Another Chicago disarmament plan has taken a major hit, with a judge's ruling that sides with the Second Amendment Foundation over the city's rules restricting gun ranges.
A federal judge this week agreed with the SAF "on key points" of the case, Ezell v. Chicago, which challenged the city's code by asserting that the regulations regarding gun ranges are burdensome.
In a 32-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia M. Kendall concurred with SAF's positions on the city's zoning and requirements regarding hours of operation, the foundation said.
The organization previously brought a successful legal challenge to the city's outright ban on gun ranges.
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To comply with city rules for having or carrying weapons, citizens must pay a huge fee and take mandatory training at a gun range. However, the city initially banned gun ranges, meaning anyone wanting a gun permit had to travel to another city to get the mandatory training.
Then, when the gun-range ban was overturned, the city established restrictive rules for operation of the facilities.
"While SAF did not get complete relief with Monday's ruling," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, "our persistence in this issue, coupled with effective litigation, caused the city to actually repeal many of the rules we challenged, even before the court could address them."
Gottlieb said it's an indication "the city knows there were problems with the code as written, and it demonstrates that when an in-depth analysis of gun laws is undertaken that requires proponents to prove those laws would be effective, they can't."
Attorney Alan Gura, who represents SAF in the litigation, said every day in which Chicago "loses some of its unconstitutional laws is a better day than the one before."
"This latest decision brings Chicago that much closer to the rest of America, where responsible, law-abiding people can practically access gun ranges for safety training and recreation," he said." We are studying our options for improving this positive outcome."
The complaint in the Ezell case said the city's rules were unconstitutionally burdensome.
In her ruling, the judge noted Chicago police officials "admitted that they had no data or empirical evidence that any criminal impact would occur due to the presence of a firing range, or that it would be lessened by placing ranges in manufacturing districts."
The dispute over Chicago's attempts to ban or restrict gun ranges dates at least to 2011.
At that time, plaintiffs claimed the city's attempt to ban gun ranges was an attempt to prevent residents from exercising their Second Amendment rights. The complaint was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in McDonald v. Chicago, which declared the Second Amendment right to bear arms applies to individuals.
"The right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as a [substantial] guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the states legislated in an evenhanded manner," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.
The decision followed the 2008 Heller case in the District of Columbia that declared the Second Amendment to be an individual right. That case, however, pertained only to D.C. The McDonald case established the precedent nationwide.