Gun Control’s strongest advocates lose big in Illinois

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http://www.examiner.com/article/gun-control-s-strongest-advocates-lose-big-illinois

DECEMBER 15, 2012

This week, a panel of judges from the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed lower court rulings that had previously allowed the state of Illinois to ban the possession of concealed firearms. Still the only state in the nation to outlaw the carrying of firearms, Illinois has 180 days to create a replacement law that removes the ban.

A stronghold of liberal and progressive ideology, the state of Illinois has been the most anti-firearm state in the nation for years. Until now, it was the only jurisdiction with a law banning the practice of carrying concealed firearms. And if many of Chicago and Cook County’s most powerful Democrats get their way, that won’t change, regardless of what the Appeals Court just ruled.

Court’s ruling

In reality, there was little doubt that the courts would strike down the Illinois law. Previous courts have already decided that gun control laws violate Americans’ civil rights. Unconvinced, local Chicago Aldermen are strongly urging the state to appeal the ruling all the way to the US Supreme Court. The high court has already decided the issue however and is expected to next debate the level of restrictions a state can or can’t put on concealed carry laws.

Confirming that the argument over the intentions of the Constitution's framers has been settled already, Tuesday’s court ruling announced, “We are disinclined to engage in another round of historical analysis to determine whether eighteenth-century America understood the Second Amendment to include a right to bear guns outside the home. The Supreme Court has decided that the amendment confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside.”

Insisting that the state of Illinois failed to provide any evidence that gun bans make citizens safer, the three-judge panel did admit that the debate and conclusions of that argument are still ongoing. “The theoretical and empirical evidence (which overall is inconclusive) is consistent with concluding that a right to carry firearms in public may promote self-defense,” the court explained with its ruling, “Illinois had to provide us with more than merely a rational basis for believing that its uniquely sweeping ban is unjustified by an increase in public safety. It has failed to meet this burden.”

Gun owners and civil rights advocates disagree and say that there is plenty of evidence showing that gun bans increase violence while concealed carry laws decrease it. They point to Chicago as the perfect example. The only city in the nation with an outright gun ban for decades, Chicago is currently considered the murder capital of the nation for its horrific epidemic of gun violence.

Illustrating the apparent failure of Chicago's longstanding gun bans and restrictions, here are two quick statistics. Remember, guns have been banned outright in Chicago with varying restrictions throughout the rest of the state:

Unlike the rest of America where a child is more likely to be killed in an automobile accident than by a firearm, in Illinois it’s the exact opposite. In 2009 and 2010, the last years data is available, children in Illinois were more likely to be killed by a gun than in a car accident. Source: Chicago Magazine.

27 people were killed in the tragic Connecticut school shooting yesterday. While the people of the community will probably only experience this once in their entire lives, the people of Chicago see that many murders in a 2-3 week period, every 2-3 weeks, all year long, year after year. Source: Townhall.com.

Politicians and public respond

The first ones to release a statement regarding the court’s ruling that Illinois’ ban on concealed weapons was un-Constitutional was the Illinois Rifle Association. “The ISRA is warning gun control advocates in the Illinois General Assembly against trying to hijack today’s ruling by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the carrying of defensive firearms,” the Illinois Rifle Association announced moments after the court ruling. The judges gave Illinois roughly 6 months to revise its law to allow the possession of concealed weapons.

Illinois House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) was also quick to respond. A staunch gun control advocate, Currie indicated the fight wasn’t over. “If we need to change the law,” the Illinois lawmaker was quoted by the Chicago Tribune as saying, “let us at least craft a law that is very severely constrained and narrowly tailored so that we don’t invite guns out of control on each of our city’s streets.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel didn’t comment publicly, but his office released a statement that read in part, ‘As the Mayor has said all along, the City of Chicago is committed to maintaining the fullest degree of lawful handgun restrictions possible while still respecting the Second Amendment rights of law abiding citizens, because maintaining common-sense restrictions is an issue of public safety.’

Illinois’ Democratic Governor Pat Quinn was happy to comment on the court’s ruling saying, “I think it’s important that we stress that public safety comes first.” Quinn, a Chicago Democrat and a fierce gun control supporter, now urges lawmakers to heavily restrict the right to carry a concealed weapon, especially among high risk individuals such as the mentally ill.

“I think that’s where the people of Illinois are on this issue and anything having to do with guns and assault weapons and things like that,” the Governor said, “We cannot have those sorts of people eligible to carry loaded weapons on their person in public places, whether it be malls or churches or schools.”

Not all Chicago Democrats were in support of the concealed firearm ban. Inner city Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins is one of the few who insist law abiding Chicagoans must have the ability to defend themselves. He says his constituents must currently “jump through the hoops” to obtain a gun permit, while the criminals can get a gun by simply walking down to the corner. In just the first 9 months of 2012, Chicago had already suffered 436 murders. That compares to 435 for all of 2011.

With hints from Illinois politicians and samples of what other states have done to limit the ability to carry firearms in public, observers have a good sense of the types of restrictions Illinois lawmakers will attempt to put on their next concealed carry law. Limitations may include high fees for concealed carry permits, completion of firearm training courses, extensive waiting periods, gun free zones such as schools and bars, and the most hotly debated restriction – showing evidence that your life is in imminent danger in order to be issued a permit to carry a firearm. Lawmakers have 180 days, roughly 6 months, to draft and pass a new law.

Edited December 19, 2012 by Bad_Daddy