NRA: Mayoral Team Richard Daley & Rahm Emanuel Oppose Right-to-Carry
From our friends at the NRA:
In an unsurprising move, two of Chicago’s most prominent, and most anti-gun, politicians joined forces with a coalition of gun ban groups to oppose Right-to-Carry in Illinois.
Illinois is one of only two remaining states that deny citizens the ability to carry firearms for self-defense.
Mayor Richard Daley (D) and mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel (D-whose most recent job was President Obama’s chief of staff) resorted to the usual blather to demonstrate their opposition to qualified, law-abiding Illinoisans being able to protect themselves and their loved ones.
(Daley opined in his statement, “This bill must be defeated. Allowing concealed handguns in Illinois can turn the simplest everyday activities into dangerous situations.”)
However, it was one particular line in Daley’s statement that really shows how much he just doesn’t get it. From the mayor’s statement:
“Daley said the United States is flooded with guns. There are more than 280 million privately owned firearms in the country — almost one per person. In an average year, those guns shoot or kill almost 100,000 people in America and more than 3,000 children and teenagers die from gun violence.” (Emphasis added)
“Those guns” do no such thing, Mr. Mayor. Individuals who wield and misuse firearms are the ones responsible for those shootings. Rather than blame the inanimate object, Illinois would be far better served by targeting the criminal breaking the law. In the meantime, we should respect and support the rights of law-abiding Illinoisans to carry firearms for protection against these thugs.
NRA members and supporters in Illinois should continue to contact their representatives in Springfield in support of House Bill 148, the NRA-supported Right-to-Carry bill introduced by state Representative Brandon Phelps (D-118). A final vote could be taken at any time. HB 148 represents the best opportunity we have had in many years to ensure the law-abiding residents of Illinois will be able to exercise their right to self-defense away from the home, and the NRA continues to support it.
About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military. Visit: www.nra.org
Chicago Mayor Daley Annoyed
The Chicago Tribune reported this week that Mayor Richard Daley is annoyed that the “Chicago Police Department has not set up a database to let police officers and firefighter know how many firearms are registered in each home in the city.”
Daley has stated that the registry would “help protect first responders by letting them know what kind of situation they might encounter.”
The police department has responded that the entries are being entered and that the system will be up in place in the coming weeks. Wouldn’t you feel safer knowing that the police would have a registry that will tell whether you have a gun, and how many you have?
Personally, we wouldn’t like such a system. Imagine if it could be hacked, and used by criminals to determine whose houses to rob? And there is always the possibility that such a database would make it vastly easier for the police to collect your firearms. Wouldn’t that be a lot more than annoying?
Chicago Wins Most Dangerous Neighborhood Title
There is a stench blowing over the Windy City. It’s not a smell from 19th Century slaughter houses, sleazy politics or Prohibition Era sour-mash stills. It’s the stench of crime. Chicago, the once proud city of Broad Shoulders, has the nation’s most dangerous neighborhood. United Center Park earned the #1 rank in the top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in the United States, according to a report on Wattelpop.com.
The report, which is based on FBI and local law enforcement statistics, states that anyone walking down Lake Street between Damen and Western has a 1 in 4 chance of being a victim of crime. This 25% chance of victimization applies to outsiders as well as those who live there. Read more
Portland Mayor Tries to Impose New Gun Laws
OrgeonLive.com reported that Portland Mayor Sam Adams is attempting to follow other large city mayors by adopting strict new gun control laws, “that state lawmakers would not – or could not.” This has upped the ante in the war of words that is waging between Adams and local gun rights groups. Read more
Chicago Didn’t Enforce Gun Laws Reports New York Times
Irony in the Windy City indeed. We’ve been continuing to report that Chicago had had for years one of the strictest gun laws on the books in the country and yet has seen a wave of gun violence. Mayor Richard Daley, among others, pointed the blame at guns.
The Supreme Court overturned the city’s gun ban earlier this year, a move that Daley has been trying to find a way of fighting at all costs. But in another example of true irony, it is being reported by The New York Times that the gun ban in Chicago wasn’t all that well enforced. Read more
Chuck Hoffman Rebuts Sacramento Bee Writer Over Gun Violence Claims
We take aim at the mainstream media a lot. So we do like to point out those times when someone actually takes a similar stance regarding anti-gun bias. Chuck Hoffman offered a guest commentary for The Oakland Tribune, firing back at Sacramento Bee writer Dan Morain. Read more
John Lott Sums it Up Best
In his latest rant for FoxNews John Lott sums up the ongoing gun issue quite well: Let’s Face It, Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley Wants to Ban Guns, All Guns. John has offered some excellent commentary in the past, but his take on exactly what the Chicago gun laws, enacted since the SCOTUS ruling, really mean.
