Buffalo Grove Adopts Gun Ban — Kind Of

Buffalo Grove officials adopted an assault weapon ban Monday night that imposes no new restrictions now, but leaves the door open for stricter gun laws in the village later.

The new ordinance bans “the manufacture, sale, transfer of ownership or possession of assault weapons,” but goes on to define only machine guns as assault weapons. And Buffalo Grove residents — along with the rest of the nation — have long been prohibited from buying or selling machine guns.

Village officials knew that, of course. But in a 4-3 decision, in which Village President Jeff Braiman cast the tie-breaking vote, they opted to get the ordinance on the books in light of Illinois’ passage of the concealed carry law. Municipalities have until July 19 to enact their own assault weapon bans, which local authorities are able to adjust later, as they can any local ordinance. Without a local ban in place this week, the village would be subject to the state’s law. 

“This does give us the luxury of time,” Braiman said. 

A crowd of residents packed into Village Hall Monday night, and all but one urged trustees to vote down the local ban. Some identified themselves as gun enthusiasts, while others expressed concerns regarding the constitutionality of such a law, questioned how it would be enforced or cited studies about crime rates. 

Art Ellingsen, who identified himself as the founder of the Arlington Heights Tea Party, suggested that violence could increase if gun restrictions are put in place.

“Every time a scientific study has been done by any university about the relationship between gun violence and gun control laws, is gun control laws go up, there’s a direct relationship – gun violence goes up. When gun control laws go down, meaning the average common citizen can carry whatever he wants, crime goes down,” he said. 

"Most of the people in this community have said, ‘Let it go. Let it lapse,’ said Buffalo Grove resident Ken Monsen, who took his turn at the podium after more than a dozen citizens had spoken. “You have stated yourself that you guys represent us. And we are saying, ‘Let this go, we do not want this ban in place.’ We don’t want you to have the ability to give us a ban in the future.”

The only resident to voice support for the village ordinance was former Village President Elliott Hartstein. “I think it is imperative in the interest of public safety and preserving local control,” he said.

The ordinance was supported by Trustees Les Ottenheimer, Andy Stein and Beverly Sussman. It was opposed by Jeff Berman, Steve Trilling and Mike Terson. 

While he said he thinks the entire nation needs stricter gun legislation, “having inconsistency in gun laws from town to town is not the right thing to do,” Terson said.

Trilling said he wanted his opposition to a local ordinance to send a message to Illinois lawmakers.

“I think I’m going to send a message back to our state legislators that says, ‘This ain’t our problem,’” he said.

Berman echoed that sentiment, while Sussman, a retired teacher, said she cast her vote with the youngest citizens in mind.

“As soon as I think of the school children, I think this is necessary,” she said.

Check back on Patch for more coverage from this meeting.