Rep. Michael J. Zalewski

Filed: 2/25/2013

 

 


 

 


 
09800HB1155ham015LRB098 08475 MRW 41614 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 215. Firearm carry prohibition; park; playground;
5recreational area.
6    (a) No person may carry a firearm into a public park,
7playground, or recreational area including parking lots of the
8park, playground, or recreational area.
9    (b) The exemptions and provisions in subsections (a), (b),
10(f), (g-6), (g-10), (h), and (i) of Section 24-2 of the
11Criminal Code of 2012 apply to this Section.
12    (c) The United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia
13v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008) has recognized
14that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
15does not confer an unlimited right and that states may prohibit
16the carrying of firearms in sensitive places. The Supreme Court
17stated in the Heller decision: "Although we do not undertake an

 

 

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1exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the
2Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to
3cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
4firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the
5carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and
6government buildings . . ." The Supreme Court also noted in a
7footnote referencing this statement in the Heller decision
8that: "We identify these presumptively lawful regulatory
9measures only as examples; our list does not purport to be
10exhaustive." This recognition was reiterated by the U. S.
11Supreme Court in McDonald v. the City of Chicago, 561 U.S.
123025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010), which incorporated the Second
13Amendment against state action. The Supreme Court again stated:
14"We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt
15on such longstanding regulatory measures as "prohibitions on
16the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,"
17"laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places
18such as schools and government buildings . . . We repeat those
19assurances here." Further, the federal 7th Circuit Court of
20Appeals in Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d. 933 (7th Cir., 2012)
21cited the "sensitive place" statement of the Supreme Court in
22both the Heller and McDonald decisions and concluded: "That a
23legislature can forbid the carrying of firearms in schools and
24government buildings means that any right to possess a gun for
25self-defense outside the home is not absolute, and it is not
26absolute by the Supreme Court's own terms." Therefore, the

 

 

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1General Assembly finds that the place or location set forth in
2subsection (a) of this Section is a sensitive place and the
3prohibition on the carrying of firearms will promote public
4safety in this sensitive place.".