Dupage Policy Journal

GOP candidate for Illinois State Rep. 29th District Jeff Coleman is questioning the Naperville City Council as it considers municipal regulations regarding gun ownership.

“That was a travesty,” Coleman told DuPage Policy Journal of the Highland Park shooting, but added the number of gun violence victims. “And we have mirrored travesties like that throughout Chicago every single day. And people are still trying to regulate gun use.”

Coleman said most people who use guns use them legally. 

“Well, government cannot prevent law-abiding citizens from arming themselves and protecting their home and their property. So because criminals don't obey laws, so we can try to fix the problem by putting all these regulations in place, what we need to do is start to find grassroots solutions and hold parents and the actual people who perpetrate these things accountable," he said. “Now you can see downtown Chicago and all over the place. It seems like people are going stark raving mad. So we have to find a common ground where we allow police officers to do their job while keeping order. But at the same time, I understand that there has to be some type of responsibility in gun ownership. I [don’t] think somebody needs 400 rounds of ammunition and a fully automatic weapon. Me, personally, I don't. I think that's a bit much.”

Coleman said there should be some type of safety measures for people who actually purchase these weapons.

“But they do background checks. And what about mental health issues with the young man we [saw] some red flags prior to purchasing a gun?” he said. “So we have to be responsible in seeing the signs and stop avoiding those with our own kids or family members. Just think that we should be held more accountable there to try and [not] make laws that prevent people from the Second Amendment rights.”

The ordinance to ban guns in the city of Naperville includes “semi-automatic rifles, pistols, shotguns and large capacity magazines that hold 10 rounds of ammunition by any licensed dealer,” according to NCTV17.  

Naperville was set to vote on the ordinance Tuesday, July 19.

The ordinance is basked by council members Theresa Sullivan, Ian Holzhauer and Patrick Kelly.

Gun violence has been plaguing the Chicagoland area.

On the July Fourth weekend, a gunman at the Highland Park July Fourth parade opened fire on the crowd. At the same time, the Chicago area saw eight fatal shootings and 68 others shot.

Weekends of such gun violence seem to be repeating themselves in Chicago.

Some have claimed a disparity in the Highland Park shooting which occurred in a largely suburban white neighborhood, CNN reported.

Will County State’s Attorney James W. Glasgow recently said the violence is likely to get worse now that statewide cashless bail via the SAFE-T Act is set to begin.

The bill allows even those charged with the most heinous crimes to get out on bail without cash posted.

“A murderer who was on an ankle bracelet in the city of Chicago killed the person that was the eyewitness against him in the first murder," Glasgow noted regarding a recent case of an alleged cashless bail case in Chicago, according to the Will County Gazette.