"Mom's Demand Action" (aka Bloomberg) loses another one in Niles Illinois [View all]

[DonP]

The plans for building a new gun shop and firing range, in northwest suburban Niles, were on hold until the zoning board voted 5 to 2 to allow the project to proceed. The zoning board meeting heard from the public on both sides in 3 minutes speeches, the gun owners outnumbered the "Mom's" by about 3 to 1, with a lot of cops from Chicago and nearby suburbs there to support the range as well. The normally short and perfunctory meeting ran until midnight. to allow all who signed in to speak.

The original permits were approved and issued for the project, to be built in an empty industrial area of Niles, a couple of months ago, but the "Mom's" demanded a re-hearing on the project so their concerns could be heard. They were heard ... and rejected.

“The issue isn’t so much that the facility would be unsafe. There’s just a 'common sense' piece to this. Why would you want to increase the potential of having guns this close in proximity, less than a mile to a school,” said New Hope Academy Director Brandy Larrance. Since most gun stores won't allow anyone without an FOID card in, did they actually think that there will be dozens of kids walking the mile to the store and wandering around? So their argument is, "it's not unsafe, but I just don't like want one in my city".

“Legally, we have to look at gun sales as a legal thing to do. On the other hand, people are passionate about the killings in schools.. and the two are associated in a lot of people’s minds,” said Niles Village President Andrew Przybylo.

The mayor also said the board was looking for any factual data showing that gun ranges and stores create a real hazard and nothing was presented to prove that.

(The article on the front page of the Tribune the same morning, featuring the $1 million in additional legal fees Chicago must pay to the NRA may have had some influence on board members as well.)

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/clip/10341665/controversy-surrounds-new-gun-range-in-niles