ORDINANCE fyS?1
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, this public body has no greater duty at this time than to seek relief for this City from the vice grip of gun violence; and
WHEREAS, the prevalence of illegally obtained firearms directly feeds into this pandemic; and
WHEREAS, Chicago's train yards have emerged as a ready source of firearms for thieves; and
WHEREAS, a news investigation revealed that five years of Chicago Police Department records showed that trains were targeted for theft more than 400 times during that time period; and
WHEREAS, in April 2015, rival gangs encountering each other in a Chicago rail yard joined forces to steal 111 guns from a boxcar containing a shipment of over 300 such weapons; and
WHEREAS, with only padlocks securing the shipment, a simple bolt cutter aided their feat; and
WHEREAS, it is reported that the gangs were selling the firearms within hours, that only 16 of those guns have been recovered, and that most of those were found in the possession of reputed gang members or drug dealers; and
WHEREAS, in September 2016, a half dozen semi-automatic rifles and 27 handguns were stolen and allegedly not reported to Chicago Police until 11 days later; and
WHEREAS, included in the backdrop of train heists in the area are a December 2009 theft of 319 guns and a May 2014 theft of 13 weapons; and
WHEREAS, it has been observed that such robberies "helped fuel a wave of violence on Chicago's streets;" and
WHEREAS, the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ("ATF") reports a sharp increase of nearly 51% in firearms stolen from federally licensed dealers in...
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