Nation IN BRIEF : ILLINOIS : Gun Ban in Public Housing Challenged

The National Rifle Assn. said it will sue the Chicago Housing Authority over its policy of banning guns from public housing. The NRA, in a letter to the authority, said the Illinois state constitution prohibits a public agency from imposing such a restriction. It also said the ban is discriminatory because it is applied mostly to blacks. “I have instructed (counsel) to prepare a response to the NRA, and . . . we will continue to enforce that provision of our leases,” Chairman Vince Lane told a housing authority board meeting. The no-guns policy, on the books for 20 years, has been enforced only since 1988. Security Supt. LeRoy Martin called the NRA position “irresponsible.” He said: “So much crime takes place inside these buildings that would not take place if the weapon wasn’t there.”