Chicago

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ISRA Responds To Chicago Police Head’s Racist Rant Against The NRA And Gun Owners

June 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, released this alert and statement regarding Chicago Police Superintendent Gerry McCarthy’s racist rant against gun owners, Sarah Palin, the NRA, and Federal firearms laws delivered to the primarily African-American congregation of St. Sabina’s Catholic Church in Chicago. If you haven’t seen the video, I posted it here a couple of days ago.

ISRA URGENT ALERT: NEW CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT LAUNCHES ATTACK AGAINST LAW-ABIDING FIREARM OWNERS

Fellow Law-Abiding Firearm Owners:

As many of you may already know, Chicago’s new police superintendant, Gerry McCarthy, recently delivered an address on the topic of gun control to the parishioners of Fr. Pfleger’s St. Sabina’s Church. For those of you who have not seen the video of McCarthy’s address, you may find it at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIX4j2sormY&feature=player_embedded

Certainly, none of us would expect McCarthy to discuss how traditional gun control policies seek to disarm law-abiding citizens while ignoring violent criminals. Likewise, we wouldn’t expect to hear McCarthy place the blame for violent crime on a justice system that woefully fails to apprehend, convict and rehabilitate society’s most dangerous elements. No, we’d never expect to hear McCarthy utter the truth about one of the most contentious issues of the day.

As much as we wouldn’t expect to hear McCarthy speak in opposition to gun control, it is equally certain that few of us were prepared to hear what actually came from McCarthy’s mouth when he spoke to the St. Sabina’s congregation. After several minutes of gratuitous self-promotion, McCarthy launched into a racially-charged tirade in which he accused the NRA and law-abiding gun owners of participating in a government-sponsored program to kill Black people.

Like most of you, we believe an assertion such as McCarthy’s is too nutty to dignify with a response. But listening to McCarthy’s rant causes us to pause and ponder the Chicago Police Department’s own record on race relations. Furthermore, given McCarthy’s background, would any of the readers venture a guess as to who McCarthy blames for crime and violence when he’s safe at home among his family and personal friends?

Gerry McCarthy’s verbal attack on law-abiding citizens serves as an affront to law-enforcement officers everywhere. But, then again, any suggestion that McCarthy is a law-enforcement officer is a sham. Rather, McCarthy is merely another in a long line of political hacks who have resided in the office of police superintendant. McCarthy’s job description has nothing to do with law-enforcement and everything to do with enforcing the political agenda of his boss, Rahm Emanuel. Of course, as we know, Emanuel’s agenda seeks the eventual prohibition of private firearm ownership.

Probably the most ironic thing about McCarthy’s speech to St. Sabina’s parishioners is that McCarthy delivered his address while standing only a few feet away from Rev. Mike Pfleger. Let us not forget that, a few years ago, Pfleger urged attendees at a gun control rally to go out and murder gun shop owners and politicians who vote against gun control laws.

McCarthy’s speech at St. Sabina’s is a mere preview of what law-abiding firearm owners can expect out of the Emanuel administration in the months ahead. Watch the video of McCarthy’s performance at St. Sabina’s and you will see what we’re up against. And, as always, we really need your financial support to help contain and defeat the Emanuel Gun Grabbing Machine. So, once you’ve watched the video, please make a generous donation to the ISRA so that Emanuel’s dream of a gun-free Illinois doesn’t wind up becoming your nightmare.

Also, please pass this alert on to your friends and relatives. Be sure to post this alert to any and all Internet blogs and bulletin boards to which you belong.

Remember, gun control is a disease and you are the cure.

Sincerely,

Richard A. Pearson
Executive Director
Illinois State Rifle Association

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Sucking Up To Father Pfleger

June 23, 2011 by 3 Comments

The new Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy comes to Chicago from New York by way of Newark, New Jersey. He was appointed to the job by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

One of his first acts was to speak at Saint Sabina’s Catholic Church. That is the parish so long associated with Fr. Michael Pfleger who is as radical and anti-gun as they come. In his speech to the parishioners, he blames lax Federal gun control laws, the NRA, gun manufacturers, Sarah Palin, and the Second Amendment for the uncontrolled gang violence in the City of Chicago.

