CITY HALL — Gun ranges would be allowed to open up in more parts of Chicago under a measure approved reluctantly by a joint session of two City Council committees Monday.
The ordinance would allow gun ranges to operate in areas of the city where business, commercial and industrial uses are allowed — with a special permit from city officials.
Under a law passed in 2011, gun ranges are only allowed in industrial parts of the city. Even then, ranges must be at least 100 feet from any other range and at least 500 feet from homes, schools, day care operations, houses of worship, liquor stores, parks, libraries, museums and hospitals.
The new measure would allow anyone younger than 18 to shoot at a gun range, as long as they are supervised by a parent, guardian or instructor.
There are currently no gun ranges in Chicago.
Ald. John Arena (45th), Ald. Deb Mell (33rd), Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) and Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) voted against the measure, which will be considered by the full City Council Wednesday.
While no applications to open a gun range are pending with city officials, Arena said he expected a flood to be filed if this ordinance is approved.
"We are moving in the wrong direction," Arena said, noting that the city has been put in a "difficult position" by several judicial decisions that have scaled back Chicago officials' ability to regulate guns.
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Gun ranges would need a special-use permit from city officials. Those permits can be denied based on the complaints of nearby residents, according to city rules.
In January, a three-judge panel of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Chicago's restrictions on gun ranges violated the Second Amendment.
In its arguments to the court, Chicago officials called gun violence a "serious public health and safety problem with both social and economic consequences" and argued that gun ranges would attract thieves, as well as threaten lead contamination, noise pollution and fire.
Judge Diane Sykes said the city provided no evidence to back up such claims.
