An Exercise in Irony in Chicago

Next to Washington D.C., Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation. All guns must be registered every year, and unless you are grandfathered in before 1982, handguns are forbidden. These laws, we are told, are to protect Chicagoans from gun crime. Needless to say, it has been less than effective.

So what happens when a city Alderman, who helped pass the yearly registration law, forgets to re-register his grandfathered handgun that the average citizen is too irresponsible to own? If you are Ald. Richard Mell, you introduce a new law that allows for a one month amnesty for registration. Mind you, a law that makes attempts to prevent honest citizens from being labeled criminals is a good step in a city with Draconian laws. But if this had happened to anyone besides an Alderman, the city might not be so considerate. In the past, they have been far from considerate.

Mell said he first realized he was in violation of the re-registration requirement about a year ago. When he tried to re-register his guns belatedly, the Chicago Police Department's Gun Registration Section refused to bend the rules. Mell appealed that ruling to the city's Department of Administrative Hearings but decided to re-write the law instead."When we looked at the law, we saw the possibility of winning [the appeal] wasn't gonna happen," he said.

Good for the Chicago PD for holding this guy's feet to the fire on his own law. Full story here.