I could say that the people of Chicago got the police superintendent that they deserve but that would be unfair to the good people of Chicago like David and Colleen Lawson and Otis McDonald.

H/T Tax Payer

UPDATE: NBC Chicago has noticed Police Superintendent McCarthy’s little foray into gun politics at St. Sabina’s. See their article here.

“[McCarthy] got it right on parts and got it wrong on others,” said Shawn Gowder, the Vice President of the Chicago Firearms Safety Association and the Sergeant of Arms for the African American Police League.

Gowder said McCarthy was right in remarking that government-sponsored racism began with slavery and Jim Crow, but said it was wrong to make the association with that and the availability of guns.

“The crime issue has nothing to do with racism. It has everthing to do with our ability to protect ourselves,” he said. “In Chicago, if we had our Second Amendment rights, there would be fewer criminals.”

Richard Pearson, the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said McCarthy is only attacking gun-rights advocates because “he has nothing else to offer.”

“He’s not talking about what the real problems are. He’s not facing the fact his gang unit failing, that the graduation rate in Chicago Public Schools is about 50 percent. He never mentions the economic problems,” said Pearson.

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Heh! Chicago Has To Pay Up.

June 2, 2011 by 1 Comment

After the City of Chicago lost McDonald et al v. City of Chicago et al in the Supreme Court, they changed their gun ban ordinances. Because of this, they argued that the plaintiffs were not “prevailing parties” and thus weren’t entitled to attorneys’ fees. U.S. District Court Judge Milton Shadur agreed with them and denied Alan Gura and the attorneys for the National Rifle Association the attorneys’ fees that should have been due them.

Today, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision overturning Judge Shadur and ordering “reasonable attorneys’ fees under §1988.” This decision applied both to the McDonald case and the cases brought by the NRA against the City of  Chicago and the Village of Oak Park, Illinois.

The Court of Appeals noted that Judge Shadur was correct in that the plaintiffs didn’t receive a favorable judgment from the District Court. However, they continued:

But they did better: They won in the Supreme Court, which entered a judgment in their favor. When the Supreme Court rendered its decision, the controversy was live.

The Court goes on to add noting that Chicago and Oak Park changed their ordinances in response to the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision:

Many a defendant gives up after a district court’s final decision and does not appeal; some other parties settle to avoid the risk of reversal. If a cessation of hostilities after a district court’s decision does not deprive the victor of prevailing party status, why should conceding defeat after a decision by the Supreme Court do so?

The attorneys for Chicago and Oak Park argued that the decision in McDonald only addressed a “preliminary legal issue” and didn’t resolve the plaintiff’s claims against the municipalities. Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook writing for the Court of Appeals didn’t think much of that argument.

After the Supreme Court held that the second amendment applies to the municipalities’ ordinances, defendants’ position was untenable; neither Chicago nor Oak Park contends that the ordinance in force in 2008 could have been sustained under Heller’s substantive standards. This litigation was over except for the entry of an injunction by the district court. Chicago and Oak Park capitulated, which made the exercise unnecessary. By the time defendants bowed to the inevitable, plaintiffs had in hand a judgment of the Supreme Court that gave them everything they needed. If a favorable decision of the Supreme Court does not count as “the necessary judicial imprimatur” on the plaintiffs’ position (Buckhannon, 532 U.S. at 605), what would?

According to his Twitter feed, Alan Gura just happened to be in Chicago today. He notes it is a beautiful day. Indeed it is and it is good to see that the City of Chicago is going to have to shell out the big bucks for their obstinacy as well they should.

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Unpossible!

May 10, 2011 by

The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that an Uptown man was arrrested yesterday after he made “unspecified threats” to the Willis Tower.

..investigators found 20 guns, several pounds of gunpowder and two grenades in his apartment.

But later Monday, police said that “there was no overt threat made,” and that the 60-year-old renter had been taken a facility for a mental evaluation.

