My earlier blog today focused on the facts some politicians and a couple of well-known religious leaders (read that "politicans of the cloth") forget to talk about when they push for tougher Illinois gun laws.
One of the points I raised is that the bad guys, aka the people who spray crowds with machine gun fire and randomly kill little kids and pregnant women, don't pay attention to laws already on the books that are designed to control access to firearms. . . so what would "tougher laws" accomplish? Who would they help (other than the politicians looking for the fear vote, of course)?
Case conveniently in point: Over the weekend, Chicago police acting on a search warrant raided the home of a Hegewisch neighborhood resident. According to the Chicago Tribune web site today, the officers, ". . .discovered five handguns, three assault rifles, a double barreled shotgun, hunting rifles, 21 magazines, a fully loaded 75-round drum magazine, 3,000 rounds of ammunition . . ."
Did the individual have as required by state law, an Illinois Firearm Owner ID card? No. Is he a licensed Federal Firearms dealer? I'm betting he is not. Did he possess the required permits to own handguns in the city of Chicago? Doubtful.
Guys like him laugh at existing gun laws! So why write more of them?
Some of our elected representatives and other irresponsible fear mongers grab headlines and camera time acting tough to impress their constituents. If they really want results, however, they won't come from "tougher" laws.
We need money to pay the salaries for more tough cops, to work the tough cases and to make the tough arrests that take hauls like "five handguns, three assault rifles, a double barreled shotgun, hunting rifles, 21 magazines, a fully loaded 75-round drum magazine, 3,000 rounds of ammunition..." off the tough streets.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Ducking Mr. Drive-By
I'm as horrified as the next guy about drive-bys that kill the innocent, in whatever part of town they happen to be.
I'd get in line to protest gun violence,too, as long as the guns being protested are those in the hands of gang-bangers, drug dealers and anyone else using them for criminal purposes.
A Chicago priest is calling on Springfield to enact "tougher" gun laws. The Tribune's online edition doesn't spell out exactly what the good reverend wants those laws to say but I imagine it's more of the same kind of thing that we've heard from Rev JJ, Mayor Dick and the rest of the anti-gun crowd.
Here are some of the facts they never share with their audiences:
Illinois already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation.
One cannot legally buy a firearm in this state without first obtaining a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card, which requires a background check. Another check is conducted at time of purchase and the buyer is then subject to a waiting period of 72 hours before a handgun can be delivered, 24 hours for a rifle or shotgun.
Illinois has no concealed weapons permit for civilians. We live in one of two states, Wisconsin being the other, that restricts concealed weapons to police officers.
Under Illinois law, a firearm cannot be carried in a vehicle unless it is unloaded, in a case and in the trunk.
Chicago, where the majority of gun crimes occur, has even stricter local ordinances regarding handguns.
Individuals wanting to legally purchase an automatic weapon can do so only after obtaining Federal certification from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. Such certification is a lengthy process, requires a local law-enforcement sign-off and is relatively expensive.
All of these laws are regularly disregarded by those who wantonly spray bullets into crowds and kill children and by every crook who carries a pistol in their belt and produces it to stick up a liguor store.
Crooks pay no attention to the statutes now on the books. Why would enacting more restrictive laws make us safer? Criminals buy illegal weapons. Their suppliers don't fill out forms or require FOID cards. The people who sell guns to gang-bangers don't warn them against carrying concealed.
Wake up!
Yes, certainly, Illinois could act to entirely ban civilian handgun ownership. To what purpose? The state legislature could ban all rifles and shotguns, too. Why? Who would it help?
Sure, calling for tougher laws about anything sounds . . . well . . . tough.
It's a feel-good, political solution without real-world substance and, like most political solutions, it helps only the politician.
Out on the street, meanwhile, folks still be duckin' Mr. Drive By.
I'd get in line to protest gun violence,too, as long as the guns being protested are those in the hands of gang-bangers, drug dealers and anyone else using them for criminal purposes.
A Chicago priest is calling on Springfield to enact "tougher" gun laws. The Tribune's online edition doesn't spell out exactly what the good reverend wants those laws to say but I imagine it's more of the same kind of thing that we've heard from Rev JJ, Mayor Dick and the rest of the anti-gun crowd.
Here are some of the facts they never share with their audiences:
Illinois already has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation.
