Rep. Michael J. Zalewski

Filed: 2/25/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1155

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1155, AS AMENDED, by
3inserting the following in its proper numeric sequence:
 
4    "Section 80. Firearm carry prohibition; schools.
5    (a) No person may knowingly carry a firearm into any
6preschool, elementary school, or secondary school or any
7portion of any school building thereof; or any school property
8surrounding a preschool, elementary school, or secondary
9school building, including but not limited to sidewalks and
10parking lot areas adjacent to or near preschool, elementary
11school, or secondary school property.
12    (b) The exemptions and provisions in subsections (a), (b),
13(f), (g-6), (g-10), (h), and (i) of Section 24-2 of the
14Criminal Code of 2012 apply to this Section.
15    (c) The United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia
16v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) has recognized
17that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

 

 

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1does not confer an unlimited right and that states may prohibit
2the carrying of firearms in sensitive places. The Supreme Court
3stated in the Heller decision: "Although we do not undertake an
4exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the
5Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to
6cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
7firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the
8carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and
9government buildings . . ." The Supreme Court also noted in a
10footnote referencing this statement in the Heller decision
11that: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory
12measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be
13exhaustive." This recognition was reiterated by the U. S.
14Supreme Court in McDonald v. the City of Chicago, 561 U.S.
153025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which incorporated the Second
16Amendment against state action. The Supreme Court again stated:
17"We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt
18on such longstanding regulatory measures as "prohibitions on
19the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,"
20"laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places
21such as schools and government buildings . . . We repeat those
22assurances here." Further, the federal 7th Circuit Court of
23Appeals in Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d. 933 (7th Cir., 2012)
24cited the "sensitive place" statement of the Supreme Court in
25both the Heller and McDonald decisions and concluded: "That a
26legislature can forbid the carrying of firearms in schools and

 

 

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1government buildings means that any right to possess a gun for
2self-defense outside the home is not absolute, and it is not
3absolute by the Supreme Court's own terms." Therefore, the
4General Assembly finds that the place or location set forth in
5subsection (a) of this Section is a sensitive place and the
6prohibition on the carrying of firearms will promote public
7safety in this sensitive place.".