Guns? Grenades? Being as this happened in the Daley-run City of Chicago, the only word that comes to mind is unpossible!

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SAF and Alan Gura Go After Chicago….Again

August 16, 2010 by

From the Second Amendment Foundation announcing their lawsuit against the City of Chicago for banning gun ranges:

SAF SUES CHICAGO OVER GUN RANGE PROHIBITION ON 1A, 2A GROUNDS

For Immediate Release: 8/16/2010

CHICAGO, IL – The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today filed a lawsuit in federal court against the City of Chicago’s new gun ordinance, asserting that “by banning gun ranges open to the public…under color of law,” the city is depriving citizens of their right to keep and bear arms in violation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Joining SAF in this lawsuit are the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), Action Target, Inc., and three individual plaintiffs including a retired Chicago police detective. They are represented by attorneys Alan Gura of Virginia and David Sigale of Chicago, who teamed up with SAF and ISRA on the landmark case of McDonald v. City of Chicago, which incorporated the Second Amendment to the states, effectively striking down Chicago’s 28-year-old handgun ban.

“While the city has adopted new regulations that make it legal to own handguns,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “they have crafted this new ordinance to make it virtually impossible for prospective gun owners to meet all legal requirements unless they travel outside the city for mandatory training. The new ordinance prohibits public gun ranges inside the city yet the city demands that handgun owners get at least one hour of range training time.

“This is a ‘Catch-22’ scenario,” he continued, “that seems deliberately designed to discourage Chicago residents from exercising their firearm civil rights barely two months after those rights were restored by the Supreme Court.”

Individual plaintiffs are Rhonda Ezell, a victim of three attempted burglaries who has disabilities making it difficult for her to travel outside the city; Joseph Brown, a WWII U.S. Army veteran who was among the liberators of the infamous Dachau concentration camp, and William Hespen, a retired police detective, all of whom must qualify for Chicago Firearms Permits.

Action Target, a Utah-based company, builds shooting ranges and manufactures gun range equipment and supplies. It has a long history of providing gun safety equipment and training, and has previously built law enforcement shooting ranges in Chicago. However, Action Target is prohibited from building a public target range within the city’s limits under the restrictions of the new gun ordinance.

Randy Graham, vice president of Action Target, said, “We believe that citizens have a constitutional right to use and train with firearms in a safe and controlled environment. As a leader in the firearms training industry, Action Target is committed to standing up for these rights.”

“By banning public gun ranges,” Gottlieb said, “and by banning the loan and rental of firearms at such ranges, Chicago is acting under color of law to deprive citizens of their right to keep and bear arms, and to conveniently receive the education required under the ordinance that is necessary to obtain a Chicago Firearms Permit. The city is violating both the Second and First amendments, and we are asking the court to put an end to this nonsense.”

UPDATE: Embedded below is the complaint in Ezell et al v. City of Chicago.

Ezell et al v. Chicago – Complaint

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Violence in Chicago – Why It Continues

July 24, 2010 by

The Chicago Sun-Times ran a very interesting investigative piece today. Entitled “Why they won’t stop shooting in Chicago”, it examines the aftermath of an April 2008 weekend in Chicago where 40 people were shot, seven fatally.

So what has happened to the shooters in the two years since that weekend? Nothing.

So far, not one accused shooter has been convicted of pulling the trigger during those deadly 59 hours from April 18-20 of that year, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

Only one suspected triggerman — a convicted armed robber caught with the AK-47 he allegedly used to blow away his boss — is in jail awaiting trial.

 Six of the seven murders remain unsolved. In three other cases, the victims know who shot them but won’t testify against the shooter. They don’t want to get labeled a snitch or rat in the neighborhood.

Last year Chicago PD detectives cleared 18% of the outstanding non-fatal shootings from 2009. However, almost half were due to “exceptional” circumstances. Exceptional means that the victim won’t testify, the prosecutors don’t want to go to trial on the evidence, or, if luck would have it, the shooter is dead. This means that about 91% of the shooters during 2009 were never charged with a crime.

