Chicago approves new handgun regulations

July 4, 2010

In response to the United States Supreme Court overturning Chicago's total ban on handguns, Chicago's city council approved on Friday what officials say are the toughest handgun regulations in the country.

City officials also publicly criticized the Supreme Court's decision, saying that the Court's ruling that Americans have the right to use guns without restriction for self-defense makes the city more dangerous because it allows more people to legally possess guns. The ruling would have made Chicago's previous ban on handguns unenforceable.

The city council, which is normally considered leisurely in passing ordinances, voted 45–0 to approve the new regulations and was remarkably quick in passing the laws.

The new restrictions ban gun shops in the city and prohibits people from leaving their residences while in possession of a handgun. It also requires that all but one firearm per house be inoperative, that owners register all guns, and that citizens buying guns receive training.

After the ordinance was passed, many gun rights advocates cried foul, and many, including the (NRA), said they would pursue lawsuits.

"The city wants to put as many hurdles and as much red tape in the way of someone who just wants to exercise their constitutional right to have a gun," Todd Vandermyde, lobbyist for the NRA, said.

However, many residents of the city approved of the new measures.

"There's just too much killing going on [and] we need protection," South Side retiree Mary Fitts said. "You can't even sit on your front porch."