More than 75 people visited Chicago Police headquarters Monday to pick up applications to register firearms on the day the city's new handgun ordinance took effect.
The ordinance, which requires gun owners to keep their weapons in their homes, was hastily crafted by the city after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city's 28-year-old handgun ban.
We want to know who has weapons so that first responders can be aware of that information before they enter a home," said Police Supt. Jody Weis at a news conference.
Weis urged citizens to go to the department's Web site at chicagopolice.org to download the applications for a Chicago Firearms Permit created by the ordinance.
Under the ordinance, the city has 120 days to process permits. In six months, the city will have to move faster -- it must process permits in 45 days.
The applications must be submitted in person at Chicago Police Headquarters at 35th and Michigan.
Residents with permits can buy a handgun, but must register their weapon within five days with the Chicago Police Department. The city is giving people with unregistered weapons a 90-day grace period to register them. Guns deemed "unsafe" because of safety recalls or poor quality can't be registered. Neither can certain types of weapons, such as sawed-off shotguns and .50-caliber firearms.
The ordinance bars people from buying more than one handgun a month. Weis said there's no restriction on spouses or relatives of felons buying guns and keeping them in the house where a felon resides.
But the city's ordinance doesn't allow residents to carry handguns outside their homes. That includes garages and porches, Weis noted.
"Do not bring your weapon to Chicago Police headquarters to register it," he warned.
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