In the latest defeat for gun-hating politicians in Chicago, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that city ordinances restricting shooting ranges to manufacturing areas of Chicago are unconstitutional, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Responding to the city’s claim that its restrictions serve important public health and safety interests—it argued that shooting ranges attract gun thieves, produce airborne lead pollution and increase the risk of fire—the three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals wrote, “The city has provided no evidentiary support for these claims, nor has it established that limiting shooting ranges to manufacturing districts ... has any connection to reducing these risks.”
The court also said there was no rationale to ban anyone under age 18 from visiting supervised gun ranges, although it did say Chicago can impose “a more closely tailored age restriction.” It’s anyone’s guess what restrictions, blackouts and roadblocks Chicago will erect next.
