Chicago (GSL)  - Happy Valentines day!  As of February 14, its been 90 days since Cook County amended its Deadly Weapons Dealer Control Ordinance, effectively making it an assault weapons ban.

This same legislation was tabled last July, and was waiting and ready to go.  Without fanfare or a chance for any public opposition to develop, it was taken off the table and passed at the November 14, 2006 Cook County Board meeting.

The ordinance allowed Cook County residents who owned such weapons (or the magazines it also banned) to remove them from the County, modify or disable them permanently, or surrender the assault weapon or large capacity magazine to the Sheriff or his designee for disposal."

Have we got your attention now?  Turn them in or go to jail?  Private property, confiscated without compensation?  Branded a criminal for possessing a turkey gun?

While the ordinance does not specifically ban all shotguns, it does ban any semiautomatic shotgun that has "A fixed magazine capacity in excess of 5 rounds".  Since two-inch shotgun shells are available, practically any semiautomatic shotgun could run afoul of this provision.  With the anti-gun bias shown in the past by the Cook County State's Attorney's office, the owner of any gun that might possibly meet the definition has to now either turn it in, maintain it outside the county, or take the chance of being charged and convicted.

The ordinance also criminalized a long list of guns by name, and also outlawed any "large capacity magazine", defined as any magazine capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.

Now that the 90 day grace period has expired, no word yet from Cook County on how many "assault weapons" or magazines were turned in to police.

Chicago and its surrounding County of Cook, meanwhile, send a large number of state legislators to Springfield, most of whom are chomping at the bit to enact similar legislation for the other 101 counties in the state.  Gunowners and anyone who cares about freedom, individual liberty, and preservation of our rights would be well advised to let their legislators know how they feel.