Free Republic

If right-to-carry concealed carry laws are deemed so dangerous by gun control proponents, letting anyone who is not a criminal carry a gun with no other regulations should be really bad, right? Well, on June 9th, if Illinois hasn't adopted a concealed handgun law by that point in time, it will be legal to carry a concealed handgun in Union county and probably effectively in the rest of the state. The problem for gun control advocates is the same as it is each time that states pass right-to-carry laws: they have made predictions about impending disaster that never occur. In...

30 days to go until Illinois gets unregulated carry! It’s not really Constitutional Carry, which four states enjoy and another (Arkansas) will have later this summer, because local home-rule government units can place restrictions (albeit, probably unconstitutional) and may try to make an arrest of an Illinois gun owner carrying concealed – or otherwise.Of course, if they choose to make an arrest based upon a local ordinance that regulates transportation or possession of a firearm that’s contrary to the Seventh Circuit’s Moore decision striking down the Illinois prohibition on carry outside the home as unconstitutional, they will be risking...

It’s not really Constitutional Carry, which four states enjoy and another (Arkansas) will have later this summer, because local home-rule government units can place restrictions (albeit, probably unconstitutional) and may try to make an arrest of an Illinois gun owner carrying concealed – or otherwise. Of course, if they choose to make an arrest based upon a local ordinance that regulates transportation or possession of a firearm that’s contrary to the Seventh Circuit’s Moore decision striking down the Illinois prohibition on carry outside the home as unconstitutional, they will be risking a 1983 lawsuit for damages. Section 1983 suits deal...

The Second Amendment Foundation has won a permanent injunction against the Warren County, Ill. Housing Authority’s ban on the possession of firearms by residents or guests.The case was filed more than a year ago in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division. Ronald G. Winbigler, a resident of Costello Terrace in Monmouth, is a physically disabled former police officer who wanted to keep a handgun in his residence for personal protection.SAF filed the lawsuit on his behalf, and they were represented by attorney David Sigale, who noted, “People do not lose their Second Amendment rights...

An 18-year-old Aurora man was arrested Friday night before he tried making his way to Syria to join a ‘jihadist militant’ group, federal authorities said. Abdella Ahmad Tounisi was taken into custody without incident late Friday at O’Hare Airport by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force as he attempted to board a flight destined for Istanbul, Turkey, according to the FBI’s Chicago office. Tounisi, a U.S. citizen, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel G. Martin Saturday for allegedly attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He appeared on Saturday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tounisi,...

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take a case challenging New York state's extremely restrictive "may issue" system for designating whose lives are worthy of armed defense. From Fox News: The justices on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a strict New York law that makes it difficult for residents to get a license to carry a concealed handgun in public. The court did not comment in turning away an appeal from five state residents and the Second Amendment Foundation. Their lawsuit also drew support from the National Rifle Association and 20 states. Despite that lack of comment...

OAK PARK, IL, April 17, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Cheryl Chastine hoped to remain anonymous after purchasing George Tiller's former abortion facility in Wichita, Kansas. This morning Eric Scheidler, Jill Stanek, and dozens of pro-life activists assured her quiet Chicago suburb learned about her latest work. “Dr. Chastine's patients have a right to know she has taken on such a significant role in the abortion industry,” say signs erected by the Pro-Life Action League outside her practice, Total Wellness Inc. in Oak Park, Illinois. “I had been hoping not to be mentioned by name,” Chastine told a member of Operation...

Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday that he wants the Illinois attorney general to appeal a federal court ruling that the state's last-in-the-nation concealed carry ban is unconstitutional, a move that would take it before the U.S. Supreme Court. But Attorney General Lisa Madigan said she prefers to wait and see whether lawmakers craft a new law this spring that would allow the concealed carry of weapons, as the federal appeals court ordered them to do.

Illinois gun owners have gotten the shaft for far too long. The Land of Lincoln has long been known as the last state where concealed carry is not allowed, and although that may soon change, it wouldn’t be surprising to see state legislators shuffling their feet. Even though the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the concealed carry ban unconstitutional, the Illinois House of Representatives continues to push anti-gun legislation. In fact, one bill proposing a ban on semi-automatic firearms was approved by the House just this week. On Wednesday, gun owners from across the state gathered in Springfield,...

Steel plant explosion with injuries

(Newser) – Looks like Jesse Jackson Jr. didn't exactly work out a sweetheart plea deal for himself. Prosecutors intend to recommend 46 to 57 months of prison time for the former congressman, along with a fine of between $10,000 and $100,000, Politico reports. As part of the deal, Jackson admits to having conspired with his wife to illegally spend $750,000 in campaign money on such vagaries as fur coats, airplane tickets, a $43,000 Rolex watch, celebrity memorabilia, booze, cigars, and even groceries. Jackson was formally charged today with felonies including conspiracy, reports the Chicago Tribune. His wife, former Chicago...

