On May 6, a 15-year-old Crane High School student became the 36th Chicago Public Schools student to be killed by violence this year. The increasing number of Chicago Public Schools students killed by gun violence, coupled with an increased number of violent gun-related killing sprees nationwide, has rekindled the heated debate about Chicago’s strict gun legislation.

Since 1983, Chicago has upheld some of the most stringent gun legislation nationwide. One portion of the legislation, a citywide handgun ban, has been subject to the most scrutiny. Though there is no question that putting an end to the violence is a priority for all individuals involved in the debate, activists have very different opinions on how to reach a successful outcome.

Susanna Gratia-Hupp, the national spokesperson for Second Amendment Sisters, a women’s advocacy group dedicated to protecting the Second Amendment, was personally affected by gun violence in the ’90s. Her experience shaped the stance she now takes on gun legislation, both in Chicago and across the country.

On a beautiful, sunny October afternoon in 1991, Gratia-Hupp and her parents, Al and Ursula Gratia, stopped for a bite to eat at Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. Gratia-Hupp and her parents entered the crowded eatery with no inclination of the horror that would soon follow. Before they knew what was happening, she and her parents were at the center of one violent man’s unthinkable wrath. They sat helpless in the crowded restaurant as a 1987 Ford Ranger smashed through the front window of the restaurant. Unfazed and determined, the driver stepped out of his truck and methodically began executing people.

The gunman, George Hennard, then 35, looked into the crowd of about 140 people and yelled, “This is what Bell County has done to me.” With a Glock 9 pistol in hand, Hennard then opened fire on the crowded cafeteria. Armed with more firepower, he later switched to a Ruger P89 semi-automatic pistol.

Gratia-Hupp and her parents dropped to the ground and hid behind a table. As Hennard walked toward her family, Gratia-Hupp reached for her purse.

“I thought to myself, I have a gun in here,” she said.

But as she desperately scrambled to grab her handbag, Gratia-Hupp realized her gun was no longer inside. She had intentionally left it in her car in order to comply with state gun laws prohibiting gun owners from carrying concealed weapons. Without the gun she carried daily, Gratia-Hupp watched helplessly as both of her parents were among those murdered in the tragic killing spree.

“Twenty-three people were killed [that day], and my gun was completely useless to me because it was in my car, 100 yards away,” she said.

Even before living through the horrors of the Luby Cafeteria massacre, Gratia-Hupp had strongly supported an individual’s right to bear arms, but the massacre turned her from a strong supporter to an outspoken advocate.

“My parents were killed that day, [and] to be honest with you, I was very angry. [But] I was angry at the legislators because I felt they had legislated me out of the right to protect myself and my family,” she said.

Gratia-Hupp believes the precise and detailed wording of the constitution is being violated by many lawmakers across the country.

But the exact interpretation of this amendment and, in some places, how it is upheld, continues to be a hot topic to individuals on both sides.

After the controversial decision by the Supreme Court last year to overturn the Washington, D.C., gun ban, many people believed a similar ruling would follow in Chicago, which has upheld a gun ban similar to D.C.’s since 1983. Currently, it is illegal to purchase or own a handgun within city limits. Although handguns are not banned throughout Illinois, the state still has some of the most stringent gun laws in the country. Currently, Illinois and Wisconsin are the only two states in the country that do not have “concealed carry” laws, which would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons.

The Illinois State Rifle Association is one of several organizations lobbying state legislators to change gun laws in Illinois. On March 11, the ISRA sponsored Gun Owners Lobby Day on Capitol Hill in Springfield, Ill. Thousands of gun owners from around the state gathered in Springfield to meet with legislators and campaign for changes to current gun laws.

Jeff Battaglia, a plumber from Tinley Park, Ill., voiced his frustration about stringent Illinois gun laws as he pointed to pictures of adolescents carefully aiming rifles at outdoor targets, displayed across a booth at the annual lobby day. Battaglia is one of many residents who hope to see Illinois legislators pass legislation to allow concealed weapons in the state.

“I teach kids of all ages how to use a rifle responsibly,” Battaglia said. “Kids come to the range and learn how to shoot and all of the sudden they start excelling in other areas, too. They start getting better grades, and they focus better. They are being taught to do something that not every kid gets to do, and that has many benefits.”

Battaglia has taught members of the Boy Scouts and other children for years and said he believes it is important to teach children and adolescents how to shoot, but only if they want to learn.

“We had one girl that came to the range, and she was terrified,” Battaglia said. “She had only heard bad things about guns, how they kill people and stuff like that. I told her dad that if she didn’t feel comfortable firing the rifle I wouldn’t teach her. I want to teach the kids, but I never want to force them to do something they aren’t comfortable with.”

Battaglia, a member of the ISRA and a strong gun rights advocate, believes gun laws in Illinois infringe on rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

“They have stripped us of our basic constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” Battaglia said. “All I want is for them to start upholding the constitution. Right now they are breaking the law.”

But, in contrast to groups like the ISRA and Second Amendment Sisters, many advocacy groups are opposed to current Illinois guns law, finding them too lenient and filled with loopholes.

Mark Walsh, field director for the Illinois Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence, said lenient gun laws in Illinois and throughout the country are partially to blame for the increasing number of violent gun crimes.

The Illinois Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence formed as project of the Legal Community Against Violence in 2007.

“LCAV [was] formed in the early ’90s in California by the legal community in San Francisco after an assailant came into a law firm,” Walsh said. “[He was] disgruntled and sprayed the firm with automatic weapons fire, [killing] several lawyers. The next day LCAV formed as kind of a response.”

The organization is an education campaign focused on helping create gun law reform in the state. Walsh said the organization’s primary goals for 2009 include the implementation of universal background checks, requiring of gun owners to report lost or stolen guns and restricting bulk handgun sales.

“Right now, if you were to buy a gun from a licensed dealer or a gun show you would have to go through a background check,” Walsh said. “But if you bought it in a private sale, you would not have to. All you would have to do is see the FOID card of the person buying the weapon.”

Although the ISRA and other gun advocacy groups argue that that background checks required to obtain a FOID card are sufficient, Walsh disagrees.

“[The argument of the ISRA] is that you go through a background check when you get your FOID card,” Walsh said. “Right now a FOID card is valid for five years. It is supposed to be revoked if there is an order of protection against you, [if] you are convicted of a felony, [or] if you have mental illnesses that are already in place.”

However, Walsh said in many cases, FOID cards that should be revoked are never turned in to police, making it so criminals can present invalid FOID cards during a private gun sale and still purchase firearms, despite their criminal or mental health history. Nationally, about 40 percent of all handgun purchases are made through private sales, Walsh said.

According to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the most recent studies, which took place in 2005 and 2006, estimate that almost eight people age 19 and younger were killed in the U.S. every day in gun homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings.

But gun rights advocates believe by allowing more individuals to carry guns, criminals will think twice before engaging in gun violence with innocent citizens. Advocates also argue that stringent gun laws are not a deterrent for hardened criminals who are intent on killing.

Kenyan Haygood, a student at Robert Morris University, has grown up surrounded by gun violence. Haygood lives in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, an area riddled with gun crimes and other violence.

“Guns are a huge problem,” Haygood said. “We need to get the guns off the streets and away from kids. Just last week a 4-year-old kid found a gun that was just laying around. That kind of stuff has to stop. Kids are dying.”

But advocates like Gratia-Hupp believes stringent gun laws are not the answer.

“All the legislation, all the gun laws in the world were not going to prevent someone who is nuts, who is like a rabid dog, from getting their hands on something that can kill a lot of people,” Gratia-Hupp said.