HomeMy WebLinkAboutORDINANCES-2013-076-O-13•
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7/10/2013
7/02/2013
6/18/2013
6/13/2013
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AN ORDINANCE
Amending Title 9, Chapter 8 of the City Code
to Ban Assault Weapons
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston is a home -rule municipality pursuant to
Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, as a home rule unit of government, the City has the authority
to adopt ordinances and to promulgate rules and regulations that protect the public
health, safety, and welfare of its residents; and
WHEREAS, Article VII, Section (6)a of the Illinois Constitution of 1970
states that, generally, "a home rule unit may exercise any power and perform any
function pertaining to its government and affairs;" and
WHEREAS, Article VII, Section (6)a of the Illinois Constitution of 1970,
which states that the "powers and functions of home rule units shall be construed
liberally," was written "with the intention that home rule units be given the broadest
powers possible" (Scadron v. City of Des Plaines, 153 111.2d 164); and
WHEREAS, the Local Government Committee to the delegates of the
Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention found that,
home -rule powers are most urgently needed by larger municipalities in the
more highly urbanized areas of the state. Although the problems of urban
society affect many small localities, they are felt most intensely in larger
cities and villages. Dense concentrations of population and industry call
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. for the creative use of flexible governmental powers to achieve and
maintain order, social justice and a satisfactory quality of life. (7 Record of
Proceedings, Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention, 1628-29); and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that,
[t]he City of Evanston is a densely populated and highly urbanized
municipality... In accordance with the goals attempted to be achieved by
the creation of home rule, the local governing body can create an
ordinance specifically suited for the unique needs of its residents and is
keenly and uniquely aware of the needs of the community it serves... (City
of Evanston v. Create, Inc., 85 111.2d 101, 113-15); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Public Act 98-0063, as enacted on July 9, 2013,
the Illinois General Assembly provided that home rule units of government could enact an
ordinance regulating possession or ownership of assault weapons, within certain
parameters; and
WHEREAS, this amendatory ordinance is considered and adopted in
• accordance with the 10-day limit prescribed in Public Act 98-0063, is adopted within the
• expedited time frame set forth in Public Act 98-0063, and is therefore not subject to State
preemption of the City's home rule powers; and
WHEREAS, the Village of Skokie, the City of Chicago, Cook County, and
many nearby municipalities have adopted or are considering assault weapon ordinances
which define assault weapons and ban possession and ownership of assault weapons as
a result of Public Act 98-0063; and
WHEREAS, Public Act 98-0063 did not define what an "assault weapon" is,
however, this ordinance provides a list of cosmetic features that cumulatively place a
firearm into the definition of an "assault weapon"; and
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• WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends
enactment of effective bans on military -style assault weapons in order to prevent
criminals from "outgunning" law enforcement officers; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia v.
