Keep gun shops away from schools

Your article of May 5 described a proposal from a business to sell firearms and offer a shooting range at a building along Route 45, less than 250 feet from a day care. The proposal drew opposition from neighbors; they have good reason for concern: research shows that facilitating easy access to guns will increase gun homicide.

Gun ranges present other public health concerns, including lead. According to the CDC, no level of lead is safe for children, and even low levels of lead can decrease IQ, slow development and cause kidney damage. Since this range would be close to residences and a day care, we must consider the impact of lead from a range affecting our community. Eighty-six percent of the nation's gun ranges that have been inspected in the past decade violated at least one lead-related standard.

Gun shops could also attract thieves looking to steal firearms. Gun shop burglaries are on the rise, with burglaries at gun shops up by 30 percent in 2016, more than any other time on record, according to ATF.

While the proposal got tabled for now, legislation that has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support could stop it in its tracks. Illinois Senate Bill 1657, the Gun Dealer Licensing Act, would require safe business location requirements for new gun shops, preventing any new licensee from being within 500 feet of any school or day care.

With so many residents opposing this location for a gun shop and range, I hope Rep. Carol Sente will support SB 1657.

Sara Knizhnik

Vernon Hills