Record #: R2014-441   
Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Intro date: 6/25/2014 Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Public Safety
Final action: 10/8/2014
Title: Call for Committee on Public Safety to conduct hearing(s) requesting Illinois congressional delegation to implement national gun registry
Sponsors: Holmes, Natashia, Harris, Michelle A.
Topic: COMMITTEE/PUBLIC HEARINGS - Committee on Public Safety
Attachments: 1. R2014-441.pdf
 
 
 
 
A RESOLUTION
 
To call on Congress to create a national registry.
 
WHEREAS, gun violence is not only an issue in the city of Chicago, it is a national issue in the United States of America residing as the cornerstone of domestic policy regarding safety and security;
 
WHEREAS, At least 500,000 guns are stolen annually from residences, but only 173,000 of those were reported lost: or stolen to law enforcement;
 
WHEREAS, in 2012, more than 16,000 firearms were lost or stolen from licensed firearms dealers across the country;
 
WHEREAS, The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reported that 14% of gun trafficking investigations involved guns stolen from gun dealers;
 
WHEREAS, Congress has the Enumerated Authority under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution of the United States of America to regulate gun possession nationwide. The United States Supreme Court has identified three types of activities that Congress can regulate under their enumerated authority including regulation of the use of channels of interstate commerce, regulation and protection of the instrumentalities of interstate commerce and regulation of activities that have a substantial relation to interstate commerce;
WHEREAS, gun possession falls into the scope of interstate commerce since commerce includes all phases of business, including navigation and in order for one to acquire a gun, the original source must derive from a firearms and weapons dealer—a legally regulated business in the United States;
 
WHEREAS, "among the several states" has been interpreted expansively as any commerce which concerns more States than one and interpreted more narrowly as those activities that have an impact on interstate activities;
 
WHEREAS, gun possession concerns more than one municipality and State and would also have an impact on interstate activities since a resident may lawfully possess a firearm in one state and transport this firearm illegally into a different state for disbursement, or a resident who cannot lawfully purchase a firearm in one municipality or State can obtain a firearm with differing restrictions in a different locality, which adversely affects the goals and objectives of various municipal and State legislation;
 
 
 
 
WHEREAS, a comprehensive national system of gun registration currently does not
exist in the United States; and
 
WHEREAS, a national gun registry can lead to the following benefits for not only the City of Chicago, but also all other municipalities in the United States of America:
  1. identification and prosecution of violent criminals by helping law enforcement quickly and reliably identify the source of firearms recovered from crime scenes,
  2. retrieval of firearms from persons who have become legally prohibited from possessing them through criminal convictions or other prohibitions, and
  3. the reduction of illegal firearm sales and transfers by creating accountability for gun owners;
 
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Chicago City Council, through its Committee on Public Safety, conduct hearings requesting that the Illinois Congressional Delegation implement legislation that requires every gun owner to register each gun owned as part of a national gun registry.
 
Natashia L. Holmes Alderman, 7th Ward