A divided Buffalo Grove village board narrowly
passed a ban on assault weapons Monday,
becoming one of just handful of suburban
communities to take up the state legislature on its
offer allowing them to bar possession of certain
firearms.
Approving the measure took a tiebreaking vote
by Village President Jeffrey Braiman, who
accurately predicted he wouldn't receive any
applause from a capacity crowd that weighed in
with prolonged public comment overwhelmingly
tilted against a ban.
The Buffalo Grove ban differs from a Cook
County ordinance already in effect on the Cook
side of the village. The ordinance is in essence a
placeholder, limiting the ban to already outlawed
weapons classified as machine guns. But having
it on the books reserves the village's right to enact
more restrictive measures in the future, an option
officials would not have if they allowed the
deadline to pass this week without action.
In the end, Braiman's vote came down on the
side of local control.
"What we have here is ... a protection of our
home rule rights," he said. "Do I want to send a
message? Absolutely. I send messages to the
state legislature regarding home rule all the time.
Unfortunately they don't listen. And I don't think
they're going to listen to what we say here today.
I think we have to take action to protect the rights
that we have as a home rule community."
Lester Ottenheimer III, Andrew Stein and Beverly
Sussman joined Braiman in the majority. Several
trustees expressed frustration with the state's
requirement they enact a ban by the end of the
week or not at all.
"Thanks to the Illinois General Assembly, we are
forced to act now, or forever be banned from
taking action in the future," Stein said.
"We have an obligation to do what we believe is
in the best interests for the health and safety of
our citizens. We are only preserving our right to
do that," Ottenheimer added.
Sussman said the ban should be a state or federal
decision, but added that she still believes it
necessary.
"However, (state and federal lawmakers) didn't do
anything about it. Therein lies the problem," she
said. "Then I think about schoolchildren. As soon
as I think about schoolchildren, I just feel that this
is necessary."
Voting against the measure were Jeffrey Berman,
Michael Terson and Steven Trilling. Trilling spoke
strongly in favor of punting the matter back to
Springfield.
"I think I'm going to send a message back to our
state legislature and say, 'You know what? You're
trying to put this problem back on us. It ain't our
problem. This is going to go back to the state,'"
he said.
Terson said he understands why some support
the ban, but ultimately does not think it will make
a difference.
"We see terrible things happen in our country.
Places like Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., even
closer to home in DeKalb, Ill. And we want to
keep things like that from happening in our
communities," he said.
However, he added, the local ban is a symbolic
gesture that will not make residents any safer.
"I would speculate that Buffalo Grove residents
are at a far greater risk of being killed by a drunk
driver than by an assault weapon or gun of any
kind," he said. "Yet no one has suggested
banning alcohol, the sale of alcohol, or prohibiting
bars and restaurants from being able to sell
alcohol to people who drive to their
establishments."
The board received extensive comment from the
public, with statements from, among others, a
former Lincolnshire police officer, a molecular
biologist and former Village President Elliott
Hartstein.
Hartstein said the General Assembly has placed
municipalities in an unfair position. He urged not
only Buffalo Grove, but all communities
throughout the state with the ability to do so,
should preserve their right to act on the issue. He
also urged the village eventually to enact a
meaningful, fair and reasonable law regarding
assault weapons.
"Sometimes it takes municipalities — it takes
people at the local level — to act before some
people at higher levels of government take
action," he said.
Art Ellingson, founder of the Arlington Heights
Tea Party, said numerous studies have shown
that gun control laws do not reduce gun violence.
Village resident Steve Bergman, who said he
owns a handgun, said that while he appreciates
the village limiting the ban to machine guns for
now, he worries that trustees in the future could
expand the ordinance.
He also voiced concern about the confusion that
could be caused by a new crop of local municipal
laws, so that somebody traveling through the
state with a legal weapon in one town could find
himself violating the law in the next town.
"I would urge the board to do nothing," he said. http://tinyurl.com/pdw972o