Chicago Alderman Loophole update

When I posted the latest information I had on Alderman Mell's Chicago Alderman Loophole Ordinance yesterday, I was apparently operating on incomplete information. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the version of the ordinance approved by the Chicago City Council's Committee on Police and Fire Wednesday is significantly broader than Mell's version.

What started as a month-long amnesty tailor-made for a powerful alderman who forgot to register his guns has turned into a 120-day grace period for every Chicagoan who ever owned a registered gun here.

The City Council's Police Committee agreed today to re-open gun registration in Chicago -- and not in the narrow manner proposed by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd).

[ . . . ]

It would have applied, only to gun owners who attempted to re-register their guns between May 1, 2007 and April 1, 2008 only to be rejected on grounds the registrations had lapsed.

The ordinance approved today quadruples the amnesty period. If approved by the full Council, it would apply to everybody who "possesses a firearm that was at one time validly registered to that person in the city of Chicago."

That would certainly apply to a great many more people than Mell's original version would have.

Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers (29th) said the prior wording appeared to be tailor-made "for an individual."

That's because it was specifically tailor-made for an individual, Isaac--someone give the man a cigar.

The specific wording of the revised version of the ordinance is not yet available, but I think it will eventually be, here, by scrolling down to the line marked June 4, 2008, 11:00 AM, Committee on Police and Fire. When "Summary" becomes an active link, there will hopefully be some more information.

By the way, War on Guns has an excellent suggestion:

If I were an Illinois gun owner, I would be pressing organizations claiming to represent me to file a freedom of information demand for copies of all correspondence from Chicago gun owners who told the city they were in the same predicament as Richard Mell. Conveniently I notice he mentioned he was called, so perhaps phone logs could be included at as well. You could do it in a way to protect their identities, and use it to validate that the city has been "inundated" and the new law will benefit "thousands."

Hell, I'd think a quick audit of police records for how many have not renewed during the designated time period ought to give a good quick 'n dirty snapshot, once you factor in people who moved or died--but then again, maybe not, because who in their right mind would play along with this evil game?

Good question.