HIGHLAND • Debi Keeney says she was only trying to save her sister's life when she shot a man who had forced his way into her apartment. She says her sister, Donna Carlyle, 47, was gasping as the man demanded money and put Carlyle in a choke hold after breaking in early this morning. "All I could see was Donna's face going blue, like her life was being choked out of her," Keeney, 55, said in an interview this afternoon. The alleged intruder, 33, is being treated at a local hospital for multiple gunshot wounds and is listed in critical...

We’re pleased to say that we are on Chicago Police SuperNintendo Garry McCarthy’s radar. In fact, we’re under his skin too. He whined at a news conference yesterday for media to quit “adopting the rhetoric of the gun advocates” in writing that Chicago has strict gun laws. His Orwellian comment was about as laughable as his tenure as Chicago’s Police Chief. The Washington Times picked up the story. Police superintendent: ‘Chicago does not have strict gun laws’ Chicago (Washington Times) - Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy implored the press Monday to stop characterizing the city as being strict on guns....

HIGHLAND, IL (KPLR)-Scary moments in Highland, IL Sunday morning after an alleged home invasion led to a shooting. It happened in the 2600 block of Eagle Way around 3:30am. Highland Police say a 33 year-old man was transported to a St. Louis hospital with multiple gunshot wounds after he allegedly forced his way into the apartment of two sisters, assaulting both of them. The sisters are identified as Donna Carlyle, 47, and Debbie Keeney, 55. Keeney had gone out for an overnight cigarette when the suspect forced his way in. She was struck. When the suspect began to choke Carlyle,...

Newark Mayor Cory Booker made a statement on HBO's Real Time Friday that should please gun rights advocates across the fruited plain. Despite being for stronger gun laws, Booker said, "Legal gun buyers are not causing murders in Newark and Chicago and other places" … CORY BOOKER, NEWARK MAYOR (D-N.J.): To me, the data should drive our decision making. So I know, I’m not afraid of people having guns who are law abiding citizens. In the analysis of gun murders and shootings in my city, I could only find one in the entire time I’ve been mayor...The guns that are...

In a candid and honest response to a question at a town hall on February 2nd, 2013, Representative Hunter says that because the Black community has more crime than White communities, they have been historically kept from having guns. Representative Hunter must be given credit for not being sure that the approach has worked. Here is a transcript of that portion of the video. Chicago Town Hall, 3rd Legislative District: At 1:38:35 to 1:39:40, State Representative Ken Duncan, when asked why do 49 states have concealed carry legislation and we don't, says: " The City of Chicago, Historically their opposition...

"I want to see my kids! Bang! Bang!" the man shouted as he stormed into the front office of a South Carolina elementary school and pointed a handgun at a secretary and custodian. Both went limp at the verbal gunshots, and the "shooter," a police officer taking part in a school safety drill, continued his rampage. ... All fell to the floor with bloody, fake wounds.

CHICAGO (CBS) – In Springfield Tuesday afternoon, the first step was taken toward allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons on the streets of Illinois. State Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-Harrisburg) has introduced proposed concealed carry legislation – written with the help of the National Rifle Association – in the Illinois House. The proposal would require background checks gun owners already have to pass to get a Firearm Owner’s Identification card, as well as still-to-be-determined safety course provided by licensed instructors before a person could carry a concealed firearm. Don Mastrianni, the owner of Illinois Gun Works in Elmwood Park, took...

CHICAGO, Illinois, January 25, 2013 - A new Cold War is brewing here in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood and it has nothing to do with the frigid temperature. The apartment building at 832 E. 57th Street was once the Chicago home of a boy who would become a President. No, it’s not Barack Obama of Hawaii. It was at the apartment’s first floor window that a young Ronald Reagan looked out upon the world. But some powerful Chicagoans are planning to demolish Reagan’s historic home. Is it politically motivated? Is Mayor Rahm Emanuel behind the move? Reagan as a child....

CHICAGO (CBS) – A teenage girl–an honor student who had just performed at President Obama’s inaugural–was gunned down Tuesday afternoon in the Kenwood neighborhood, just blocks from the high school she attended.

A white ex-congresswoman with an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association is the front-runner to replace former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in a majority-black Chicagoland district with inner-city neighborhoods wracked by gun violence. At first glance, Debbie Halvorson should have no business winning the Feb. 26 special election. The former Democratic congresswoman was crushed by Jackson in a primary last year. She’s a white Democrat seeking to represent a district in which 54 percent of voters are African-American And she’s an unapologetic Second Amendment backer — with endorsements from the NRA in two of her previous congressional campaigns —...

Authorities say a father acted in self-defense Monday night when he fired one shot, striking his 26-year-old son in the stomach. The incident occurred in the 2800 block of South Pasfield Street shortly before 6 p.m. Sergeant Jim Tapscott of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office said the son showed up at his father’s home intoxicated. He went to the back door of the home and reportedly began yelling obscenities and trying to force his way in. Tapscott said the father repeatedly told him to leave, but he refused. At that point, the father grabbed a small-caliber handgun, Tapscott said. The...

