The Chicago City Council today passed Mayor Richard Daley's new set of gun restrictions 45-0.

The swift approval came just four days after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively tossed out Chicago's longstanding ban on handguns. Daley introduced the gun restrictions Thursday and aldermen approved the ordinance about 24 hours later.

“The decision that the Supreme Court made was not in keeping with the best interest of our citizens,” said Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, in keeping with comments by several of his colleagues.

"People say we’re restricting weapons, we are not restricting weapons,” said Ald. James Balcer, 11th. “I don’t know how anyone can say that, when as of right now you can have a number or rifles, a number of shotguns. . . You can buy one pistol a month. What is wrong with that? If you can’t protect your home with that armament, you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be here.

"This is a good ordinance, and it abides by the constitution. People can defend the inside of their homes. No one is seizing your weapons," Balcer added.
Ald. Rey Colon, 35th, whose brother was fatally shot in 1979, said the justices on the nation’s top court don’t understand the reality of the inner city.

“I understand the right to bear arms, but I also understand parents crying in their sleep,” he said.

After today’s vote, it will be a while before any new guns bought under the ordinance show up in city residences.

It will be 10 days before the new ordinance becomes city law. Then anyone who wants to get a handgun must obtain a Chicago firearm permit, and the Police Department has up to four months to process the applications.

To apply for a permit, applicants must provide a certificate indicating they have passed a firearms training course with four hours in the classroom and an hour on the range.

People have committed violent crimes, or have two or more convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, will not be allowed to get the permits.

The restrictions could trigger a legal challenge from at least some of the pro-gun forces that put the gun ban on its death bed.

After aldermen approved the city’s controversial parking meter lease less than 47 hours after Mayor Richard Daley’s administration presented it to them, several said they would not again be rushed so fast in making major decisions.

Ald. Willie Cochran, 20th, said today that he had some concerns about moving so fast on the new gun-control measure, but voted because it can be changed.

“The difference between this and the parking meters is that there are no financial aspects behind it,” Cochran said. “It’s something we have the ability to revise and amend.”

Key provisions include:

*Applicants would need a Chicago firearm permit, costing $100 every three years, as well as an Illinois firearm owner's ID card. They would be required to register all their guns with the city, at a cost of $15 per gun every three years.

*Firearm sales would be banned in the city.

*Chicago residents could register no more than one handgun per month for each qualifying adult in a home.

*People who now own firearms illegally would get a 90-day grace period after the new law takes effect to register the guns without penalty.

*Gun training totaling four hours in a classroom and an hour on a firing range is required before getting a permit. But firing ranges are banned, so training would need to be completed outside Chicago.

*To transport a gun, it would have to be "broken down," not immediately accessible, unloaded and in a firearm case.

* Firearms could be possessed only inside the dwelling. It would be illegal to have a gun in the garage, on the front porch or in the yard. Guns also would not be allowed in hotels, dorms and group living facilities.

*Only one firearm per permit holder can be kept in ready-to-fire condition. Other guns must be taken apart or have trigger locks in place. In homes with minors, all guns must be secured when they are not in the possession of the owner.

*Permit applicants must be at least 21 years old, unless a parent signs for someone 18 or older.

*Assault weapons are banned, as are sawed-off shotguns and "unsafe" handguns, as defined by the Chicago Police Department, which will maintain an online list of prohibited guns.