AMENDED SUBSTITUTE ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is dedicated to the protection of public safety and welfare of all Chicagoans; and
WHEREAS, body armor is a type of protective clothing made of woven or lamented fibers such as Kevlar that can be used to reduce or stop the penetration of most handgun and small arms ammunition; and
WHEREAS, soft body armor, such as bulletproof vests, are commonly worn by emergency responders, security guards, and high profile civilians such as elected national leaders; and
WHEREAS, since the mass production of bulletproof vests in the 1970s, any upstanding citizen wishing to acquire and wear body armor for personal protection has generally been able to do so; and
WHEREAS, the United States federal government only prohibits the purchase, ownership and possession of body armor by felons convicted of violent crimes; and
WHEREAS, body armor regulations notwithstanding, the United States continues to face an unprecedented crisis of gun violence; and
WHEREAS, there are more mass shootings and more guns in the United States than any other nation, and nearly half of the world's mass shootings occur in the United States; and
WHEREAS, of the 30 deadliest shootings in modern American history, 18 have occurred in the last decade; and
WHEREAS, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the Aurora, Colorado movie theater massacre, which are two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, were carried out by gunmen who were wearing body armor; and
WHEREAS, although there are current federal and state prohibitions on the purchase and pos...
Click here for full text