There were 415 murders and 1,864 shooting incidents last year, according to Chicago police, in the city of 2.7 million.
A US federal judge on Monday ruled that a Chicago law prohibiting the sale of handguns is unconstitutional and goes “too far.”
Å“Chicagoâ„¢s ordinance goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms,” US District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang wrote.
The right to keep and bear arms for self-defense under the US Constitution’s Second Amendment must also include the right to acquire a firearm, Chang said.
The ruling was in response to a 2010 lawsuit by the Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers and three Chicago residents.
Chicago, the third-most populous US city, currently prohibits the sale of handguns within city limits.
There were 415 murders and 1,864 shooting incidents last year, according to Chicago police, in the city of 2.7 million.
A scientific study published by the American Journal of Medicine in September found that the rate of gun violence is positively correlated with gun ownership rates, supporting arguments put forth by many critics who blame the notoriously liberal gun control laws in the US for the high rate of gun violence in the country.
However, more than one year after the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 first-grade school children and six staff members dead, little effort has been seen on the part of Congress or even the Obama administration for any substantial changes to current laws.
AHT/AGB
With permission
Source: Press TV