Here is a sample:
“Let’s face it, Mayor Richard Daley wants to ban guns, all guns. And he thinks that a complete ban is a “reasonable” regulation. The Supreme Court has ruled that he is not allowed to ban guns, but this is not going to change his mind about guns in the slightest. Daley now wants to place as restrictive rules as he thinks that the courts will let him get away with. Pretending that these rules are anything more than an attempt to limit gun ownership as much as possible is simply dishonest.”
Chicago’s Daley Announces New Gun Ordinance and Chicagoans Fire Back
“This isn’t the end, or even the beginning of the end.” Winston Churchill made that statement as American forces landed in North Africa. However, Churchill added, “but this might be the end of the beginning.” Unfortunately we don’t think we’re even that far yet, as Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley fired back with new gun laws following the Supreme Court’s ruling, which overturned the decades old handgun ban in the Windy City. Now FoxNews in Chicago is reporting that four Chicagoans have filed lawsuits against the mayor and the city.
What is worth mentioning is that all four plaintiffs are reported to own guns, which are kept outside of the city and they’d like to have more than one in their Chicago homes. Here is a classic example of law-abiding citizens, who are working with the system to get their constitutional rights upheld. Since launching this site we’ve talked time and time again about the law-abiding citizens. This key point is even brought up by the plaintiffs who note the purpose of the lawsuit:
“The four plaintiffs say the ordinance prevents them from ‘exercising their fundamental right to keep and carry firearms for self-defense and other lawful purposes.’”
Keyword again is “lawful purposes.” The problem is that too many anti-gun zealots think only criminals own guns, which is clear as Richard Daley thinks it should be a crime to have a gun. And thus the fight goes on. This isn’t even close to the end of the beginning of this debate.
NY Times: Guns Plentiful on Chicago Streets
To hear Mayor Richard Daley talk, you’d think the streets of Chicago were free from guns. He has offered his stance the now overturned handgun ban will suddenly turn Chicago into a wild west free for all. So imagine our surprise when The New York Times shed this information:
“The number of guns seized by the police has stayed consistently high in recent years, according to department statistics. Not counting guns acquired by the authorities through turn-in programs, 7,326 guns were confiscated in 2008 and 8,259 last year, more than in any other American city, according to the Chicago Police Department. With 4,139 guns seized from Jan. 1 to June 28, this year is on course to top the 2009 total.”
Now of course we’re mocking these findings, and we do realize that Daley knows illegal guns are a problem. But this just reinforces our stance. The ban clearly isn’t working, so why should law-abiding citizen be punished when it is so obvious criminals are ignoring the law.
Daley Sounds Off on Guns Again
WGN TV in Chicago is reporting that after a wave of violence in Chicago, the city’s mayor is on the rampage against guns. Mayor Richard Daley offers yet another choice quote in the process:
“$9.8 billion of guns sales in America. And it’s going to be higher next year. This is not something we should be proud of. Where do they (guns) come from? Where do they originate from? How did they get here.”
Why shouldn’t we be proud of these sales we should ask Daley? Much of this money is actually “income” in the United States too. While some of these sales are from imported guns, much of it is also from American industry, and is sold by American stores. In other words does the country need to lose nearly $10 billion in revenue? Can we afford to just have $10 billion in sales disappear?
But Daley also had some other equably snide remarks:
“If you have the right to have 30, 40 or 50 guns and all the ammunition, and you get drunk some weekend, and you’re going to have some fun in the home, you better be careful.”
What does he even mean? There are many people that might have no guns in the house, but can get drunk some weekend and still be very dangerous with their car, power tools or just a wet floor. Likewise, why do liberals such as Daley seem to have this opinion that all gun owners are looking to stockpile so many guns?
Finally, Daley has one last quote that is worth including for review:
“I don’t think guns are the answer. And so, like anything else, you keep the fight up. You’re fighting for people who are victims of crime.”
Easy for the man with the 24 hour a day protection to say, but what about those people – such as the 80-year old man who used a gun to defend his home – who need a gun because they are the victims of criminals?
