City Council puts its support behind Concealed Carry(IL)

quincyjournal.com ^ | 22 November, 2011 | Jamie Busen

[marktwain]

The Quincy City Council Monday night passed a non-binding resolution supporting a Concealed Carry handgun law.

It also ratified the Quincy Firefighters Local 63 contract and heard from the president of the Postal Workers Union Local 77 regarding the support for Quincy's processing and distribution facility.

Alderman Mike Rein (R-5) put the resolution before the Council. He said he wanted to get the conversation rolling because it's an important one. Illinois is the only state that doesn't allow Concealed Carry.

After Rein made a motion for his resolution - which mirrors that of the one the County passed in May - Alderman Tony Sassen (R-4) seconded. But Alderman Steve Duesterhaus (R-2) had a few questions for Rein.

Duesterhaus said he didn't have an issue with supporting the resolution - his concern was with the language. The resolution states the Council believes the prohibition is "in direct violation of the Constitution of the United States."

"What support do you have in calling it unconstitutional ... or is there a constitutional scholar that is giving you advice?" he said to Rein. "So that is your opinion?"

Rein replied that it wasn't his opinion - that it was the Second Amendment.

"So the fact that restrictive law is unconstitutional is your opinion, since the (Supreme) court had the opportunity to declare it as such and did not do it ...?" Duesterhaus said. "...That doesn't make it unconstitutional. It just means we don't have it."

He continued that he had no problem "with the fact that we might endorse Concealed Carry, my problem is the language that leads up to it. You are making insinuations I don't agree with." He told Rein he would support the resolution if it was rewritten to take that portion out. Rein made no motion to do so, and a roll call was asked for. Duesterhaus was the lone "no" vote. Alderman Virgil Goehl (D-1) was absent.

The Council heard from Vaughn Harshman, the president of the local postal workers union. In September, the U.S. Postal Service announced they were starting a study in Quincy to see if it made sense to consolidate operations into a plant into Columbia, Missouri. The effect would not only cause a delay in mail, but would displace or lay off around 70 people locally.

The primary reason Quincy didn't lose its facility in 2009 when a similar study was conducted was because the government wasn't changing an overnight delivery standard, which it is now proposing.

"We're trying to get the word out," said Harshman, adding how some people and businesses might be affected. If people are getting medicine mailed, it's important they don't have to wait a couple days ... "and some local businesses that enjoy a certain rate are going to lose that rate and pay more for their postage."

He said the economic impact locally would be "millions of dollars ... and that matters."

There is a public meeting Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the John Wood Community College auditorium on the local study. Quincy Mayor John Spring said he was going to make a presentation, and added Quincy was fortunate to have the support of the area's Congressmen and Senators.

After a brief executive session, the Council unanimously approved the firefighters' contract. Members of Local 63 will receive a 2 percent raise this year, a 2.5 percent raise next year and a 3 percent raise in the third year of the deal. Fire Chief Joe Henning said there were a few other minor language changes in the contract. One was regarding prohibited levels of alcohol content. Any time a firefighter is involved in a crash on company time, their blood alcohol content level is checked. Previously, that number could have been up to .08. Henning said it has been lowered to .02.

In other business, Spring read a proclamation declaring Nov. 26 as "Small Business Saturday." Quincy's downtown businesses are holding special sales this Saturday, their own smaller version of Black Friday.

[marktwain]

It is a good sign that people are discussing the Constitution directly, rather than saying that only the appointed ones on the Supreme Court can tell us what it means.