Politics & Government
Highland Park City Council to Discuss Gun Control on Monday
Gun rights and gun control activists are prepared to attend Monday night's City Council meeting to argue both sides of more restrictive gun laws in Highland Park.
Additional reporting by Daniel I. Dorfman.
Gun rights advocates will attend Monday night's Highland Park City Council meeting to argue against an ordinance that would ban residents from owning assault weapons.
In an email sent to Patch, Highland Park resident Joe Wallace indicated he would attend Monday's meeting with other gun rights' supporters to discourage the City Council from restricting the rights of gun owners.
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"I, among other gun rights' advocates, will attend and hopefully be able participate in the discussion," Wallace writes.
The debate is the result of the concealed carry legislation recently passed by the Illinois Legislature. Home rule communities such as Highland Park have to put a ban or other legislation in place within 10 days of Gov. Pat Quinn signing the bill, which has a July 9 deadline.
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The chain of events began in December when the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Illinois' ban on concealed carry weapons violates the Second Amendment, and set a June 9 deadline for the state legislature to craft its own legislation to get in compliance. The General Assembly has done that; now Gov. Quinn must act by July 9. The decision may be the subject of an appeal from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Deerfield recently indicated it would pursue an assault weapons ban; however, at its most recent meeting, the Village Board stepped back from a discussed assault weapons ban Monday, instead moving forward with a proposal that stated “assault weapons should be subject to safe storage and security requirements.”
Supporters of more restrictive gun laws in Highland Park have gotten involved in the discussion as well. A letter sent to City Council members last week asked for a ban on assault weapons in the city.
"We know that the NRA is coming to Highland Park, and that they have been to meetings and threatened lawsuits," the letter reads. "The time to stand up to them is now. We cannot, we must not, be intimidated by the NRA."
The Highland Park City Council meets at City Hall on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
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