At one point after your quote the female judge tries– for about the sixth or seventh time– to remind the city’s attorney that the injury is not the travel to a gun range but the complete ban on their existence, and she states, “The City requires this as a component of ownership but prohibits a citizen from getting that training without leaving the city. How do they even think that’s rational?” She obviously doesn’t speak to gun-grabbers much. Rationality has nothing to do with the argument!
Chiefjaybob
April 10, 2011
Comment to Quote of the day—City of Chicago Attorney.
[Agreed. Those of us on “the front line” for years are used to it but you could tell the judge was getting increasingly frustrated with the guy. And the attorney would repeatedly say things like (paraphrasing) , “We have the power to regulate, such as zoning, so this ban is just a simple exercise of our power to regulate.” This would tick the judge off even more. I think the judge was nearly to the point she would have slapped him and walked off had it been a one-on-one private discussion.
If I had been doing the questioning I would have asked him since the city had the power to regulate and zone did the city also claim the power to ban all mosques, synagogues, and churches within the city? Just as theists regularly attend their place of worship a gun range is where gun owners go to exercise their “religion”.—Joe]
It’s not just Chicago. Developers are driving ranges out of business all over the country.
Pistol ranges are easy to do. Any commercial space can be a range with a few improvements but rifles are a different story. If you live in a city of any size you’re driving out of the city, sometimes an hour or more to get to a rifle range.
Having a right recognized by the constitution (and finally the courts) doesn’t do much good if you don’t have a place to shoot.
Very true, Alan, but the argument here is about Chicago’s continued assault on gun ownership, and handgun ownership in particular. They re-write their ordinance (to comply with McDonald) and allow us unwashed masses to finally posses handguns in their shining city, but then say you have to leave the city to get the training THEY require. Another roadblock to discourage the poor and the fence-sitters from going through with the regulations. The funny thing is they allow registered long guns without all this rigmarole. I should say, “Ahh, what do I care, I’m far enough away to go to a friend’s farm and shoot whatever I want whenever I want,” but I don’t want to be that guy. Not everybody has that luxury, and this is a good start to get some more ranges opened up. More ranges may equal more competition which could lead to longer ranges and better conditions for all.
Wake me up when they get rid of the FOID system and allow concealed carry. And balance the budget and un-raise the income tax. Until then, I’m not moving back. I have a lot of happy memories cetered in Springfield and in Chicago, but since I’ve moved out West the city, and to a lesser extent the entire state, feels oddly cold and alien to me. It’s as though I no longer belong in the state where I grew up. The best explanation I have is thatvI’ve tasted the sweet air of freedom & there’s no turning back.