Judge rules that gun sales ban in Chicago is unconstitutional

Chicago’s gun-hating Democratic government has lost yet another round in their never-ending battle to deny citizens their 2nd Amendment rights, as U.S. District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang has over-turned a city ordinance that outlawed gun sales within Chicago:

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Chang agreed the city had a “fundamental duty” to protect its citizens and acknowledged that “the stark reality facing the City each year is thousands of shooting victims and hundreds of murders committed with a gun.”

But he wrote that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense “must also include the right to acquire a firearm.”

“If all cities and municipalities can prohibit gun sales and transfers within their own borders, then all gun sales and transfers may be banned across a wide swath of the country if this principle is carried forward to its natural conclusion,” he added.

The judge was unmoved by the city’s efforts to prove that the gun sale ban disproportionately affected “parochial” gang members who might find it hard to cross rival gang boundaries to travel to the suburbs, where many guns used in crime are currently purchased.

Though nearly all illegally used guns were originally sold by licensed dealers, “guns used in crimes generally pass through several hands before being acquired by the ultimate perpetrator,” the judge wrote.

He suggested that “straw purchasers” who use their clean criminal backgrounds to buy guns for criminals can be tackled by “more focused approaches, such as law enforcement operations that target dealers who would sell to straw purchasers.”

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The city will have an opportunity to appeal, but it is tough to see how they can win. Despite the probability of delaying tactics, it is probable that gun stores will be operating within city limits within the next year, much to the dismay of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The decision will be welcome news to Chicago residents that can now apply for concealed carry permits, as they will be able to shop for firearms within city limits.

Illinois suspects they will have in excess of 400,000 residents to apply for concealed carry permits. McCarthy better stock up on ammunition  if he’s going to shoot them all.

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