Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
Correct me if I am wrong. Are guns legal to own in Chicago? I don't have a gun, but I am glad my neighbors do. If a law were passed to limit ownership of guns, only the good guys would obey the law. THAT is the reality. I think there are two ways to look at things and two ways to vote. What sounds nice and what really happens.
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Handgun ownership has been legal in the City of Chicago since 2010 per a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Gun sales are "banned" in the City of Chicago (notice I put banned in parentheses as the real situation is much different. If you are a Chicago resident and wish to legally purchase a handgun, you must go to the suburbs to make your purchase. Handgun owners in the City of Chicago must also get an Illinois Firearm Owners ID card, complete a firearms safety course, get a City of Chicago Firearms Permit and then register the firearm with the City of Chicago. Do all handgun owners in Chicago follow the city's handgun ordinance requirements...of course not.
From Time Out Chicago's web site:
In June, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that effectively, and instantly, shot down Chicago’s 28-year-old handgun ban. The opinion, issued by a narrow 5-4 majority, said the Second Amendment protects the right to own a handgun for self-defense, a decision that overrides state and municipal restrictions. Otis McDonald, a South Side septuagenarian and the namesake plaintiff in McDonald v. Chicago, was among several local petitioners in the suit sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association. McDonald argued he had the right to protect himself and his family in his Morgan Park neighborhood, which he described as crime ridden.
“The number of Chicago homicide victims during the current year [2010] equaled the number of American soldiers killed during that same period in Afghanistan and Iraq,” justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “If safety of…law abiding members of the community would be enhanced by the possession of handguns in the home for self-defense, then the Second Amendment right protects the rights of minorities and other residents of high-crime areas whose needs are not being met by elected public officials.”