Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie

Filed: 2/25/2013

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB1155ham013LRB098 08475 MRW 41616 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 200. Firearm carry prohibition; place of worship.
5    (a) No person may knowingly carry a firearm into any
6church, temple, or other place of worship, and any adjacent
7property or parking lot area owned by or under the control of a
8church, temple, or other place of worship, unless authorized to
9carry the firearm by the church, temple, or other place of
10worship.
11    (b) The exemptions and provisions in subsections (a), (b),
12(f), (g-6), (g-10), (h), and (i) of Section 24-2 of the
13Criminal Code of 2012 apply to this Section.
14    (c) The United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia
15v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) has recognized
16that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
17does not confer an unlimited right and that states may prohibit

 

 

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1the carrying of firearms in sensitive places. The Supreme Court
2stated in the Heller decision: "Although we do not undertake an
3exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the
4Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to
5cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
6firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the
7carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and
8government buildings . . ." The Supreme Court also noted in a
9footnote referencing this statement in the Heller decision
10that: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory
11measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be
12exhaustive." This recognition was reiterated by the U. S.
13Supreme Court in McDonald v. the City of Chicago, 561 U.S.
143025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which incorporated the Second
15Amendment against state action. The Supreme Court again stated:
16"We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt
17on such longstanding regulatory measures as "prohibitions on
18the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,"
19"laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places
20such as schools and government buildings . . . We repeat those
21assurances here." Further, the federal 7th Circuit Court of
22Appeals in Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d. 933 (7th Cir., 2012)
23cited the "sensitive place" statement of the Supreme Court in
24both the Heller and McDonald decisions and concluded: "That a
25legislature can forbid the carrying of firearms in schools and
26government buildings means that any right to possess a gun for

 

 

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