Defacto Concealed Carry In Edwards County, Illinois

State’s Attorney Mike Valentine of Edwards County, IL is refusing to prosecute residents of that county for carrying concealed firearms so long as they are otherwise law-abiding citizens. Moreover, it looks like other Illinois State’s Attorneys might be joining the bandwagon.

But Bloomington’s McLean County, population 170,000, may soon announce a similar policy.

State’s Attorney Ronald Dozier told us he’s already sent a legal memo to other Illinois prosecutors explaining his belief that it’s unconstitutional to ban the carrying of loaded firearms in public. Some are outraged.

The usual suspects are “outraged” but a spokesperson for Attorney General Lisa Madigan says that they “are not the boss of state’s attorney” noting that they are independently elected.

According to the FoxChicago story, one Chicago area state house member, State Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) is proposing a Faustian alternative. He would agree to let individual counties set their own policy regarding concealed carry in exchange for banning “assault weapons”.

If I were an Illinois resident I would tell Mr. Ford that his Devil’s pact doesn’t cut it. Not only would it ban the most popular rifle in America but it would create a patchwork of conflicting laws designed to snare the unwary. There is a reason most states have state pre-emption statutes.

Chicago News and Weather | FOX Chicago News

Summer’s Over; School Begins Again

Tonight my summer comes to a close.

Classes begin for the fall semester today and I begin another school year teaching financial planning and retirement planning. My syllabus is done and printed. I have my first lecture done and have their homework assignment prepared. I don’t have new school clothes but I’m a bit old for that anyway!

After teaching the same class for six years, things begin to get a little stale and you find yourself going through the motions at times. That is why I’m glad that they’ve revamped my intro course to open it up to non-Finance majors. The class title has gone from “Introduction to Financial Planning, Risk Managment, and Insurance” to “Managing (Your) Money for Financial Success.”

Instead of just prepping Finance majors to be advisors and planners, I’ll be trying to give undergraduates some life skills. It is not that the former isn’t important – it is – but getting college students started on the right track financially is more important. I’ll be lecturing on things like credit card debt and FICO scores as well as investments and insurance.

The only downside is that I’ll be stuck in a officially-mandated by state law gun-free zone. Before it is suggested that I ignore this, under NC General Statutes § 14‑269.2. it is a felony for me to knowingly possess a firearm on campus. The only defense I have is to be in a state of heightened awareness – and to know where to find a fire extinguisher.

Ben Stein On The Need For Gun Control…Or Not

Economist, lawyer, and actor Ben Stein provides an occasional editorial comment on CBS’s Sunday Morning. Today’s topic was gun control. Contrary to what one usually gets on guns from the mainstream media, this was actually good.

Stein felt the calls for more gun control as well as the attempts to demonize the NRA are misplaced. He pointed out that in places like Chicago, LA, and DC which have strong gun control laws there are many more shootings than in a place like northern Idaho where carrying guns is quite common. While Stein is not sure what the correct answer is, gun control isn’t it.

We know that gun control is a failure and that it will never stop madmen. If we want to prevent the aberrant shootings like Virginia Tech and Aurora, Colorado, I think the answer lies in the mental health realm. This is what Clayton Cramer has been saying for a while now and I think he is correct.

A Dukakis Moment?

There must be something in the water up in Massachusetts. I can’t think of anything else to explain the propensity of liberal Democrats to sit atop heavy metal to prove their toughness.

First, there was former Gov. Michael Dukakis who rode on a M1A Abrams tank in 1988. That image plus the Willie Horton ads probably doomed his presidential campaign as much as anything.

Now we have Harvard Law professor and US Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren pictured astride a Harley. You can almost hear her saying, “Vroom, vroom!” It was tweeted by Emily’s List which seeks to support liberal female candidates. However, it was pretty stupid as people are already calling it her Dukakis moment.

Rather than calling it a Dukakis Moment, I think Fauxcahontas just wants to be like JayG of the gun blog MArooned.

H/T Legal Insurrection

CBS This Morning Notices Rising Gun Sales

In a relatively balanced report, CBS’s Tammy Leitner discusses the rise in new gun sales in the United States for CBS This Morning. Interviewed for the story that aired yesterday are a Los Angeles mom who wants to protect herself and her kids and Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation.

CBS attributes the rise in gun sales to a bi-fold fear of rising crime and fear of the gun control measures a second Obama Administration might push. I don’t disagree fear is one of the driving factors behind rising gun sales. However, I don’t think it is the only factor in the growth of gun sales. Other factors that didn’t make the story is that shooting is fun as well as the desire by many to take responsibility for their own safety. Taking responsibility does not have to be driven by fear. It is more akin to buying property and casualty insurance. You hope that you never have to use it but it is smart risk management to protect against great loss.

Ruger’s suspension of new orders is referred to but erroneously states that they are still refusing the new orders.  They resumed taking new orders on May 29th.

Happy Airborne Day – A Day Late

I didn’t realize that yesterday was the officially designated National Airborne Day. The first official Army airborne jump was made on August 16, 1940. Thus August 16th was the day was designated by Congress in 2001 to honor those who have or are serving in the US Army Airborne.

So while it is a day late, I’d like to recognize two fellow gun bloggers who served in the 82nd Airborne Division: Kurt Hoffman and Sean Sorrentino. They, much like the Airborne is to the Big Army, are at the forefront of the fight to preserve our Second Amendment rights.

