(CBS) — Chicago aldermen have given preliminary approval to a measure allowing guns to be sold within the city as a federal court has ordered.
WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports the ordinance which goes before the full City Council next week restricts where gun shops can be located. It requires gun sales to be videotaped, records kept and restricts purchasers to one handgun a month.
Council Public Safety Committee Chair Alderman James Balcer says given that the city has to allow guns to be sold here, this is the best it can do.
“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,” said Balcer.
But Alderman Ameya Pawar says the areas where guns are being sold now need to pass more restrictive laws.
“It is time for the county to step up. It is time for home-rule municipalities to step up, because you can’t keep throwing darts at Chicago,” said Pawar.
No gun rights advocates even showed up to testify at the hearing where the conclusion was foregone.
Craig Dellimore
Craig Dellimore, political editor for WBBM, joined the station in 1983 after working for several years with the Associated Press Radio Network in Washington D.C. He says that it is an honor to take over a post masterfully manned by Bob Crawford,...
