Posted on 06/29/2008 11:20:29 AM PDT by neverdem
WILMETTE, Ill. -- Wilmette has suspended enforcement of its 19-year-old ordinance banning handgun possession in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that appears to invalidate such bans.
Video:Wilmette Lifts Ban Interactive:Meet The Justices
In a 5-4 decision, the court struck down Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns, a prohibition similar to those used in several major cities, including Chicago, and a handful of suburbs including Wilmette, Evanston, Winnetka and Oak Park.
"The Law Department and the Police Department have suspended enforcement of the ordinance pending further review by the Village Board," Wilmette village attorney Tim Frenzer said Thursday. "Based on the decision today, at a minimum it calls into serious question the continued viability of the ordinance."
Frenzer said questions remain about how directly the court's decision will impact local gun laws in Wilmette and other parts of the country. Washington is not a state, and each state has its own legal language governing the right to bear arms.
"That aside, the opinion will require further review and discussion by the Village Board, but it's prudent at this point to suspend enforcement of it," Frenzer said.
Wilmette's law, enacted in 1989, levied fines of up to $750 for handgun possession and allowed the village to seek a judge's order to have seized weapons destroyed.
Frenzer said he did not know exactly how many times the law has been invoked, but said its use is rare.
The last case he recalls involved a 2003 incident in which a resident, Hale DeMar, was cited after using a handgun to shoot and wound a burglar in his home. The case mobilized state gun right groups and led to the passage of a law that gave gun owners a defense to local prohibitions if the weapon was used in self-defense.
Wilmette's charges against DeMar were eventually dropped. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Wilmette Police Chief George Carpenter declined to comment on the high court's ruling, saying he had not yet had a chance to read the decision or review it with village staff.
NBC5's Phil Rogers reported that Wilmette was not the only community with big decisions to make in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision. Six Chicago area communities: Wilmette, Winnetka, Evanston, Chicago, Oak Park and Morton Grove, have outright handgun bans, dating back to 1981, which are now apparently illegal.
Eight other communities: Highland Park, Deerfield, Northbrook, River Grove, Westmont, Forest Park, Elk Grove Village and Niles, ban the sale or transfer of handguns within their city limits.
On Friday, the Chicago Tribune called for the repeal of the Second Amendment. But barring that, Rogers reported, the Supreme Court's decision seems to leave little wiggle room for refinement of existing laws.
"It's going to be very challenging, I think, for municipalities to hold on to the overall ban on a handgun," Frenzer said.
As local communities tried to determine exactly how the ruling affected them, many activists made it clear that they were not prepared to take "no" for an answer.
Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson declared that if the law means more gun stores, he would fight to have a say as to where they are located. Jackson also likened the fight against gun violence to the struggle for civil rights.
"We have legalized access to weapons of mass destruction," Jackson said. "We have become the most violent nation on earth. We make the most guns and we shoot them."
NRA Files Suits In Chicago, Three Suburbs Challenging Gun Bans
The National Rifle Association has entered the fray over Chicago's handgun ban.
The NRA filed a lawsuit Friday against the city ban. It said it also filed comparable lawsuits in the suburbs of Evanston, Oak Park and Morton Grove. Several other pro-gun groups filed a separate lawsuit yesterday challenging Chicago's ban.
The flurry of litigation follows a Thursday U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a Washington, D.C. gun ban.
NRA lobbyist Chris Cox said the lawsuits are meant to ensure state and local governments adhere to the court's ruling.
He adds the NRA won't rest until the existing handgun bans are all struck down, but he said that attorneys for the pro-gun groups concede the fight over Chicago's ban could last years.
Anti-gun groups said the bans help stem the number of gun-related deaths and accidents.
Excellent !
I never understood why the RINOs on the North Shore (the affluent towns north of Chicago) were so vehemently anti-handgun. They once sent Rumsfeld to congress.
The Chicago Tribune called for the repeal of the Second Amendment. Traitorous dogs.
Chicago seems intent on wasting tax money.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
“The Chicago Tribune called for the repeal of the Second Amendment”
Anyone got a link?
BTTT
Wanna bet Jesse’s entourage is carrying?
Yeah, give me a few minutes. I’ll find it.
I was surprised to read the names of the Chicago ‘burbs that had adopted these bans. One would think that their citizens would be entitled to, and demand, the right to protect themselves, especially in those more affluent towns that are easily reached by the thug elements out of Chicago.
And, if I were Jesse Jackson, I just wouldn’t ‘go there’ about gun ownership rights. I’m guessing the recent spate of shooting/killins in Chicago weren’t perpetrated by white kids out of Oak Park. Thugs are not about to purchase their weapons at a store where they can be tracked, much less have them registered. Jesse should go buy himself a clue.
