Evanston aldermen motioned to delay a vote on an amended handgun law after several advocates from pro-gun control groups spoke before the council, asking that the council wait to make a decision until more amendments to the law were considered.
After a recent US Supreme Court decision, District of Columbia v. Heller, ruled D.C.'s handgun ban unconstitutional, the NRA sued municipalities around the country, including Chicago, Morton Grove, Oak Park and Evanston, that had similar bans on the private possession of operative handguns. In order to avoid the costs of a lawsuit that some Aldermen viewed as unwinnable, the council voted unanimously to repeal the city's 27-year-old ban. Although the council was scheduled to vote on a new, revised ordinance, Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) called for more time for discussion when it came time to vote.
This delay followed impassioned testimony by three pro-gun control advocates, two of whom had a personal connection with gun violence.
Jeanne Bishop, Medill '81, who was accompanied by her sister Jennifer, told the council of the story of her sister, Nancy Bishop, who was murdered, along with her husband and unborn child, in their home in Winnetka in 1990. The perpetrator was a local teenager who got a hold of his lawyer's handgun, Jeanne Bishop said. "(The teenager) got a hold of a legally owned handgun in an unlocked drawer and a few days later, my family members were dead. We can't simply repeal this ordinance and not have in place very tough restrictions," she said.
Jeanne and Jennifer Bishop have both devoted their lives in the aftermath of their sisters' murder to advocating for restrictive gun ownership laws and helping victims of gun violence. Jeanne is the head of the North Suburban Chicagoland Chapter of the Million Mom March, a non-profit organization devoted to preventing gun deaths and injuries, and Jennifer is the national program director for victims and survivors for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Jennifer Bishop pointed out that the council has a record of supporting victims of gun violence.
"At the two-month anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre several of you all laid down with us and other gun violence victims right in your town square in solidarity with victims of gun violence," Jennifer Bishop said. "I hope you will wait ... I hope you'll find a good way to solicit input from your residents so that you can make a fully informed, rational decision - not out of haste or fear, as other communities, I'm afraid, have done - but to do something that truly reflects the will of the specific circumstances of a city like Evanston."
Jeanne Bishop cited the example of Wilmette, which recently voted to repeal their gun ban even though the NRA has not filed a lawsuit against the village. She noted that the Supreme Court decision has not yet been applied to any non-federal municipalities and that any test cases could take years of legislation to push through the court system. The council should not make any decisions until they are forced to, she said.
"In the meantime," she said, "why rush? The NRA is saying, 'we'll sue you if you don't repeal this.' And my question is, 'do we want the NRA to dictate Evanston's policy on handguns?' or, 'do we want the safety of Evanston residents to dictate the policy on handguns?' To me, it's a no-brainer."
Sarah Sumadi contributed reporting to this article.
k-berlin@northwestern.edu
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