On heels of tragedy at Northern, Daley calls for tougher gun rules statewide

Denise Reed said that from the moment her 14-year-old daughter, Starkesia, was shot with an AK-47 two years ago, Starkesia never had a chance.

"This is not Iraq," Reed said. "This is the city in which we live. We should be able to look out of our windows. This is common sense people."

As the tearful mother told the story of her daughter - who was shot and killed in March 2006 while looking out a window - to a crowd of politicians and anti-gun advocates at Chicago Police Headquarters at 3510 S. Michigan Ave. on Tuesday, Mayor Richard M. Daley nodded in agreement, a gesture of emphasis on the new gun legislation proposals he had unveiled just minutes earlier.

The mayor announced what he called a common sense gun legislation proposal that he will present to legislators in Springfield this spring and later in Washington, D.C., in which he expects resistance in both bodies.

The package deal comes with a number of proposals that would, at the very least, tighten the reins on existing Illinois gun owners and dealers, and provides more scrutiny for potential ones.

Under Daley's proposals, citizens would be limited to the purchase of one gun a month; undergo a background check by state police; be required to keep locks on triggers if they have children under 18 in their homes; and trade in their of high-capacity magazines.

But Daley said he expects the more restrictive regulations to meet with the most resistance.

These include forcing all handgun dealers to obtain a license from the state of Illinois, a statewide ban of all semiautomatic assault weapons and .50 caliber military-grade rifles, and the requirement that all semiautomatic pistols contain a mechanism that stamps shell casings of bullets every time the gun is fired.

"I know many people may not appreciate these proposals - especially the gang bangers, the drug dealers and the thugs who terrorize our neighborhoods with their weapons," Daley said. 

"Beekeepers and barbers are licensed by the state," Daley said. "Why not handgun dealers?"

Joined by what he called his coalition, comprised of law-enforcement officials, city council members, state legislators - and parents of young victims of gun violence, Daley called on others to help make his point to extremists who might be threatened by the new proposals - namely the National Rifle Association.

"We have to demand that the NRA stop this nonsense that we're trying to put them out of business," Daley said.

Todd Vandermyde of the Illinois State Rifle Association declined comment, but the target of Daley's allegations the timing of the mayor's proposal.

"We don't believe this is a time to push legislative agenda on the heels of a tragedy," said Rachel Parsons, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. "It's in poor form to speak about policy and outrageous to be opportunistic at this time."

State Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), who vowed support for Daley in Springfield and promised to work for the proposals in Washington, compared gun regulations to the safety laws enacted for vehicles when their safety deficiencies proved fatal to thousands.

"This is a public health issue," Cullerton said. "This is a product that kills. So we modify the use of the product. Are we trying to take away your automobiles? No. And we're not trying to take away your guns."

While Daley asserted that "you don't want a tragedy to give you momentum," the mayor alluded to the recent events at Northern Illinois University to highlight how gun violence is plaguing younger people and said that his proposed one-gun-a-month policy could have minimized the damage done by the three firearms used in the five murders of NIU students.

"If it saves one life," Daley said, "it's worth it."