Chicago, Stalinois certainly deserves its fair share of lawsuits.
No mercy for the jack-booted b@stards.
For too many years the anti gunners have tied the gun issue up in the courts. It’s really gonna be nice to have the shoe on the other foot. Let’s sue all the anti gun mayors 1st.
Maybe it would threaten their status as effete snobs?
Speaking from experience, here, with a little exaggeration.
Thanks.
Thise towns spend a lot of money keeping that thug element out of town, and dealing with all the ramifications of that. You will also find more money being spent in towns that have commuter train stations, because that Chicago element you mentioned doesn’t even have to drive to get there; just buy a train ticket.
The government/authorities who enforced this ban need to be sued for every assault that has occurred that could have potentially been stopped if the victim had a gun.
Thanks for the links.
That's code for he's got new targets for his extortion schemes.
I’m familiar with that also . . . “driving while black” means nothing to me, because I’ve been stopped for “walking while white.”
Maybe you should buy an expensive bicycle, get a funny hard hat, and dress in bright colors like a parrot; then you could drive your bike down the middle of all the roads in those towns and look down your nose at anybody who disagrees.
You nailed it. The cops were like, “wtf? he’s not driving a bimmer.”
Jesse grew up in the South during an era where a white person with a gun was someone to be feared if you were black.
NOW,the situation has turned around and it is those young black and Latino thugs who have the guns people fear.I used to think that if you were going to have gun control that it should only encompass black and Latino youth between ages 15 and 30 since this is where 90% of the gun mayhem originates from.
Yet after deeper thought,i junked that idea since there are many young black and Latino men in that demographic who are law abiding and deserve the right to defend themselves from the predators that look like them.
At least they are honest and straightforward in their hatred of liberty.
Many state and local government officials who share their views, and perhaps one Presidential candidate also, will not be so forthright. They will pay lip service to our civil rights, and then regulate and license and zone them out of existence.
-ccm
This guy is so stupid I can't believe even black people listen to him.
Let's go after them personally. Hound them into bankruptcy, and get them imprisoned for official oppression under color of law. We need to ruin a few officials' lives and bankrupt a few municipalities to make them an example for all the rest.
What are we waiting for.<p.
Good, it’s time to hit these people in court everywhere, and do so unceasingly.
“I never understood why the RINOs on the North Shore (the affluent towns north of Chicago) were so vehemently anti-handgun. They once sent Rumsfeld to congress.”
Those neighborhoods are now occupied by well-educated liberals... liberal professionals like attorneys.
Hey Jesse?
Wonder how these black folks felt about gun control?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosewood_massacre
The Tribune actually quoted DeMar in their take on the story about local gun bans:
“I understand the politics of it, but as a parent of two small children who was faced with that situation, I was glad to have the handgun in my house. I would do it again,” DeMar said Thursday. The burglar “weighed more than 200 pounds. I’m a 60-year-old guy and I weigh 140 pounds. What am I going to do? Argue with the guy?”
They gave up almost immediately after being served. No chance to win.
And just how does the editorial staff of the Chicago Tribune think such an amendment would get enacted? Gun control is an issue that only appeals to leftists in large urban centers. Such an amendment couldn’t even make it out of committee much less get a 2/3’rds vote in both the House and Senate. Furthermore getting 3/4’ths of the states to ratify such an amendment is tricky. The 13 smallest population states can block any amendment.
Eight other communities: Highland Park, Deerfield, Northbrook, River Grove, Westmont, Forest Park, Elk Grove Village and Niles, ban the sale or transfer of handguns within their city limits.I will bet the rent that most people living in those burbs don't even KNOW that the "sale or transfer" of handguns are verbotten. Especially in Elk Grove Village (and that's a fact).
What a drama queen !
No, it's worse. Read, Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jessee Jackson, by Kenneth R. Timmerman, which is available at Amazon. JJ was supported during much of his earlier career, and supported, some of th most vicious, violent Chicago street gangs. By doing his level best to keep law abiding people of color from resisting them, he's just continuing that support and continuing to facilitate violent crime in Chicago, from which he appears to have found many ways to benefit.
Even in a Democrat controlled House and Senate, I can’t see any bill proposing to repeal the 2nd Amendment being passed. Remember, in one of his SOTU speeches, Clinton attributed the Dems loss of control of both chambers to their support of gun control. (it had nothing to do with his wife’s health care plan).
The editorial was a knee-jerk reaction to the SCOTUS decision, without any thought whatsoever. Just saying what they imagine their subscribers wanted to hear.
Gotta have a "clue permit" in Chicago.
Didn't take them long, did it. (snark)
We need all of them to be green.
Did you guys see this?
Tribune calls for repeal of 2nd?
Un-F’ing-believable. Colonel McCormick must be spinning in his grave.
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