NCJ Number
94001
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1982) Pages: 21-54
Date Published
1982
Length
34 pages
Annotation
In contrast to California laws, the Illinois laws on firearms regulation are clearer and appear to have been subjected to less conflicting interpretation than the California statutes, based on an analysis of court decisions pertaining to the gun control laws of San Francisco and Morton Grove, Ill.
Abstract
On June 28, 1982, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance that made it unlawful for any person (with certain exceptions) to possess a handgun within the city and county of San Francisco. The San Francisco ordinance was modeled after a similar law enacted 1 year earlier by the village of Morton Grove, Ill., which was the first community in the United States to ban handguns within its borders. The San Francisco law was successfully challenged in Doe v. City and County of San Francisco, with the court concluding that State statutes and the State constitution do not permit San Francisco to enact such an ordinance. A challenge to the Morton Grove statute failed in Quilici v. Village of Morton Grove, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruling on December 6, 1982, that the Morton Grove ordinance was valid under both the State and the Federal constitutions. It would appear that handgun prohibition is not an avenue open to California municipalities, since the court determined that the intention of the State legislature was to allow residential gun possession without permits or licenses required. Illinois legislative proceedings, on the other hand, include a discussion of the distinct possibility that a home rule unit could ban one category of firearms. A total of 2l4 footnotes are provided. (Author summary modified)