How Northbrook is addressing gun safety: Resolution seeks uniform state, federal laws
A resolution seeking state and federal leadership adopting uniform gun safety legislation was unanimously approved by the Northbrook Village board of trustees last week.
The resolution comes in the wake of the mass shooting at the July 4 parade in nearby Highland Park. There is a ban on high-powered military- and law enforcement-style firearms in that Lake County community, and also in Cook County, which encompasses most of Northbrook.
“Our love affair with firearms is a problem, and it's not just assault weapons,” said Trustee Robert Israel. “This is not the way we wanted to bring up our children in America.”
Israel also stressed the importance of enacting legislation dealing with training, licensing, registration, insurance, proper storage and safety in regard to all firearms.
Village President Kathryn Ciesla expressed frustration that more can't be done to restrict access to assault weapons, which are defined as high-powered military and law-enforcement style weapons in the first bullet point of the resolution, and that the village's “hands are tied” with respect to addressing the issue of those types of weapons in the community.
“We saw what happened in Highland Park,” Ciesla said. “Highland Park has a prohibition against assault weapons, but the prohibition is only as good as your weakest neighbor.”
She said while there is a chance than a ban could be enacted at the state level, it would not likely succeed at the federal level.
“We have to do something, and I do feel what Trustee Israel is saying is the thing to do, because we're not going to get an assault weapons ban,” Ciesla said. “Maybe in the state, but I don't think we're going to get it in Washington, D.C.”
One resolution bullet point called for adopting universal ownership background checks for firearms across state boundaries, raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21, making a universal waiting period and requiring training and licensure for gun ownership, requiring liability insurance for each gun, and adopting a national gun sale database.
Some trustees, including Johannah Hebl, said the language of the last of the bullet points could be confusing to residents, who might conclude that the high-powered military- and law enforcement-style weapons would be legal in Northbrook despite the Cook County ban. In the first sentence, the bullet point proposed to “restrict carry of assault-style weapons to certain geographic boundaries such as homes of licensed owners, firing ranges and training facilities.”
Prior to the discussion, Police Chief Christopher Kennedy spoke to the board about gun safety initiatives, including weapons turn-ins, guns locks and safes, and the firearms sticker program. In regard to the latter, he pointed out there is a village ordinance requiring any business serving alcohol to display a sticker that firearms are prohibited on the premises.
“Anyone that lives in the village can call in and say 'I've got a weapon to turn in,'” Kennedy said. “I think a weapon, if you're unfamiliar with it, if you're uncomfortable with it, that's a dangerous weapon.”
He said the weapon would be accepted by the police department and destroyed as part of the weapons collection program.
In addition, he reminded residents who have a child under 14 in the home that they must have a gun lock on the weapon, and the police department gives gun locks to anyone who needs one. He said that guns can also be stolen in a burglary.
“The gold standard is a safe,” Kennedy said. “A safe allows access in case the owner would need to get to it, but it's not walking away.”