So to them and all the others who served in the various Airborne divisions, brigades, and other such units, thank you for your service.

If I have missed other gun bloggers who are airborne vets, let me know in the comments.

University Of Colorado Provides Safe Zones For Thugs And Rapists

While the University of Colorado System may disagree with that headline, this is essentially what they have just done with their new housing policy. The University is using housing contracts to segregate those with concealed carry permits from those without permits.

From the Denver Post:

The University of Colorado Boulder and University of Colorado Colorado Springs are amending their student housing contracts, segregating students who possess a valid concealed-carry permit.

The university said Thursday morning that both campuses will establish a residential area for residents over age 21 with a permit. In other residential areas, students will not be permitted to carry a concealed weapon, the new policy states.

The new housing policy does two things. First, it seeks to use contract law to negate the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court which stated that the University of Colorado did not have the power to ban concealed carry on campus. Second, and more insidiously, it points out to thugs, rapists, and other criminals areas on campus where they will be relatively safe. That is, by creating obvious gun-free zones, the University System has put a big red target on the back of all those students living in traditional undergraduate student housing.

The University of Colorado-Boulder is a bit more explicit about how they plan to segregate students.

The University of Colorado Boulder today announced it is amending housing contracts to ask students who live in undergraduate residence halls and hold a Colorado concealed carry permit, or CCP, to forgo bringing a handgun to campus. The campus also will accommodate those who hold a CCP in a graduate student housing complex off the main campus, provided the permit holders store their weapon in a safe within their dwelling when they are not carrying it.

The university also is asking residence advisers and faculty who live in university housing to sign the same housing agreement as a condition of their residence in these facilities.

According to the University’s “analysis”, only 0.6% of faculty, staff, and students possess a Colorado Concealed Carry Permit as if this makes a difference. About the only reasonable thing the University does do is allow students who are in undergraduate student housing and who obtain a permit to be let out of their housing contract without a penalty.

Checking the housing contract, it doesn’t seem to have been amended to reflect the new university policy. It refers on to the residence hall weapon policy and makes no mention of the above exception for getting out of the contract without a penalty. The residence hall weapon policy can be found here. It still states that “Firearms, explosives, ammunition, and dangerous weapons or materials are not permitted within or upon the grounds, buildings, residence halls, or any other facilities of the university.” This would seem at odds with the Colorado Supreme Court ruling.

One last note on the Boulder campus’ weapon policy, they ban squirt guns and Nerf guns as “dangerous weapons”. I would wager that fewer people will be injured on the Boulder campus with either a squirt gun or a Nerf gun than will be hurt by their explicit demarcation of locations where one can and cannot live while possessing a concealed carry permit.

UPDATE: The student newspaper at the University of Colorado-Boulder, the Daily Camera, interviewed attorney Jim Manley of the Mountain States Legal Foundation about the new policy. Jim won the Colorado Supreme Court case which is forcing the university to allow concealed carry on campus. He is also a 2008 graduate of the University of Colorado Law School.

The new rules announced Thursday are troubling to James Manley, the attorney from the Mountain States Legal Foundation, who represented the student gun-rights group that brought the original lawsuit against CU’s gun ban.

“We’re going to take a hard look at the language, and if it conflicts with the concealed-carry act ruling of the Supreme Court, all options are open to us, including continuing the litigation that CU lost in March,” Manley said.

Hickok45 On The Savage 99

Greg Hickok – Hickok45 – reviews the Savage 99 and the .300 Savage cartridge. I don’t own any lever actions but I have been enamored of the Savage 99 and Savage 1899 for a long time now. It is probably because it is different from other lever guns and it is available in a number of calibers that aren’t traditionally found in lever actions. The internal rotary magazine allowed the Savage 99 to use spitzer bullets. Thus, you can find the now-discontinued Savage 99 in such calibers as the .243 Winchester, the .308 Winchester, and the .22-250 Remington.

As all collectors say at one time or another – one of these days…. 

HuffPo Isn’t Totally Worthless

While I may think that Arianna Huffington is a parasite whose political leanings change with the wind and that her Huffington Post is usually full of tripe, it does have its uses. For example, in a story about a local Tea Party group, I found out that they are having a machine gun social.

I have shot at Bear Arms a number of times and it is a really nice range. Moreover, the prices for shooting the MP5 are cheaper than a lot of places that I’ve been. Sadly, I won’t be able to attend it as I’ll be at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Orlando on that day.

It is instructive to read the comments. For people who profess peace and love and gun control, they are amazingly violent in their thoughts and rhetoric.

From Sushigirl:

Oh how quaint. I have an idea, blindfold all of them and let them shoot away.
Actually I don’t mean that, I don’t want anyone to be hurt. But how stupid can these people be. Disgusting.

From FredSanders who has 1910 fans which must mean he comments a lot:

I hope they all blow themselves away defending each other from each other.

 From Cacey with the tagline “ignore rudeness, honor discussion”:

How boring is Asheville if this is the best fund raiser they came up with. A boring event for obviously boorish people.

You get the idea. I’m glad Cacey thinks Asheville is boring because it will mean one less tourist clogging the streets with their Obama bumpersticker-covered Priuses.