Politics & Government

Evanston Assault Weapons Ban Draws Heated Debate

Supporters and opponents of a proposed assault weapons ban spoke passionately to Evanston city council members Monday.

Mothers who have lost their sons to violence and National Rifle Association members lined up side by side Monday night to voice their opinions about a proposed assault weapons ban in Evanston.  

Dozens of people spoke passionately on both sides of the issue before the city council, which is considering an ordinance that would ban the “possession, transfer, sale or display of assault weapons in the city of Evanston.” Aldermen moved to introduce the ordinance Monday, and will likely vote on the matter July 8, according to Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl.

Aldermen asked the city's law department to draft an assault weapons ban last week, shortly after the Illinois General Assembly passed legislation allowing concealed carry in the state. That legislation also contains a provision prohibiting local assault weapons bans, unless those ordinances are enacted before, on or within 10 days of the date the bill goes into effect.

Among Monday night’s speakers was Carolyn Murray, whose son, Justin, was shot and killed at age 19 last November. Flanked by two other mothers whose sons had been killed, and holding a photograph of Justin, Murray described herself as a member of the “Morbid Moms Club.” She said she had coined the phrase while attending President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address along with other guests who had lost family members to gun violence.

“We don’t want any more members in our Morbid Moms Club,” Murray said.

[Watch Carolyn Murray talk about her son's death before the city council.]

Fellow mother Cathy Key, whose son, David L. Branch, was stabbed to death, spoke after Murray.

“My son was not killed by gun violence, although I did lose my son,” she said. “I just pose the question to those who are against the ban: Would you trade your target practice for the life of a child?”

Opponents of the assault weapons ban, however, said they believed it would not have any effect on criminals.

“There has never been a murder committed with one of the firearms that you’re proposing to ban,” said Blaire Garber, an NRA instructor and Evanston resident. “It’s not going to have the desired effect that we all want, which is to make our streets safer and lower crime.”

Furthermore, Garber said the ban would unfairly turn law-abiding citizens and assault weapons owners like himself into criminals.

“I believe that any gun in the hands of a good person is no harm to anyone but any gun in the hands of a bad person is certainly a danger to all,” he said.

Other opponents of the ban said the city would likely face a lawsuit if the ordinance is enacted.

Resident and sport shooter Jordan Zoot cited the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Washington, D.C., law that essentially banned the possession of handguns. Evanston had a law banning handguns on the books at the time, but city council members amended the ordinance following the Supreme Court ruling and an NRA lawsuit.

“If the city is going to pass a bill like this, it’s going to cost $1 million or $2 million to defend this, because it’s unconstitutional,” Zoot said.

Vietnam veteran Bruce Merchant said he had worked for the federal bureau of prisons for 23 years, and did not believe the law would make a difference on crime rates.

“Illinois … has the strictest gun laws in the United States, and yet Chicago has the highest crime rates of usage of guns,” he said. “Criminals have a long history of evading the laws that prohibit the usage of illegal weapons.”

Several people, however, said they believed an assault weapons ban would be one step toward preventing something like the December 2012 shooting of 26 people at an elementary school in Newtown, CT.

Denise Stoneback, a resident of Skokie who was born in Evanston, noted that June 14 marked six months since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“Sandy Hook was a wakeup call to all of us,” Stoneback said. “If we think it can’t happen here, we are naïve.”

Simply regulating the sale and possession of assault weapons is not enough, she said.

“How can we presume to predict who will fall into despair, become mentally ill or fall into a fit of rage and kill someone?” she said. “We cannot.”


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