Rep. Deborah Mell

Filed: 2/25/2013

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB1155ham014LRB098 08475 MRW 41613 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 205. Firearm carry prohibition; public
5transportation.
6    (a) No person may knowingly carry a firearm on buses,
7trains, or any form of transportation paid for in part or whole
8with public funds, and any transportation facility and the
9surrounding premises under its control.
10    (b) The exemptions and provisions in subsections (a), (b),
11(f), (g-6), (g-10), (h), and (i) of Section 24-2 of the
12Criminal Code of 2012 apply to this Section.
13    (c) The United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia
14v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) has recognized
15that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
16does not confer an unlimited right and that states may prohibit
17the carrying of firearms in sensitive places. The Supreme Court

 

 

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1stated in the Heller decision: "Although we do not undertake an
2exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the
3Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to
4cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
5firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the
6carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and
7government buildings . . ." The Supreme Court also noted in a
8footnote referencing this statement in the Heller decision
9that: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory
10measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be
11exhaustive." This recognition was reiterated by the U. S.
12Supreme Court in McDonald v. the City of Chicago, 561 U.S.
133025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which incorporated the Second
14Amendment against state action. The Supreme Court again stated:
15"We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt
16on such longstanding regulatory measures as "prohibitions on
17the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,"
18"laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places
19such as schools and government buildings . . . We repeat those
20assurances here." Further, the federal 7th Circuit Court of
21Appeals in Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d. 933 (7th Cir., 2012)
22cited the "sensitive place" statement of the Supreme Court in
23both the Heller and McDonald decisions and concluded: "That a
24legislature can forbid the carrying of firearms in schools and
25government buildings means that any right to possess a gun for
26self-defense outside the home is not absolute, and it is not

 

 

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1absolute by the Supreme Court's own terms." Therefore, the
2General Assembly finds that the place or location set forth in
3subsection (a) of this Section is a sensitive place and the
4prohibition on the carrying of firearms will promote public
5safety in this sensitive place.".