Chicago’s “Godfather” Goes after Guns

Townhall.com ^ | January 10, 2013 | Bob Barr

[Kaslin]

Chicago is known for good steaks, expensive stores and beautiful architecture. Unfortunately, the Windy City also enjoys a reputation for corrupt politics, violent crime, and some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere in the country. To rational people, the inverse relationship between the last two is obvious. Unfortunately for residents of and visitors to Chicago, the city is governed by officials who operate not in the real world, but in a virtual “Bizarro World,” where up is down, black is white, and good guys are to be punished.

In this strange environment, current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (who served presidents Clinton and Obama as a trusted advisor) believes the best way to enable citizens to protect themselves from rampant gun violence, is to take away their ability to defend themselves – in other words, disarm law-abiding citizen-victims.

Predictably, under the “Godfather” (as Emanuel is often tabbed by the media) Chicago has descended to historically high levels of violence; turning areas of the city into virtual war zones for residents and visitors alike.

The murder rate in Chicago -- 500 homicides just last year -- easily exceeded the death toll in 2012 for US personnel serving in the war zone of Afghanistan. Even that war’s bloodiest year, in which 499 American military lost their lives, could not match Chicago’s recent, depressingly high murder count.

Rather than consider last month’s mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut a lesson in what happens when an unarmed populace is confronted with a deranged, gun-wielding criminal, Emanuel – who famously once said, “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste” —used the tragedy to renew his calls for even more limits on law-abiding citizens’ ability to defend themselves.

Hizzoner began by begging the Illinois General Assembly to move swiftly to ban all so-called “assault weapons.” Speaking at a recent graduation ceremony for Chicago Police Officers Emanuel opined, “it is time to have that vote” in Springfield and in Washington, DC. Democrat lawmakers in Springfield quickly fell in line. As reported by the NRA, legislation proposed last week would impose “sweeping semi-automatic and magazine bans,” in addition to “requiring registration of firearms and magazines, and crippling shooting ranges through onerous restrictions.”

Fortunately, for Chicago’s beleaguered citizens, Democrats failed to muster the votes in either the state House or Senate, and the Emanuel-supported legislation died -- for now.

The better news out of Illinois, however, is that the federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued an opinion authored by well-known judge Richard Posner, striking down as unconstitutional the state’s draconian ban on private carry of firearms.

Posner’s well-researched, logic-based Seventh Circuit opinion noted that, “[a] blanket prohibition on carrying [a] gun in public prevents a person from defending himself anywhere except inside his home.” The jurist went on to scold the Illinois legislature for preventing citizens from being able to defend themselves on the mean streets of cities like Chicago, in the absence of an overriding justification which he concluded clearly was not present as a basis for the existing ban.

Preventing law-abiding citizens from possessing firearms to protect themselves from criminals as roam the streets of Chicago may satisfy a political agenda such as Emanuel’s. In reality, however, such measures draw attention away from the real causes of violent criminal activity; at the same time blunting the process of finding solutions to those problems -- gang activity, drug usage, mental health issues, and culture-fueled violence.

As Posner aptly stated, laws are not meant to be psychological safety blankets for politicians. If government is to limit a constitutionally-protected right in the name of public safety, overriding empirical -- not hypothetical -- evidence must be shown to justify that loss of liberty. Chicago’s violent crime speaks volumes to the ineffectiveness of gun control. As such, gun legislation that reduces the right to keep and bear arms is nothing more than a red herring.

At best, overzealous gun control adds unnecessary burdens to purchasing and owning firearms for law-abiding citizens. At its worst, as we see clearly in Chicago, gun control reduces law-abiding citizens to cold crime statistics. Hopefully Posner’s decision, which he stayed for 180 days, will stand and override the shibboleth of gun control that is the Holy Grail of liberal politicians from Chicago to New York and from Washington, DC to San Francisco.

[RangerM]

Perhaps he can start gagging people as they enter a crowded theater, so they can’t yell “Fire”.

[ScottinVA]

The ballerina in Chicago, just like the prima donna in the White House can try to ban all they want, but they are going to find many millions of Americans will not obey.

[whatexit]

Bravo!

[MNGal]

How have the anti-gun laws in Chicago been working so far to prevent violence? These people are either delusional, or very disingenuous.

[GP100]

How have the anti-gun laws in Chicago been working so far to prevent violence? These people are either delusional, or very disingenuous.”

And dishonest. It’s all about protecting his electorate - the criminals and illegals.

[Joe 6-pack]

Here’s hoping Armalite pulls up their tent pegs and heads south to Louisiana....

[I want the USA back]

The left deliberately and intentionally leaves guns in the hands of violent criminals, and seeks to take them from honest, law-abiding non-violent citizens.

This is to allow the “downtrodden underclass oppressed” to waltz right in and take whatever they want from the “oppressors.”

[junta]

It should be stated that the murders in Chicago are 95% committed by black or hispanic perps of this the vast majority are in some way related to gangs who already deal in contraband. So I’m sure the cartels are already putting their MBAs on to the “business” of selling guns and ammo if any stupid citizen disarmament and anti-self defense legislation passes our corrupt political establishment. My WAG the first south of the border full auto AKM will cost about $1000.00 but the price will soon drop to about $500 as rivals flood the market.

[usconservative]

Here's the truth. Chicago is Illinois' largest city. In 2012 there were 506 murders.

Aurora, is Illinois' second largest city. In 2012 there were 0 (ZERO!) murders.

What's the difference between Chicago and Aurora?

Two words: GUN LAWS.

Aurora IL doesn't have Chicago's strict gun control laws.

Aurora also doesn't have the crime and murder problems Chicago has.

Suck on that, "Godfather."

[Terry Mross]

This has nothing to do with lowering the murder rate. This is about taking guns away from the patriots so they can put us in FEMA camps.

[JudgemAll]

Yeah, more like his voting human robots than electorate.

They love these people killing people for no reason in their cities, they do not like informed self defense killers.

[MasterGunner01]

Attention IL Donkeys and other statist lovers of Big Government: If you come to confiscate Americans guns, we will kill you. The American Revolution was started when the British decided to confiscate the colonists arms at Lexington and Concord. The “shot heard around the world” was the result of the gun grabber's screwing the pooch.

[Impy]

You know if I ran up to his excellency with a scowl on my brow I might be shot by his guards, oh the irony.

Did you get a load of the Police Commissioner and his prop machine gun that we certainly wouldn’t need for “squirrel hunting”? Since when is it his place to lobby for policy?

[PhilCollins]

Since a judge ruled that Illinois must allow conceal carry, any politician, who enacts more gun restructions would violate the court. Do you think that those politicians (including Mayor Emanuel and Gov. Quinn) should be arrested?

[Impy]

I would certainly arrest them.

There is about as much a chance of that happening though of as there is of Zooey Deschanel knocking on my door and asking if she can use my shower, and would I mind scrubbing her back for her.

Actually it’s probably less likely than that.

[BillyBoy]

>> Since a judge ruled that Illinois must allow conceal carry, any politician, who enacts more gun restructions would violate the court. <<

Not to worry, the "states rights" freepers have informed me that state legislatures are totally powerless and lost all authority over the citizens of their states ever since "our Republic died" in 1865 or 1913 (they can't make up their minds which date). They have also informed me that Democrat politicians ALWAYS defer to the federal government and believe federal decisions are the best, they would NEVER try to use their authority at the state level to try and defy the feds (all those Dem state legislators fighting the Bush administration tooth-and-nail from 2001-2008 must have been figments of my administration, along with that crazy memory I had of Newt Gingrich being less popular than syphilis when he resigned in Dec. 1998)