In a court hearing yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court had ruled the controversial gun law that effectively banned firearms from being present near any public park was unconstitutional. The decision was unanimous, as the jury noted this was a direct violation of a person's right to bear arms.
The court had pointed out that in Chicago alone, there is over 600 public parks that populate the urban sprawl, which makes prohibiting guns unfairly restrictive. Doug Schmidgall, the owner of a Aim 2 Shoot notes how "if you’re walking down the street and three blocks over, you’re breaking the law."
The case was initially brought forth in 2013 after an incident in Chicago, where a man was convicted for carrying a gun near a public park. The ruling was able to overturn that conviction, as the court outlined how simply walking to your car holding a gun could turn into a criminal offence.
However, residents of Springfield, Illinois are not exactly elated by this latest court victory. Jeff Montrey admits that "you shouldn’t have a gun within 1,000 feet of a public park because there’s a lot of kids there, a lot of people having picnics there, I just think it wouldn’t be a good idea."
While this ruling was strictly in relation to parks, Illinois law mandates that guns be no closer than 1,000 feet in distance from any educational institution or courthouse.