“The certainty of punishment is very, very low in Chicago, and that’s going to embolden people,” said defense attorney Thomas Needham, who was a top legal adviser to former police Supt. Terry Hillard. “It’s going to lead to less fear by the people who are going to consider shooting. That’s very alarming.”

Part of the problem is that the victims are not choir boys and may have criminal records themselves. Police and prosecutors acknowledge that this makes their case in court tougher. Also, as some privately told the reporters, the police and prosecutors work harder for innocent victims than for those that have been involved in past criminal activity.

While Mayor Daley continues to mouth off about the violence being due to guns, the reality is that most criminals know they can get away with shooting someone in Chicago. If victims won’t testify, police don’t investigate, and the State’s Attorney avoid prosecutions, the shooters walk. And as long as that continues to go on, the violence will continue. Only when their is certainty of punishment will it start to abate.

I suggest reading the whole article to get the victim’s full stories.

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Chicago’s List of “Unsafe” Handguns

July 14, 2010 by 7 Comments

The City of Chicago has released it roster of “unsafe” (sic) handguns. You can download the PDF here.

My first impression after reading the list is that they really scrounged hard to find some of those manufacturers. I would estimate that I didn’t recognize the name of about 90% of them.

They had some of the obvious choices given the demonization of anything made by Lorcin, Davis, Jimenez, or Bryco Arms by the anti-gun lobby.

They also banned everything from F.I.E. and Hi-Point. Now I may not want a Hi-Point and they get some grief in gun circles but I don’t think they are particularly unsafe. As to F.I.E.being on the list, this would mean my Tanfoglio-made F.I.E. TZ-75 9mm is banned. Obviously not much thought went into that choice as it is a solid, well made pistol.

Derringers are out. Michael Bane is going to be pissed at them that they dissed his Bond Arms derringers! Anything with a spur trigger or a sheathed trigger is out – not that you usually see these outside of collections of early pistols for the most part.

I am incredulous that they included the Walther P22, the SIG Mosquito, and anything by Whitney such as the Wolverine on the list as “unsafe”. WTF?

And, finally, in a swipe at Wile E. Coyote, they banned anything and everything by Acme and Acme Arms.

UPDATE:  A reader on SayUncle notes that the Unique DES-69U is not a cheap handgun. The Canadians include the DES-69U on a list specifically exempted from classification as “unsafe”. Why? Because it is used in Olympic shooting and it is on a list of firearms provided to them by USA Shooting. I guess that isn’t good enough for Chicago.

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In Chicago – “We Want to Know Who Has Weapons”

July 13, 2010 by 3 Comments

The new Chicago gun ordinance went into effect yesterday and dozens flocked to Police Headquarters to pick up the registration forms according to the Sun-Times.

At a new conference, Jody Weis, Chicago Police Superintendent, said:

We want to know who has weapons so that first responders can be aware of that information before they enter a home.

I guess Supt. Weis is ignorant of the fact that under Illinois law all gun owners are required to have a Firearms Owner ID card – the FOID Card. One would think that since this info is held by the State Police that all other police agencies would have access to the info as well.

The new ordinance mandates processing in 120 days but other reports suggest it will take 5 1/2 months before the first handgun registration is finally processed. The Chicago PD has the forms and the law on their web site where they refer to it as the “Responsible Gun Ownership Ordinance”. They suggest you just download the forms instead of coming to the Police Headquarters. Under no circumstances, they say, should you show up with your firearm.

Supt. Weis also said about the new law at the news conference:

The ordinance bars people from buying more than one handgun a month. Weis said there’s no restriction on spouses or relatives of felons buying guns and keeping them in the house where a felon resides.

But the city’s ordinance doesn’t allow residents to carry handguns outside their homes. That includes garages and porches, Weis noted.

I won’t even comment on the garages and porches not being part of a home but you would think that the Police Superintendent, a former FBI Special Agent, should know a little bit about Federal law. If a felon’s spouse or relative has a gun in the same house where the felon resides, the felon would be considered in constructive possession of a firearm and liable to charged under Federal firearms law. Remember, ignorance of the law is no excuse for you but is OK for the cops.