Trib:
Daley revives crusade for gun-control laws
By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 5, 2006
In what has become an annual rite, Mayor Richard Daley on Wednesday called on the General Assembly to pass "common-sense" gun control bills that he said are designed to save lives and help police without hurting hunters and other legitimate firearms enthusiasts.
And an official of the National Rifle Association once again countered that the legislative package is an attempt to chip away at the constitutional rights of Illinois gun owners.
Daley appeared with other elected officials and gun violence opponents at a news conference at police headquarters to voice support for proposed measures that would ban semiautomatic assault weapons and .50-caliber rifles; require state licensing of gun dealers; limit handgun purchases to one a month per person; and dramatically expand provisions of a trigger-lock bill approved last session.
"Some people have asked us, `Why do you continue to push these bills every year when they never pass?'" Daley said. "These same people said we would never close the gun-show loophole. But we did, and the law took effect Sunday."
That new measure requires criminal background checks of people who buy weapons at gun shows.
Todd Vandermyde, the NRA's lobbyist for Illinois, said in an interview that support for firearms rights remains strong in the state.
And he scoffed at the suggestion of one gun-control advocate at the news conference that suburban Republican legislators, under pressure from constituents for new controls, have helped "change the dynamic in Springfield" on the gun issue.
"One thing we are guaranteed to see in the new year is another call for useless gun control by the mayor," Vandermyde said. The Police Department is making progress in its fight against violent crime, Police Supt. Philip Cline said at the news conference.
Aggravated batteries committed with guns were down by 6percent last year, and for the first time in five decades, the number of homicides in Chicago was fewer than 500 for two consecutive years, he said. Nevertheless, 447 people were killed in the city last year, most of them with guns, Cline said.
Vandermyde contended that the improving crime statistics have nothing to do with gun legislation.
"The crime rate has been going down because Phil Cline and those guys are doing what we say [they should do]--arrest the bad guys, put pressure on the bad guys," he said.