Cook County Assault Weapons Ban To Be Enforced In Northbrook

NORTHBROOK, IL — Cook County will start enforcing its ban on assault-style weapons, according to Northbrook village officials and spokesperson for the Cook County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's police will "take primary responsibility" to enforce the Blair Holt Assault Weapons Ban, according to Northbrook Village President Sandy Frum. Cara Smith, the chief policy adviser to Sheriff Tom Dart, confirmed talks are underway with the village to iron out the details. Sheriff's police are also "likely" to issue a citation under the ban to a south suburban man arrested last week and charged after an 8-year-old boy allegedly shot a 5-year-old with his unattended gun.

"We are working with Northbrook on finalizing for the mode of communication that we'll have for enforcing this and we expect that to be done quickly," Smith told Patch. "Under the ordinance, there's a fine and the weapon can be destroyed."

The Cook County process would allow for steep fines and the seizure of weapons – if authorities choose to use it.

Last week, a 21-year-old Ford Heights man was charged with misdemeanor child endangerment, allowing a minor an access to a firearm and animal cruelty following a sheriff's police investigation into how one of his nephews wound up shooting another.

Several guns, including an AK-47 banned under county code, were found at the scene, but he was not initially cited under the county ban, according to the sheriff's office. The ordinance allows for a stricter penalty than state law, which would not automatically strip the licensed gun owner of his firearm owners identification, or FOID, card.

"They simply were not and have not been enforcing the ordinance," according to Northbrook Village Attorney Steve Elrod. "So basically we, the village of Northbrook if we choose to enforce the Cook County ordinance within our corporate limits, would be starting from scratch."

Sandy Frum read the following prepared remarks Tuesday at a special meeting of the Northbrook Village Board:

On May 22, our village board adopted an ordinance banning the possession and sale of bump-stocks, as well as the ordinance imposing regulations on liquor licenses in the village regarding concealed carry.

At the direction of the village board, the village attorney and staff have been evaluating the existing Cook County ordinance banning assault weapons known as the "Blair Holt Act."

Our village attorney has advised us that the Cook County ordinance is fully applicable within the corporate limits of the village of Northbrook. The primary question remaining relates to how the ordinance could be enforced, and most particularly by whom – the Northbrook Police Department or the Cook County Sheriff's Police Department.

Based on meetings that our village attorney and staff have had with the Cook County sheriff's office, we have been advised by the sheriff's office that its police department will take primary responsibility for enforcement of the ordinance within Northbrook and the Cook County state's attorney will be responsible for prosecution of the Cook County Blair Holt [Assault Weapon Ban] violations.

The Cook County sheriff's staff offered to meet with the Northbrook Police Department to develop protocols for our police to use to notify the sheriff if we determine or discover that a possible violation has occurred. That meeting will take place within the next couple of weeks.

Village trustees did not discuss the issue nor vote on the matter following comments from the public (which begin at about 1:03:00 in the video of the June 12 special meeting.)

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office issued a statement saying its responsibilities "include prosecution of County ordinance violations." Previously, prosecutors said the ordinance violation would be handled by the Cook County Department of Administrative Hearings rather than the state's attorney's office. Administrative law judges adjudicate civil matters in the department, which said it has no records of the ban ever being enforced.

A challenge to the Cook County ban is pending in federal court after it was filed a second time last year. On June 8 the judge announced he would soon rule on a motion to dismiss the case. The ban has been repeatedly strengthened over the years, though never enforced. Potential penalties have been expanded multiple times, increasing with possible fines increased to $15,000.

"This amended ordinance recognizes the challenges we face in Cook County and puts in place responsible and meaningful laws aimed at protecting our residents and law enforcement officers," said Board President Toni Preckwinkle following a 2013 amendment to the ban. At the time, her office said the ban applied to every municipality in the county except those that have their own laws on the books.

The sheriff's office last year took in 45 rifles through mid-October, according to gun seizure and tracing data provided by the county in response to a public records request. However, the rifles are not coded as "assault weapons" in the data.

Earlier this week, a Lake County judge granted a temporary restraining order blocking the neighboring village of Deerfield from enforcing its recently passed assault weapons ban, finding that the village to have wrongly claimed the ordinance applied to high-capacity magazines and the ban to be likely to be found invalid under state law. The village said it would consider an appeal.

Read more: Northbrook Could Become the First Municipality To Enforce Cook County's Assault-Style Weapon Ban, Uncle Charged After Child Shoots 5-Year Old Brother

Related:

• Judge Blocks Deerfield Assault Weapons Ban Before It Takes Effect
  
• Village Gets Pro Bono Legal Defense in Assault Weapon Ban Lawsuits
• Village's Assault Weapons Ban Doesn't Really Ban Magazines: 2nd Suit
• Assault Weapon Ban Challenged in Lake County Court
• Deerfield Bans Assault Weapons, High-Capacity Magazines