City Council to Pass Gun Law So They Can Find Out What's In It

By Prescott Carlson in News on Jul 1, 2010 6:20PM

Not that anybody really needs any more proof that the Chicago City Council is a rubber stamp for Mayor Daley's whims, but this one is a beaut. According to the Chicago Reader's formidable Mick Dumke, the City Council is all set to vote on new gun-control legislation in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Chicago's handgun ban. The problem? It seems most aldermen don't even know what's in it. In fact, Dumke found that several aldermen weren't even aware they were voting on any such law on Friday.

He asked 33rd Ward alderman Richard Mell if he had read the proposed law. Nope, hadn't seen it. 6th Ward aldreman Freddrenna Lyle? Nada. 31st Ward alderman Ray Suarez? Nu-uh. At least 41st Ward alderman Brian Doherty knows a little something about the law -- through "speculation and what [aldermen have] read in the paper or heard on the radio."

Daley previously said the new mysterious ordinance is a "reasonable and responsible way to protect 2nd Amendment rights and protect Chicagoans from gun violence" and is crucial to curb a rise in gun violence in the city, although at this point the aldermen and the public will have to take his word for it.