Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of unlawful use of a weapon (UUW) and reckless discharge of a firearm. Defendant was sentenced as a Class 3 felon for UUW offense, because incident took place in an apartment used as public housing. The UUW statute survives heightened intermediate scrutiny and thus Defendant's facial challenge to statute fails. There is more than a rational fit between protecting safety of persons on public housing properties and limiting the number of guns on public housing properties to limit potential violence. Defendant claimed that he shot himself accidentally. Evidence is insufficient to prove Defendant acted recklessly beyond a reasonable doubt. No facts from which to reasonably infer that he consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk to bodily safety of a person.(ROCHFORD and HOFFMAN, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Weapons