Heller found that the right secured by the Second Amendment of the United States
Constitution is not unlimited; and
WHEREAS, assault weapons have certain characteristics that make these
weapons more dangerous than ordinary weapons typically possessed by law-abiding
citizens for lawful purposes, and that these combat -designed characteristics enhance
lethality and make assault weapons conducive to criminal applications; and
WHEREAS, an assault weapons ban furthers the City's interest in crime
• prevention in the City's densely populated environs, and prevents dangers to innocent
• people and law enforcement officers; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance is reasonably tailored to provide people of
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ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to understand what conduct it prohibits so
that one may act accordingly; and
WHEREAS, assault weapons are not among the "Arms" protected by the
Second Amendment because they are both "dangerous and unusual," District of
Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. at 627, and because prohibiting them minimally burdens a
prospective plaintiff; hence the ban is constitutional; and
WHEREAS, in the second Heller case, Heller v. District of Columbia
("Heller ll'), 670 F.3d 1244 (U.S. App DC 2011), the District Court of Appeals for the
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• District of Columbia determined that the intermediate scrutiny standard applied to
consideration of the constitutionality of an assault weapons ban; and
WHEREAS, the Heller l/ Court held that an assault weapons ban does not
prohibit the possession of "the quintessential self-defense weapon", to wit, the handgun
citing Heller 1, 554 U.S. at 629; and
WHEREAS, a ban on certain semi -automatic rifles does not prevent a
person from keeping a suitable and commonly used weapon for protection in the home
or for hunting, whether a handgun or a non -automatic long gun. Heller Il, citing Gary
Kleck and Marc Gertz, Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self -
Defense with Gun, 86 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 150, 185 (1995); and
WHEREAS, there is no published study which statistically indicates or
• demonstrates that assault weapons are well -suited to or preferred for the purpose of
. self-defense or sport, Id.; and
WHEREAS, in fact, the United States Department of the Treasury in its
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Study on the Sporting Suitability of Modified Semi -automatic Assault Rifles 38 (1998)
stated that semi -automatic assault rifles are not generally recognized as particularly
suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes; and
WHEREAS, the modest burden of the assault weapons ban enacted in
this ordinance, as an exercise of home rule authority expressly sanctioned by the Illinois
General Assembly in Public Act 98-0063, does not effectively disarm individuals or
substantially affect their ability to defend themselves, and thus it is lawful under the
intermediate scrutiny standard, Heller II supra; and
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• WHEREAS, it is difficult to draw meaningful distinctions between the AR-
15 (the "civilian" version of the military's M-16 rifle), which would be an "assault weapon"
as defined in this ordinance, and the M-16, Heller ll, citing Staples v. United States, 511
U.S. 600, 603 (1994); and
WHEREAS, in Wilson v. The County of Cook, 2012 IL 112026, the Illinois
Supreme Court held that certain enumerated characteristics such as "barrel shroud" or
"protruding grip" were appropriate features that could define what an "assault weapon"
was; and
WHEREAS, in accordance with the holdings in the Heller 11 and Wilson
cases, this ordinance provides standards and a reasoned basis to determine what is
defined as an assault weapon and is therefore banned in the City of Evanston, and
• WHEREAS, on June 10, June 24, and July 15, 2013, the City Council held
. meetings in compliance with the provisions of the Illinois Open Meetings Act, considered
the, statements, points and authorities made in the legislative Record, and received
additional input from the public,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF EVANSTON, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, THAT:
SECTION 1: The foregoing recitals are hereby found as fact and
incorporated herein by reference.
SECTION 2: Title 9, Chapter 8 of the Evanston City Code of 2012, as
amended, is hereby further amended and revised, to read as follows:
9-8-1: DEFINITIONS:
0 "Assault weapon" means:
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0(A) A semiautomatic rifle shall mean and include a rifle with a
detachable or fixed magazine with a capacity of fifteen (15) or more
rounds.
(B) A semiautomatic handgun shall mean and include a handgun with a
detachable magazine and has one or more of the following:
(1) Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that
can be held by the non -trigger hand;
(2) A folding, telescoping or thumbhole stock;
(3) A shroud attached to the barrel, or that partially or
completely encircles the barrel, allowing the bearer to hold
the firearm with the non -trigger hand without being burned,
but excluding a slide that encloses the barrel; or
(4) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some
location outside of the pistol grip.
(C) A semiautomatic shotgun with a detachable magazine with a
capacity of six (6) or more rounds.
(D) Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.
(E) Firearms which have been modified to be operable as an assault
weapon as defined herein.
(F) Short barreled rifles with a barrel length of less than 16 inches.
• "Assault weapon" does not include any firearm that has been made permanently
inoperable, is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, any
• muzzle -loading rifle, muzzle -loading shotgun, or muzzle -loading pistol which is
designed to use black powder or a black powder substitute and which cannot use
fixed ammunition, or satisfies the definition of "antique firearm", as defined in this
Section 9-8-1.
