The Supreme Court has voted 5-4 to overturn the City of Chicago's handgun ban. more ›

The City of Chicago is preparing for today's ruling from the Supreme Court of the United States on the handgun ban as the court issues its opinion on McDonald v. City of Chicago. (The city of Oak Park also has its handgun ban at issue with the case.) The City has been preparing for this day for months and, according to one report from the Tribune, if the ban is overturned, the City Council could take action on new local legislation by as soon as Wednesday. Indications are that the Court will come down with a 5-4 decision of overturning the ban, but that's still speculation. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Scalia, Alito, Kennedy, and Thomas were reported earlier this year as favoring the ban, enough for a 5-4 majority. All five justices also voted to overturn a similar ban for Washington D.C. in 2008. more ›

Mayor Daley announced today that the city will be setting aside $25 million in federal stimulus cash for programs that will be used to help fight violence amongst Chicago Public Schools students. This school year, 27 CPS students were killed, down from last year's tally of 32 students. The cash will break down like so: more ›

• The City Council has already started maneuvering for the expected SCOTUS over-turn of the city's handgun ban.
• The Chicago Plan Commission approved the Wrigleyville redevelopment today.
• Attorneys for Drew Peterson want to ban mentions of Stacy Peterson at Drew's upcoming murder trial.

While Mayor Daley refused to concede the fight before the SCOTUS to overturn Chicago's handgun ban, the Mayor did say he'll be ready to fight should the law be reversed. And he used some colorful imagery to illustrate his point. At today's news conference, Daley hinted new laws will be pushed through: "You have to have confidence in the Supreme Court, Maybe they'll see the light of day. Maybe one of them will have an incident and they'll change their mind over night, going to and from work ... Whatever the details of the court's ruling will be, we will always find new ways to keep guns off our streets." more ›

With all signs pointing to an eventual 5-4 ruling in favor of overturning the City's handgun ban, Mayor Daley lashed out at the Supreme Court with his typical sarcastic furor. According to the Sun-Times, Daley ranted: more ›

The official ruling won't come down for months, but based on the comments of justices during today's hearing, it seems the Supreme Court of the United States may have the necessary majority to overturn the City's 28-year-old handgun ban. According to David Savage's report for the LA Times, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Scalia, Alito, and Kennedy made comments favoring the Second Amendment and the 2008 case overturning Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban (in which all four voted to overturn); Savage also notes Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been a staunch Second Amendment supporter and voted with the majority in the D.C. case, would likely favor overturning this ban as well. more ›

As we mentioned last week, the City of Chicago's handgun ban is set to be argued to the Supreme Court of the United States - McDonald v. City of Chicago. Arguments are scheduled to be heard tomorrow and Mayor Daley continues campaigning in support of the 28-year-old ban. Said the Mayor, "We've turned our backs on common sense gun laws in America and we continuously, unfortunately, continue shooting each other on a daily basis. This is one issue where Americans must come together in regards to common sense gun laws. You would think there would be a wake-up call in America. But we're silent. We're not doing anything." The city of Oak Park, who has a similar ban, is included in the case with Chicago. A similar handgun ban for Washington, D.C. was overturned two years ago but D.C. falls under federal jurisdiction. more ›

With the Supreme Court of the United States scheduled to hear arguments in McDonald v. Chicago (the case of the City of Chicago's handgun ban) next week, Mayor Daley is making the rounds in Washington, D.C. to garner more support for the ban. Daley appeared at the National Press Club along with a few other civic leaders from around the nation who support such local bans to keep communities safe. Gun rights advocates insist the ban violates Second Amendment rights. A similar ban in D.C. was overturned in 2008. Said Mayor Daley, "In this day and age when we think the right to bear arms in all of our communities that means any type of weapon. I don't think our founding fathers believed that these type of weapons would be on the street and to me every jurisdiction have a right to talk about the health and safety of their communities." Daley was joined by Chicago firefighter Annette Nance-Holt, and her husband Chicago Police Officer Ronald Holt, parents of Blair Holt, the teen shot and killed on board a CTA bus in 2007. The teen who killed Holt was sentenced to 100 years in prison last summer while an accomplice received a 10-year sentence. more ›

Opponents of Chicago's handgun ban - who have taken their battle to the U.S. Supreme Court - are finding themselves gaining support from all around the country. In fact, 38 states have shown support for the repeal. [Tribune] more ›

We've disagreed with a lot of judicial decisions and passed laws and City Hall decrees over the years but you'd be hard-pressed to find anything in our archives quite like what blogger and internet radio host Hal Turner pulled. Upset over the recent decision to uphold handgun bans in Oak Park and Chicago, Turner went on an internet tirade which included, "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed." To take the threats to another level, he listed the "photos, phone numbers, work addresses and courtroom numbers" of the judges involved: Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and judges Richard Posner and William Bauer of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Turner, described by media reports as a white supremacist, was subsequently arrested yesterday at his New Jersey home. While Turner's website has no reference to the Illinois-related arrest, it does contain a post about his arrest earlier this month in connection to similar charges from the state of Connecticut stemming from the same tirade, though the original offending posts are no longer available online. [CBS 2] more ›

With a U.S. Court of Appeals recently upholding the city's handgun ban, another fight is brewing between the city and the NRA as the case is likely to head to the U.S. Supreme Court. And CBS 2 spent some time talking to gun owners here in the city who are carrying illegally. more ›

The Seventh Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals has upheld the current handgun in place in Chicago and Oak Park, rejecting the appeal by the National Rifle Association. You can read the decision here [PDF]. The Daily Herald has more information on the case. more ›