The affluent village of Deerfield, a suburb of Chicago, accepted a ban on large capacity magazines and assault weapons on Tuesday, a local Fox affiliate reported.
“The board unanimously approved an ordinance that bans the possession, sale and manufacture of assault weapons and large capacity magazines in the village,” a village press release stated.
The ordinance, which becomes law on June 13, states that anyone who still possesses one of the banned weapons, in the village of only 19,000 residents, could receive a $1,000 fine for each gun in their possession, per day.
Many say that it was an aggressive move and directly related to the mass shooting at a Florida high school in February.
Chicago suburb bans ‘assault weapons’ after Florida massacre (Reuters) – An affluent Chicago suburb has banned the possession, sale and manufacture of “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines” in response to the massacre at a Florida high school a… https://t.co/jO60OQg88O
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The new law now defines an assault weapon to include semiautomatic rifles that have a fixed magazine with a capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition; shotguns with a revolving cylinder; and semiautomatic pistols and rifles that can accept large-capacity magazines and possess one of a list of other features, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Only the mentioned weapons will be regulated.
“Every law-abiding villager of Deerfield has the right to protect themselves, their homes, and their loved ones with the firearm that best suits their needs,” Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s lobbying arm, told the Washington Post.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the gun rights group Guns Save Life said they will file a lawsuit against Deerfield to have the ordinance reversed.
However, in 2013, a neighboring community approved an ordinance that was very similar to Deerfield’s. A lawsuit was filed by gun rights advocates, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled in the city’s favor.
