The village of Deerfield in northern Illinois has passed a ban on assault weapons, but it affects much more than sales and manufacturing.
If the 18,000 residents of the Chicago suburb don’t forfeit or secure weapons that fall under the ban by June 13th, they will be charged from $200 to $1,000 a day as a penalty.
The Village wants a ‘sense of safety’
The Village Board of Trustees approved the ordinance in Deerfield, Illinois, on April 2, 2018. (Credit: WGN)
According to the ordinance[1], which the the Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved Monday night, it is unlawful for a person “to carry, keep, bear, transport or possess an assault weapon in the Village,” except if the weapon is “broken down in a non-functioning state,” is “not immediately accessible to any person,” or is “unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card.”
Law enforcement officers, current and retired, are exempted.
The ordinance makes specific reference to recent mass shootings in Parkland, Florida; Las Vegas; and Sutherland Springs, Texas. “Assault weapons have been increasingly used in an alarming number of notorious mass shooting incidents at public places, public venues, places of worship and places of public accommodation,” the ordinance reads.
The authors of the legislation claim the law “may increase the public’s sense of safety…not withstanding potential objections regarding the availability of alternative weaponry or the enforceability of such a ban.”
CNN has reached out to Deerfield’s Management Analyst for comment.
Gun advocates call it ‘draconian’
Objections, as you might imagine, have come in spades. On Thursday morning the Illinois State Rifle Association announced that they and the
