Illinois House votes down plan to take away Chicago gun restrictions

Posted by Ray Long and Todd Wilson at 4:41 p.m.

SPRINGFIELD — House lawmakers today defeated a measure that would have taken away Chicago’s ability to regulate how people store guns, a prelude to an expected spring showdown over a push to allow people to carry concealed weapons.

The debate put on display the Capitol’s traditional regional fight over gun rights and gun control, with conservative suburbanites and downstate lawmakers wanting to expand rights and Chicago-area Democrats wanting to restrict access to weapons.

Illinois House votes down plan to take away Chicago gun restrictions

The Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for such activities as hunting and self-defense, private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government.