Cook County Commissioners Approve New Gun Control Measure
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Cook County Board has approved imposing fines of up to $2,000 on gun owners who fail to inform police if a gun is stolen, lost, or transferred to someone else.
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, with no debate, commissioners approved a new ordinance Board President Toni Preckwinkle said could help prevent legal guns from flowing into the wrong hands untraced.
"We're requiring people to register the loss, transfer, or sale of their weapons," she said.
County OKs New Gun Control Ordinance
The vote came after the board paid tribute to Hadiya Pendleton, the King College Prep High School student gunned down in a local park last week.
Hadiya was shot while she and a group of about 12 other students were sheltering themselves from the rain under a canopy at Harsh Park in the Kenwood neighborhood last week. Police have said they believe the gunman mistook someone in the group for a rival gang member and opened fire.
Commissioner Earlean Collins (D-1st) said the shooting might spark new gun laws in Cook County, but she said new gun laws alone won't prevent similar shootings in the future.
"It's not just about guns. It's about a whole culture change. It's about a real commitment to deal with and to address the problems," she said.
Collins told her colleagues on the County Board they also must deal with underlying issues of poverty and despair.
"Those kids out there have no value of life, and we don't seem to understand that," she said. "They don't believe that they're going to live, and they don't have the education and the skills to go out and to get jobs; to work and support themselves."
Commissioner Jeff Tobolski (D-16th) said he agrees with Collins that those kinds of issues must be addressed.