One cannot legally buy a firearm in this state without first obtaining a Firearm Owner Identification (FOID) card, which requires a background check. Another check is conducted at time of purchase and the buyer is then subject to a waiting period of 72 hours before a handgun can be delivered, 24 hours for a rifle or shotgun.
Illinois has no concealed weapons permit for civilians. We live in one of two states, Wisconsin being the other, that restricts concealed weapons to police officers.
Under Illinois law, a firearm cannot be carried in a vehicle unless it is unloaded, in a case and in the trunk.
Chicago, where the majority of gun crimes occur, has even stricter local ordinances regarding handguns.
Individuals wanting to legally purchase an automatic weapon can do so only after obtaining Federal certification from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. Such certification is a lengthy process, requires a local law-enforcement sign-off and is relatively expensive.
All of these laws are regularly disregarded by those who wantonly spray bullets into crowds and kill children and by every crook who carries a pistol in their belt and produces it to stick up a liguor store.
Crooks pay no attention to the statutes now on the books. Why would enacting more restrictive laws make us safer? Criminals buy illegal weapons. Their suppliers don't fill out forms or require FOID cards. The people who sell guns to gang-bangers don't warn them against carrying concealed.
Wake up!
Yes, certainly, Illinois could act to entirely ban civilian handgun ownership. To what purpose? The state legislature could ban all rifles and shotguns, too. Why? Who would it help?
Sure, calling for tougher laws about anything sounds . . . well . . . tough.
It's a feel-good, political solution without real-world substance and, like most political solutions, it helps only the politician.
Out on the street, meanwhile, folks still be duckin' Mr. Drive By.
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Dead Freshman and a Bit on Bullying
Two Rutgers University freshmen alledgedly shot secret video of a fellow freshman having sex with another guy. The subject of the video, 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, later jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death. The couple allegedly behind the video has been arrested and could face even more charges if the case is determined to be a bias crime. I hope it is. The mopes won't see jail time but, at the very least, I hope Rutgers boots them out and the victim's family pummels them in court.
Bullying is a hot-button topic with me.
I was bullied from about age 8 to age 12. Daily and unrelentingly. I'll say two things about it. No one except a victim knows how frightening it can be and fighting back, sometimes viciously, may be the only answer. I pushed one kid's head through a window and fractured the skull of another. The bullying stopped but my family also dealt with some legal repercussions. So let me also say that fighting back may carry its own price tag.
Bottom line: whatever the circumstances, no one should ever be made to feel the only way out is off a bridge. I'll take a courtroom over a body bag any day.
I doubt the couple at Rutgers had any idea their video "prank" would turn out the way it did. At the same time, they allegedly went out of their way to humiliate another person. Whether they feel any remorse is questionable. If the case reaches a courtroom, I imagine we'll see some crocodile tears but who knows whether it will be real emotion or poor-poor-me grief.
As this case illustrates, bullying is not just about punching and kicking and it doesn't always stop after grade or high school. Witness the cruelty of a certain preacher and his followers from a Topeka, Kansas "church" who trot out their bias against homosexuals at funerals of soldiers and others.
And what do you want to bet that those fools intrude when the Clementi family lays their child to rest?
Bullying is a hot-button topic with me.
I was bullied from about age 8 to age 12. Daily and unrelentingly. I'll say two things about it. No one except a victim knows how frightening it can be and fighting back, sometimes viciously, may be the only answer. I pushed one kid's head through a window and fractured the skull of another. The bullying stopped but my family also dealt with some legal repercussions. So let me also say that fighting back may carry its own price tag.
Bottom line: whatever the circumstances, no one should ever be made to feel the only way out is off a bridge. I'll take a courtroom over a body bag any day.
I doubt the couple at Rutgers had any idea their video "prank" would turn out the way it did. At the same time, they allegedly went out of their way to humiliate another person. Whether they feel any remorse is questionable. If the case reaches a courtroom, I imagine we'll see some crocodile tears but who knows whether it will be real emotion or poor-poor-me grief.
As this case illustrates, bullying is not just about punching and kicking and it doesn't always stop after grade or high school. Witness the cruelty of a certain preacher and his followers from a Topeka, Kansas "church" who trot out their bias against homosexuals at funerals of soldiers and others.
And what do you want to bet that those fools intrude when the Clementi family lays their child to rest?
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