A day after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively voided Chicago’s handgun ban, the top lawyer for Mayor Richard M. Daley‘s administration suggested today the the city pass a new law limiting each firearm owner to one handgun.
Mara Georges, corporation counsel for the city, told a City Council committee that she believes a handgun limit could withstand legal scrutiny.
In a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court struck down the city’s handgun ban, ruling that Americans are entitled to have handguns in homes. But Georges said a cap of one handgun per home “would enhance public safety and not violate the 2nd Amendment,” which guarantees the right to bear arms.
“One handgun is sufficient for self-defense,” Georges said at a meeting of the council’s Police and Fire Committee.
City officials plan to charge fees to obtain and register the handguns with officials, she said.
Georges also suggested that the city prohibit gun dealers from doing business in Chicago. Although they are not banned, there are no gun shops in the city.
There are 40 gun dealers in suburban Cook County, including 10 within one mile of the city limits, she said.
Within hours of Monday’s high court ruling, the mayor called a news conference to announce that Chicago’s elected leaders would quickly come up with a new law to regulate handguns.
Anti-violence activists packed the spectator seating in the council chambers during the committee meeting, even though city officials said there would be no council action today toward forging a new gun ordinance.
Georges added that handguns are used in the vast majority of violent gun crimes in the city. Ninety-eight percent of firearms homicides in 2008 — 402 of 412 slayings — involved handguns, she said.