“The attempt is to deal with straw purchases and illicit traffic. But, I would like to remind you. [When] you go to an ATM machine and you take cash out, it’s videotaped. It’s about protection,” the mayor said.
“We think it’s enforceable. We think it’s smart. We think it’s tough. . . . We think it meets the standards set out, but does it in a way that’s consistent with the direction the court set forth, but also with the direction that the people of Chicago set forth. They want their streets safe.”
After introducing the court-ordered gun shop ordinance at Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Emanuel was asked where the videotapes of gun purchases would be stored and how he could guarantee that the tapes would be secure and not “misused.”
The mayor never answered the question. He would only say that “way too many guns come into Chicago” and the city “doesn’t have a problem of too few guns.”
The Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this week that Emanuel had responded to a federal judge’s July 14 deadline to approve store restrictions short of a ban. Emanuel’s plan includes sweeping regulations that he considers the toughest in the nation.
Gun store owners would be required to videotape every sale to deter legal customers from buying firearms for crooks.
