Chicago Gun Ranges Possible Under Rahm Emanuel Proposal, Following Lawsuit

Just over a year ago, handguns were outlawed within the Chicago city limits. Now, under a proposal from Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the city could soon be home to a handful of indoor firing ranges.

According to ABC, Emanuel plans to introduce the ordinance in the city council this week. It comes as a reaction to a federal lawsuit against the city pertaining to its ban on ranges.

In order to receive a Chicago firearm permit, a prospective gun owner has to undergo a certain amount of training. With ranges outlawed in the city, they're forced to travel to the suburbs for the training, which they argue is an unfair financial burden on their constitutional right to bear arms.

Emanuel's response to the suit is a proposal to allow some ranges in the city, under certain conditions. The ranges will have to be indoors, and they'll have to be in areas zoned for manufacturing -- they'll still be forbidden in residential or commercial areas, the Chicago Sun-Times writes.

Some suburban gun-range owners are a bit more cynical about the move, as Fox Chicago writes:

For gun range owners outside the city, the move is merely a money grab by Emanuel.

"They're doing it to make money, let's face it, that's common sense and he sees Chicago as a big market so right now that market has to go to the suburbs," Don Mastrianni, owner of Illinois Gun Works in Elmwood Park, Ill., told MyFoxChicago.

Chicago's ban against handguns, enacted in the early 1980s by mayor Jane Byrne, was overturned last summer by the U.S. Supreme Court in its landmark ruling in McDonald v. Chicago.