Politics & Government

Patch Readers Take on Assault Weapon Ordinances

Assault weapons have taken center stage at City Council and Village Board meetings in Highland Park, Lake Forest and Deerfield this past month.

Assault weapons have taken center stage at City Council and Village Board meetings in Highland Park, Lake Forest and Deerfield this past month.

All three home rule communities have discussed new ordinances that would restrict the use of assault weapons in light of a concealed carry law that threatens to strip these towns of the right to regulate them.

And each of these towns has had its own district way of handling the issue.

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Highland Park banned assault weapons in a nearly unanimous council vote recently. Deerfield's Village Board unanimously voted to regulate storage and transportation of assault weapons. And Lake Forest has tabled a discussion about enacting a placeholder ordinance that would more or less allow the City Council to ever restrict assault weapons in its city.

Here's how readers from each of these three towns have reacted to the news.

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Lake Forest readers argue against regulations

Most of the comments from Lake Forest Patch readers argued against any ordinances regulating or restricting assault weapons.

"Any politician in Lake Forest who passes a law or ordinance which turns current lawful gun owners into criminals ... is going to face a lot of heat when they are up for election," writes Gary.

"The 2nd amendment stands, period," writes Albert Boese. "Registration is the slippery slope to control and confiscation."

"It's hard to fathom why certain other communities are willing to surrender their safety to Bloomberg-style bureaucrats and the fallacy of Gun Free Zones," writes recarry.

One comment, however, argued in favor of more restrictions.

"No one is advocating taking away your guns. What is being advocated is safety measures," writes Chris Miller. "Do you know that guns will be allowed at Lake Forest beach?"

Highland Park reactions more mixed

The reaction to Highland Park City Council's decision to ban assault weapons was more mixed, with some happy to see the city's more active approach and others frustrated.

"I don't need to own guns to feel safe," writes Walter White

Other readers disagreed.

"While I can agree that there is little need of an assault rifle in HP relative to any normal use, I have also seen society break down due to natural disasters, rioting and other events. In those cases, weapons can indeed be a defensive measure," writes forest barbieri

"This is just a bunch of clueless liberal (or progressive, whatever) politicians, fear mongering and pandering to the 'all guns are bad' mentality propagated by the media," writes Rocco Siffredi.

Deerfield readers discuss need for assault weapons

While some readers were concerned with Deerfield's decision to regulate assault weapons, one reader in Deerfield wondered why residents felt the need to own assault weapons to begin with.

"I guess I'm just in awe that people in Deerfield need assault weapons," writes Hilary Elizabeth Winiarz.

Another reader thought the ordinance that Deerfield passed would be ineffective and costly.

"The ordinance does nothing to enhance the safety of anyone," writes Jack Sears. "So, how does it feel to have a Village government wasting our time and money creating litigation magnets?"

The user Walter White also chimed in on the Deerfield discussion.

"Assault weapons should only be used by law enforcement and the military for a reason," he writes, "because they are much more lethal than other types of guns."

What do you think? What did you community do about assault weapons? What do you wish they had done?


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