"I know if we do have that ability there will be several, if not the vast majority of the aldermen, who would want to put their arms around that," he said.
Among those who have tussled with Chicago over gun laws, there's a feeling officials may act regardless of whether they have the legal authority.
"Even if the (ruling) makes it illegal for Chicago to write any ordinance and made it so if they did try to force one through, they'd be setting themselves up for lawsuits ... and on the hook for damages, I (still) expect them to do something," David Lawson, a plaintiff in the 2010 handgun case that went to the Supreme Court, said Wednesday. "You can't put anything past them."
There's a feeling both inside the City Council chambers and out in the neighborhoods that the city needs to act quickly to head off what they expect to be deadly consequences of this week's ruling.
"More guns on the street will mean more lives lost," the Rev. Ira Acree, a prominent pastor on the city's West Side said Thursday.
Alderman Anthony Beale said he and his colleagues understand that sense of urgency.
"People's safety is at risk," he said.
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