Rep. Lou Lang

Filed: 2/25/2013

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB1155ham007LRB098 08475 MRW 41606 a

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 160. Firearm carry prohibition; library.
5    (a) No person may knowingly carry a firearm into any
6library, or onto any adjacent property or parking lot area
7under the control of or owned by a library.
8    (b) The exemptions and provisions in subsections (a), (b),
9(f), (g-6), (g-10), (h), and (i) of Section 24-2 of the
10Criminal Code of 2012 apply to this Section.
11    (c) The United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia
12v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) has recognized
13that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
14does not confer an unlimited right and that states may prohibit
15the carrying of firearms in sensitive places. The Supreme Court
16stated in the Heller decision: "Although we do not undertake an
17exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the

 

 

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1Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to
2cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
3firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the
4carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and
5government buildings . . ." The Supreme Court also noted in a
6footnote referencing this statement in the Heller decision
7that: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory
8measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be
9exhaustive." This recognition was reiterated by the U. S.
10Supreme Court in McDonald v. the City of Chicago, 561 U.S.
113025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which incorporated the Second
12Amendment against state action. The Supreme Court again stated:
13"We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt
14on such longstanding regulatory measures as "prohibitions on
15the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,"
16"laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places
17such as schools and government buildings . . . We repeat those
18assurances here." Further, the federal 7th Circuit Court of
19Appeals in Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d. 933 (7th Cir., 2012)
20cited the "sensitive place" statement of the Supreme Court in
21both the Heller and McDonald decisions and concluded: "That a
22legislature can forbid the carrying of firearms in schools and
23government buildings means that any right to possess a gun for
24self-defense outside the home is not absolute, and it is not
25absolute by the Supreme Court's own terms." Therefore, the
26General Assembly finds that the place or location set forth in

 

 

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1subsection (a) of this Section is a sensitive place and the
2prohibition on the carrying of firearms will promote public
3safety in this sensitive place.".