"Detachable magazine" means any ammunition feeding device, box, clip or
drum, the function of which is to deliver one or more ammunition cartridges into
the firing chamber, which can be removed from the firearm without the use of any
tool, including a bullet or ammunition cartridge.
"Muzzle brake" means a device attached to the muzzle of a weapon that utilizes
escaping gas to reduce recoil.
"Muzzle compensator" means a device attached to the muzzle of a weapon that
utilizes escaping gas to control muzzle movement.
"Rifle" shall mean and include a firearm designed, made or retrofitted (1) to be
fired from the shoulder or hip; and (2) uses the energy of the explosive in a fixed
cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of
the trigger and shall include any such weapon which may be readily assembled,
altered or restored to fire a fixed cartridge.
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• "Semi -automatic" shall mean and include a firearm which fires a single projectile
for each single pul'I of the trigger which automatically inserts the next round for
firing into the firearm chamber using a magazine.
"Shotgun" shall mean and include a firearm designed, made or retrofitted (1) to
be fired from the shoulder or hip; and (2) uses the energy of the explosive in a
fixed shotgun shell to fire a number of projectiles or a single projectile for each
pull of the trigger and shall include any such weapon which may be readily
assembled, altered or restored to fire a fixed shotgun shell.
SECTION 3: Title 9, Chapter 8 of the Evanston City Code of 2012, as
amended, is hereby further amended and revised, to read as follows:
9-8-14: ASSAULT WEAPONS; SALE AND POSSESSION PROHIBITED;
EXCEPTIONS
(A) No person, in the City of Evanston, shall sell, offer or display for
sale, give, lend, transfer ownership of, own, possess or carry any
assault weapon. This subsection shall not apply to:
(1) The sale or transfer to, or possession by any peace officer,
• corrections officer, members of the armed forces of the
United' States; or the organized militia of this or any other
• state; to the extent that any such person is otherwise
authorized to acquire or possess an assault weapon, and is
acting within the scope of his/her duties;
(2) A gun collector, within the confines of his/her permanent
residence, who pursuant to Title I of the Gun Control Act of
1968 and all regulations issued thereunder, is the holder of a
non -transferable license by the U.S. Department of Justice
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
(3) Transportation of assault weapons if such weapons are
broken down and in a nonfunctioning state and are not
immediately accessible to any person.
(B) Any person violating this Section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
and shall be fined not less than one thousand five hundred dollars
($1,500.00) and/or incarcerated for up to six (6) months for each
offense.
9-8-15: CONFISCATION AND DISPOSITION OF ASSAULT WEAPONS
(A) Any assault weapon possessed, sold or transferred in violation of
Section 9-8-14 is hereby declared to be contraband and shall be
seized and disposed of. Whenever any assault weapon is
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• surrendered or confiscated pursuant to this Section, the Evanston
Police Department shall determine whether such assault weapon is
needed as evidence or warrants further investigation and if the
same is not needed as evidence, it shall be destroyed.
(B) A record of the date and method of destruction the assault weapon
so destroyed shall be maintained.
SECTION 4: All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 5: This ordinance shall be in full force and effect simultaneous
with the enactment of Public Act 98-0063 into law for the State of Illinois.
SECTION 6: The findings and recitals contained herein are declared to be
prima facie evidence of the law of the City and shall be received in evidence as
provided by the Illinois Compiled Statutes and the courts of the State of Illinois.
SECTION 7: If any provision of this Ordinance or application thereof to any
• person or circumstance is held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such invalidity shall
• not affect other provisions or applications of this Ordinance that can be given effect
without the invalid application or provision, and each invalid provision or invalid
application of this Ordinance is severable.
Introduced: 12013
Adopted: �� , 2013
Attest:
Approved:
J- P / �7 , 2013
Elit ,meth B. Tisdahl, Mayor
Approved as to form:
41 R ney Gre ne, City Clerk W. Gran4 arra6r, Corporation Counsel
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