"Morton Grove, Illinois"
The town completely banned the sale and possession of handguns in 1981. á The NRA and others in the gun lobby promptly filed suit in Federal Court. á The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ban in 1982, stating that "possession of handguns by individuals is not part of the right to keep and bear arms." á The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case when it was appealed, and the handgun ban in Morton Grove remains today.
"Chicago, Illinois"
In 1982, the City Council implemented a measure that would freeze the number of handguns allowed in the city. á The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the freeze in 1984, stating that the measure "does not trammel fundamental personal rights." á The United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case, and the handgun freeze in Chicago remains today.
"Washington D.C."
The City Council enacted legislation that completely banned the sale and possession of handguns in the city, and the ban remains active today. Also on this page will be statistics showing an increase of gun homicides from the 60 per 100,000 per year in 1976 when the ban was enacted to the current level of 80 per 100,000 per year.
Critics may argue that the crime levels in these cities have not gone down, and thus conclude that handgun banning doesn't work. The critical point they are not considering is that the idea of banning handguns has not failed, but rather the ability of law enforcement to remove handguns from the population has failed. This problem is two-fold. The ability of law enforcement to ensure that the population is not in possession of any handguns and the ability of the law to stop people from outlying areas not affected by the ban from bringing in weapons. It is logical to assume that if the handgun ban were nationwide it would be much easier to ensure people don't bring in weapons from other places. This is simply because there are already mechanisms in the form of international borders that could quickly adopt a policy of not allowing handguns into the country.
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