Rep. Ann Williams

Filed: 2/25/2013

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB1155ham012LRB098 08475 MRW 41611 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 175. Firearm carry prohibition; public gathering;
5protest; rally.
6    (a) No person may knowingly carry a firearm into any
7organized public gathering, including street fairs, festivals,
8farmer's markets, carnivals, concerts, protests, parades, or
9other temporary special events, conducted primarily outdoors
10on property open to the public, and that requires the issuance
11of a permit from the municipality or county where it occurs,
12unless the municipality or county specifically authorizes
13persons to carry concealed firearms at the event. The
14prohibitions in this Section extend to any adjacent property or
15parking lot area used in connection with a prohibited public
16gathering.
17    (b) No person may knowingly carry a firearm at an organized

 

 

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1protest or rally with 10 or more persons located within 500
2feet of a governmental building.
3    (c) The exemptions and provisions in subsections (a), (b),
4(f), (g-6), (g-10), (h), and (i) of Section 24-2 of the
5Criminal Code of 2012 apply to this Section.
6    (d) The United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia
7v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) has recognized
8that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
9does not confer an unlimited right and that states may prohibit
10the carrying of firearms in sensitive places. The Supreme Court
11stated in the Heller decision: "Although we do not undertake an
12exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the
13Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to
14cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
15firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the
16carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and
17government buildings . . ." The Supreme Court also noted in a
18footnote referencing this statement in the Heller decision
19that: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory
20measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be
21exhaustive." This recognition was reiterated by the U. S.
22Supreme Court in McDonald v. the City of Chicago, 561 U.S.
233025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which incorporated the Second
24Amendment against state action. The Supreme Court again stated:
25"We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt
26on such longstanding regulatory measures as "prohibitions on

 

 

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1the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,"
2"laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places
3such as schools and government buildings . . . We repeat those
4assurances here." Further, the federal 7th Circuit Court of
5Appeals in Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d. 933 (7th Cir., 2012)
6cited the "sensitive place" statement of the Supreme Court in
7both the Heller and McDonald decisions and concluded: "That a
8legislature can forbid the carrying of firearms in schools and
9government buildings means that any right to possess a gun for
10self-defense outside the home is not absolute, and it is not
11absolute by the Supreme Court's own terms." Therefore, the
12General Assembly finds that the places or locations set forth
13in this Section are sensitive places and the prohibition on the
14carrying of firearms will promote public safety in this
15sensitive place.".