shallit@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP (Jeff Shallit) (01/06/85)
>> = Jeff Shallit > = Karl Kleinpaste >>No, YOU are incorrect. On October 3, 1984, the US Supreme Court >>let stand a Court of Appeal ruling >>which stated, ``...possession of handguns by individuals is not part of the >>right to keep and bear arms.'' >---------- >OK, I'll bite. In order to properly consider your claim, I wish to know a >full, detailed reference which I can use to hunt it down myself. I will >admit openly to being suspicious about this claim, because if in fact the US >SC had upheld anything with respect to the Morton Grove case, it would have >received a phenomenal amount of news time on newspapers, TV, and radio, and >I don't recall seeing any at all. So, please: supply us with a complete >reference. If you wish, just post the whole thing, if it's not too terribly >long; but whatever you do, please give it a contextual reference point. > >---------- From the Chicago Tribune, Monday, October 3, 1983, lead headline, front page: "Handgun ban upheld" "Morton Grove law clears court" by Howard Witt "The United States Supreme Court let stand Monday the lower court rulings that upheld Morton Grove's controversial handgun ban, clearing the way for local governments across the country to outlaw the sale and possession of handguns. "The justices, without comment, upheld a decision by the U. S. Court of Appeals here, which ruled that Morton Grove's handgun ban does not violate the Second Amendment's right to keep and bear arms. The challenge to the law had been led by the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation. "While binding only in the Seventh Circuit, which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, the appeals court ruling is expected to furnish a precedent across the country to communities considering similar handgun bans. "Morton Grove's landmark law, approved in June, 1981, fueled a nationwide struggle between pro and antihandgun forces as they descended upon other communities considering handgun bans. Evanston was the first community to follow Morton Grove's lead, while Chicago stiffened handgun registration laws. "The Morton Grove law prohibits the sale and possession of handguns within the borders of the village of 24,000. Exceptions were provided for law enforcement officers, licensed gun collectors, and certain others. "Other communities, including neighboring Skokie, had been awaiting the outcome of challenges to Morton Grove's law before considering bans of their own. Skokie trustees, set to consider outlawing the sale and possession of handguns Monday night, could become the first to enact what antihandgun forces expect to be a wave of new bans. " 'The people of Morton Grove have been vindicated,' said an exuberant Morton Grove Mayor Richard Flickinger. 'We beat the NRA. A lot of other communities will now feel they can go ahead and pass handgun bans.' "The National Coalition to Ban Handguns in Washington interpreted the Supreme Court's decision as 'a crusing blow to the NRA and other members of the gun lobby', said spokesman Joshua Sugarmann. " 'They have consistently used the Second Amendment as a club against communities whishing to enact handgun bans like Morton Grove's,' Sugarmann said. 'The Supreme Court has robbed them of that club.' "NRA officials said Monday morning they were still considering their reaction to the decision. But pro-handgun forces have long vowed to challenge other handgun bans in different jurisdictions to bring the issue before the high court. "Mark Challender, a spokesman for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Seattle, Wash., said he was discouraged by the high court's decision not to decide the case. " 'But the fight is certainly not over,' Challender said. 'The fact remains that the people of Morton Grove did not choose to have a handgun ban. It was decided for them by their leaders. Nowhere in the U. S. where a handgun ban has been brought before the people has it ever passed.' "Fewer than a dozen handguns have been voluntarily surrendered to Morton Grove police since the law took effect in February, 1982. "One challenge to Morton Grove's law remains pending before the Illinois Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on the case last spring but has yet to render a decision. "The three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit appeals court, which split 2 to 1 in upholding Morton Grove's ordinance, relied heavily on a 1939 Supreme Court decision it interpreted to mean that the constitutional right to keep arms extends only to those weapons a militia might need."
gam@amdahl.UUCP (gam) (01/09/85)
> From the Chicago Tribune, Monday, October 3, 1983, > lead headline, front page: > > "Handgun ban upheld" > "Morton Grove law clears court" > > by Howard Witt > > "...Fewer than a dozen handguns have been voluntarily surrendered to > Morton Grove police since the law took effect in February, 1982." Remarkable effectiveness, this new handgun law. -- Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!gam
shallit@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP (Jeff Shallit) (01/10/85)
In article <> gam@amdahl.UUCP (gam) writes: >> From the Chicago Tribune, Monday, October 3, 1983, >> lead headline, front page: >> >> "Handgun ban upheld" >> "Morton Grove law clears court" >> >> by Howard Witt >> >> "...Fewer than a dozen handguns have been voluntarily surrendered to >> Morton Grove police since the law took effect in February, 1982." > >Remarkable effectiveness, this new handgun law. >-- >Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!gam Your sarcasm notwithstanding, your remark demonstrates little but your ignorance. In this law, and several similar ones, the point is NOT to force people to turn in their handguns. Indeed, why would you do so BEFORE the Supreme Court ruled on its legality? The point is to halt the number of NEW handguns. And in this, the law WAS effective--I believe a gun store in Morton Grove was forced to relocate elsewhere. Also, you must realize that Morton Grove is a small town, with not much handgun ownership to begin with. Jeff Shallit