A community group in Chicago has filed suit against several suburban villages, alleging gun shops in the areas have led to an increase in violence in the city.
Lawyers for the Coalition for Safe Chicago Communities filed the lawsuit against the villages of Riverdale, Lyons and Lincolnwood Tuesday morning in Cook County Circuit Court.
Father Michael Pfleger announced the suit and alleged a number of guns recovered from Chicago crime scenes came from stores in the communities.
The group claims the suburbs "lack oversight of gun shops, causing disproportionate hardship on African American communities," which they say is a civil rights violation.
"The violence in America and Chicago is indeed a civil rights issue," Pfleger said. "Our families and our children have a right to safety. They have a right to live. They have a right to walk to school, to play outside and to sit on their porch and not be afraid of being shot or killed."
The group called for background checks on gun store employees, a customer “blacklist” and more surveillance cameras and alarms in gun shops.
