Chicago voters overwhelmingly passed a measure to increase penalties for anyone caught illegally trafficking firearms and that also requires gun dealers undergo a background check along with their employees.
The measure passed with 92.6 percent of public support, just shy of 900,000 votes, according to results collected by the city’s general election committee.
Leading up to Tuesday, city officials like the Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Supt. Eddie Johnson had been calling for tougher penalties for violent repeat offenders as the city has experienced a spike in gun-related violence.
Elements of the ballot measure mirror a state law signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in August that makes it a felony for a person without a state firearm owner identification card (FOID) to bring guns into Illinois with the intention of selling or delivering them to another person.
According to data cited by the governor’s office, an estimated 60 percent of guns used to commit crimes in the city were bought out of state.
As for the second part of the measure, currently there are no gun stores in the Windy City, but there are some just outside of city limits.
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