The fight continues in Illinois

[seamusTX]

Illinois has no provision whatsoever for concealed carry by anyone except LEOs, and generally has some of the strictest anti-RKBA laws in the nation. Possession of a handgun, even in your home, is a felony in many places.

The state legislature is dominated by Democrats controlled or influenced by Chicago's extremely anti-RKBA Mayor Daley. Efforts to liberalize state laws have been thwarted for decades.

Now, some counties are making formal moves to restore the right to keep and bear arms.

Winnebago County, which is in the north central area of the state, is discussing issuing concealed handgun licenses. Anyone carrying with such a license would be in violation of state law, but if local law enforcements gives license-holders a pass, the licenses will be practically useful in that county. In this case, the county sherrif supports the proposal.

http://www.rrstar.com/communities/x8167 ... of-sheriff

- Jim

[lrb111]

I'm thinking a positive result from Heller Vs. D.C. would have an effect on Illinois. Specifically Chicago.

[seamusTX]

I've refrained from discussing Heller much, because we simply don't know what the Supreme Court is going to decide.

If they rule that law-abiding citizens have the right to have weapons in their homes, and the ruling applies to states as well as D.C., then Chicago's ban will fall. However, the only change may be that the city is required to register new handguns. They can charge a rapacious fee and restrict ammunition. Last year, Cook County (the county that Chicago was in) proposed a tax of 10 cents to $1 per round. That's right, $50 for a box of .22LR.

BTW, it's not just Chicago and Cook County. Many smaller cities, mostly in that area, have handgun bans.

One of the great legacies of Texas is that counties and cities can do only what the constitution and legislature allow them to do. They can't prohibit weapons, they can't create any offense more serious than a class C misdemeanor, and they can't create new taxes.

- Jim

[tarkus]

Illinois has no provision whatsoever for concealed carry by anyone except LEOs, and generally has some of the strictest anti-RKBA laws in the nation. Possession of a handgun, even in your home, is a felony in many places.

The state legislature is dominated by Democrats controlled or influenced by Chicago's extremely anti-RKBA Mayor Daley. Efforts to liberalize state laws have been thwarted for decades.

Despite this, people like CHL/LEO recommend turning yourself into the police if you shoot a mugger or rapist in self defense in Chicago.

[seamusTX]

Actually, Illinois has a state law that says that a person cannot be charged under a local firearm ban for a legitimate self-defense shooting. The defender will most likely lose his weapon and spend a lot of money on lawyers, though.

Take tranquilizers before reading this article: http://www.reason.com/news/show/36162.html

- Jim

[para driver]

Daley will use every dirty trick his father ever taught him on this one. Chicago banned gun shops since I was a kid, and residents had to travel out to the suburbs to purchase from (flourishing) FFLs just over the city line. Gaby Hartnet's, Shore's, Bell's and Midwest just to name a few. The Chicago anti-gun ordnance has nothing to do with crime, it has everything to do with CONTROL. The Daley family will not tollerate anyone possibly having any control in their city.

The original Chicago Ordnance was all about keeping guns away from the black people, nothing more than that. If you were any kind of celebrity, you obtained a carry permit by 'working' as a reserve officer for the CPD or Cook County Sherrif office. A well timed donation got you on the roster.

I escaped that cesspool years ago.

[seamusTX]

The original Chicago Ordnance was all about keeping guns away from the black people, nothing more than that. If you were any kind of celebrity, you obtained a carry permit by 'working' as a reserve officer for the CPD or Cook County Sherrif office.

This is true and not mentioned often.

The "special people" often get in trouble by shooting up a bar or drawing a weapon in a road-rage incident (that they instigated).

- Jim

[Aggie_engr]

Did anyone see that wacko killer they caught at a bar a couple days ago??? He was wanted for killing 8 people, 6 here in IL and 2 in MO, including a 63 year old man, a couple and children. All by blunt force beatings. The scary part is that they caught him in Granite city, which is about 10 minutes away from where I'm at in Edwardsville!!!! You really don't know how much it would affect you until they catch someone like this scum so close to you and you didn't even know it! I have my gun here nevertheless but it stays in my apt, almost useless...

[Turfspanker]

This is how bad it can get in anti-RTC states. What a joke.

http://www.nbc5.com/news/16901117/detail.html

Blagojevich: Chicago May Need National Guard Help

With gun violence at a crisis, Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday said he is in talks with Illinois State Police and the Illinois National Guard to see if more police officers can be deployed to the streets of Chicago.

The governor said Chicago Mayor Richard Daley hasn't asked for help, but Blagojevich says he'll call the mayor once he has some concrete suggestions about what help he can provide.

Blagojevich didn't have many specifics, but he said it's more likely that state police will be brought in than the National Guard.

Blagojevich also said there are a lot of retired Chicago police officers and state police troopers who could be rehired for the summer.

[57Coastie]

Illinois has no provision whatsoever for concealed carry by anyone except LEOs, and generally has some of the strictest anti-RKBA laws in the nation. Possession of a handgun, even in your home, is a felony in many places.

The state legislature is dominated by Democrats controlled or influenced by Chicago's extremely anti-RKBA Mayor Daley. Efforts to liberalize state laws have been thwarted for decades.

Now, some counties are making formal moves to restore the right to keep and bear arms.

Winnebago County, which is in the north central area of the state, is discussing issuing concealed handgun licenses. Anyone carrying with such a license would be in violation of state law, but if local law enforcements gives license-holders a pass, the licenses will be practically useful in that county. In this case, the county sherrif supports the proposal.

http://www.rrstar.com/communities/x8167 ... of-sheriff

- Jim

Jim,

It appears to me that perhaps Illinois, as well as a few other states, is operating on the assumption that Heller, whatever it is that it says, applies to the states, without that being first judicially determined, as have, by the way, many on this forum. The 2nd Amendment's application to the states, via the 14th, appears to me to be at least an open question, and, if nothing else, offers a little delay to anti-gun states.

What think?

Jim

[seamusTX]

I agree that Heller does not apply to any government entity other than the District of Columbia. The court made it clear that they were only affirming Mr. Heller's demand to register his handgun there (and by extension, everyone else in D.C. who wanted to register a handgun).

However, I think the handwriting is on the wall, and the 2nd Amendment will be incorporated when a case from Chicago or another city reaches the Supreme Court. (This is strictly the opinion of someone who clipped his law license from the back pages of a comic book.)

In the context of this thread, this is a county action. The political majority that is in control of the state government in Illinois is firmly anti-RKBA (as a native of Chicago, I still pay some attention to what goes on there). Most of the counties outside the Chicago area are populated by sane people who object to the rule of King Richard II.

- Jim