BACK OF THE YARDS — Following the Orlando nightclub massacre and two shootings with semi-automatic guns that shook up the neighborhood in the last week, Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) will offer a resolution to the City Council asking state and federal leaders to support a ban on automatic and semi-automatic assault weapons.
Lopez, who witnessed a recent Back of the Yards shooting that riddled a home with 40 bullets, will bring the resolution to City Council on Wednesday.
“We can’t count on the U.S. Senate or Congress to pass meaningful gun legislation right now,” Lopez said in a statement. “But we as a city we must come together to pursue every Constitutionally-available avenue to stem the flow of these assault weapons in our community.”
The resolution asks that City Council hold hearings including "testimony from affected communities and victims of gun violence, law enforcement, and experts and advocates in the fields of gun regulation and gang violence to consider the impact and consequences of gun and gang-related violence.”
At a police graduation ceremony Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson called for a crackdown on illegal guns.
Department officials contend that gang members face worse sanctions from their gangs for losing a gun than they do by the courts for illegally possessing one.
Chicago’s regulations are similar to those of other major cities, according to Roseanna Ander, the founder and executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab.
Read the resolution here:
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) Guns Resolution
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