Here we go again.
Illinois does elect some seriously low-information legislators.
Republican Tim Bivins is joining that category, along with long-time member Kwame Raoul.
(AP) – A key Illinois senator says legislation allowing public gun possession will carve out an exception for Chicago.
Republican Sen. Tim Bivins says the measure he and Democratic Sen. Kwame Raoul negotiated would allow Cook County authorities to deny a concealed carry permit even if an applicant passes the required background checks.
The former county sheriff from Dixon says the rest of the state would be governed by a so-called “shall issue” law — anyone meeting requirements would get a carry permit.
Bivins says the bill is being written. He says it’s not ideal but gun-rights advocates have to compromise.
A federal court has ordered Illinois to adopt a concealed carry law by June 9.
Bivins, you aren’t very bright are you?
From Moore v. Madigan decision:
Twenty-first century Illinois has no hostile Indians. But a Chicagoan is a good deal more likely to be attacked on a sidewalk in a rough neighborhood than in his apartment on the 35th floor of the Park Tower.
Bivins, are you really so stupid as to think you can suspend constitutional rights based upon the county in which a person resides, particularly after reading this section of the decision striking down Illinois’ prohibition on carry… the same decision that gave the General Assembly 180 days to remedy the unconstitutional prohibition on carry.
Can you imagine not allowing Cook County residents the right to freedom of religion, speech or assembly? Or women or blacks getting the right to vote in Chicago?
This is beyond the pale.
Furthermore Bivins says pro-gun rights activists have to compromise.
Let me let you folks in on something:
We, as pro-gun activists offered up a series of concessions to the bill in exchange for promised votes… increasing the training, limiting reciprocity, adding prohibited locations, upping the fees, etc. etc.
Those promised votes didn’t materialize.
And Bivins says we need to compromise? SORRY, SCHMUCK-O.
The hard-core opponents could only muster 31 votes for their dream “may issue” carry bill. 31 votes.
We got 64 for the “shall issue” bill we weren’t at all happy with but could live with. And we got stiffed by about 8 reps.
Guess who isn’t going to be inclined to bend any further?
Nothing is good enough for some of these folks. Well, unlike dozens of times before, the clock is ticking in our favor.
Let’s see how these same people who voted “no” yesterday appreciate utterly unregulated carry come June 9th.
I’ll be carrying, but then again, I’ve got more hours of training than most cops and I paid for every bit of it. Most folks aren’t going to have all that training. But then again, folks in Indiana don’t need a lick of training to carry and nothing bad or disastrous is happening with their carry licensees. They don’t seem to be appreciably smarter or more mature than Illinoisans.
I think we’ll be okay after June 9th.
But folks better get used to seeing people with guns on their belts.
LASTLY: We need folks to contact their Illinois State Senators coming Monday morning.
SHALL ISSUE FOR THE ENTIRE STATE is the message. Furthermore, a carve-out for Cook County will not satisfy the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision.
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