault weapons is the smart move for every city to do.”
FBI Crime statistics for 2011, though, show that use of so-called “assault weapons” accounted for but .5% of all murders in the USA.
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