Kane County's proposed gun safety ordinance shelved amid concerns about vague wording

A new Kane County law that would give sheriff's deputies more power to combat what they believe is unsafe gun use near residential areas was put on pause Wednesday when local gun owners shared with the board's executive committee their concerns about vague wording and rationale.

Kane County Board members worked with Sheriff Ron Hain and the state's attorney's office to create a new ordinance they believe would address incidents of unsafe firearm use that deputies have been powerless to address. The pending law was up for further debate by the board's executive committee Wednesday, but residents — most living in unincorporated areas — dominated the conversation.

Two county residents brought photos and videos documenting recurring situations they are dealing with in which neighbors fire weapons near backyards where children play.

Pam Gilmore lives near St. Charles. She passed around photos of bullet holes in the fence of her daughter's home and pictures of spent bullets on her grandchildren's play set and daughter's deck.

Gilmore, who said she is a concealed carry permit holder, said she values Second Amendment rights. However, she said, safety should be paramount for all responsible gun owners.

“We have the responsibility to keep our children safe and our families safe,” she said. “We have called the police. They say there's nothing they can do.”

Residents concerned about the pending law agreed with Gilmore. But they expressed concern that the law doesn't do enough to differentiate between areas like subdivisions where neighbors live near each other and rural neighborhoods whose homes have multiple acres.

A video posted by Hain explaining his support for the plan did not address all the concerns the residents expressed.

There's too much ambiguity, residents said, about how police will interpret when the use of a firearm is “likely to subject residents or passersby to the risk of injury.” There is also confusion about how and why county officials chose “any area within 300 yards of at least three single or multifamily residential structures” as the areas covered by the new law.

And the residents said they'd like more explanation about why the sheriff's office believes current laws regarding the reckless discharge of a firearm do not apply to situations like the one Gilmore detailed.

Everyone agreed they like the specific provisions in the plan that say the new restriction would not apply to target-, trap- or skeet-shooting as long as the activity occurred in a shooting sports facility, veterans' organization, certain not-for-profits or a licensed business with a shooting range. It also would not apply to lawful hunting, the lawful defense of people or property, or the discharge of blank cartridges at sporting events, theatrical performances or military funerals and memorials.

However, a letter from an attorney representing the St. Charles Sportsmen's Club expressed concern that vague wording in the pending law might still, inadvertently, apply to the club's activities.

The committee decided to send consideration of the pending law, and an accompanying ordinance about nuisance noise, back to a lower committee for further debate on Dec. 15.

At that point, voters will also have elected a new county board.