It was a bad Sunday for sponsors of an meeting to create a grassroots chapter of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence at the Glenview, IL Police Station Auditorium failed miserably as supporters of the Constitution and civil rights took part in the event. In the end, unsubstantiated assertions by the gun control advocates were challenged by a boisterous audience. The local newspaper had this to say: Gun Ownership Advocates Intentionally Pack Panel (Glenview Patch) – Gun ownership advocates intentionally packed Sunday’s gun control panel by the New Trier Democrats, as pro-gun advocates — who were encouraged to come from...

Gun Appreciation Day was a big success nationwide. There have been lots of stories on the event, including this one: Rallies across U.S. assail Obama’s proposed gun curbs (Reuters) - Pro-gun activists held “high noon” rallies across the United States on Saturday to defend the right to own firearms that they say is being threatened by President Barack Obama’s gun-control proposals. The U.S. debate over gun control erupted in mid-December after a man armed with an assault rifle killed 20 first-graders and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut – the deadliest of a string of U.S. shooting...

The Catholic Conference of Illinois has welcomed the legislative passage of a measure permitting immigrants who are not present in the United States legally to apply for temporary driver’s licenses. “This legislation will give our immigrant brothers and sisters the training to safely get to church, work and school,” said Robert Gilligan, the conference’s executive director. “All families are safer when every driver is trained, tested, licensed and insured.”

SPRINGFIELD --- The Illinois House today approved a measure to allow illegal immigrants to get temporary driver's licenses, sending it to a supportive Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. The 65-46 vote came after a lengthy debate in which backers and foes laid out their cases. Rep. Dennis Reboletti, R-Elmhurst, cited numerous concerns about public safety. Opponents questioned why fingerprinting isn't part of the legislation. Republican Rep. Randy Ramey of DuPage County said too many issues are left unanswered.

As sheriff of Illinois’ largest county, I am responsible for providing safe roads. We are all safer when every driver is trained, tested, licensed and insured. That is why I support SB957, legislation that requires unlicensed immigrant drivers to obtain Temporary Visitor Driver’s Licenses. Illinois already offers a Temporary Visitor Driver’s License to immigrants with non-work visas. Immigrants are driving every day. They need to get to work, take their children to school, shop at grocery stores or go to church. The TVDLs are visually distinct with a purple background. They are marked on the front that they are not...

Here it the link to a YouTube video showing Chairman Nekritz pulling the "Assault Weapon" ban which would have banned about 60 percent of the guns owned in Illinois: Video Here At the end of the video, you can here someone yell "Death to Tyrants", or something pretty close!

Illinois lawmakers advanced legislation this week that would ban military-caliber guns as well as magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. The moves came in response to the Newtown massacre—and to the end of another bloody year in the streets of Chicago. They also highlighted the fact that Illinois is the center of our nation's confusing and contradictory approach to guns. Consider: 1. Chicago shows that tough laws and rhetoric alone won't stop gun violence. Chicago already has the most restrictive firearm laws in the country: handgun owners must undergo three background checks, take a training class, practice...

An Illinois Senate Committee banned semiautomatic assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. KMOV reported An Illinois Senate committee, in a party-line vote, has approved restrictions on semiautomatic assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. One measure would ban the sale of semiautomatic handguns and rifles. People who currently own such weapons could keep them, but would have to register them. The second proposal would limit ammunition magazines to 10 or fewer rounds. Sen. Dan Kotowski, the bill’s sponsor, says he wants to concentrate on the high-capacity magazines because they make assault weapons more lethal. Democrats are pushing the gun restrictions in...

If you own a semi-automatic firearm or detachable magazine, they may be banned, taxed, and registered and you could easily become a felon unless you act NOW Anti-gun legislators led by Senate President John Cullerton and backed by Governor Patrick Quinn (D) substituted and passed sweeping draconian gun and magazine bans in the Senate Public Health Committee today. House Bill 1263, amended to include a ban on many commonly owned firearms passed in this committee by a 6 to 4 vote. House Bill 815, which was amended to include a magazine ban and shooting range restrictions, passed by a 6...

And call again in a few hours. Melt the phone lines. Do it now. It’s URGENT. It’s a very dynamic time in the Illinois General Assembly and the dynamic is swinging against gun owners’ rights. This is why you MUST call right now on these new bills which would ban modern firearms, magazines and regulate shooting ranges out of existence. The NRA’s point-man in Springfield, Todd Vandermyde says it may be as high as a 50-50 chance that one or more of these anti-gun bills may be rammed through. Senator John Cullerton, the president of the Illinois Senate, feels the...

EVANSVILLE — A 79-year-old Evansville man shot and killed a 19-year-old who was attacking his granddaughter, Evansville Police said in a news release. Davon Obryant Gee was pronounced dead at a home in the 500 block of South Denby Avenue on Sunday night, according to the Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office. The name of man who shot and killed Gee has not been released by police because the man has not been charged with a crime, according to city police officials. Police said Gee got into an argument with a 17-year-old girl at the Denby Avenue home on Sunday evening. Gee...

One of the most fascinating characteristics of government borrowing - whether at the local, state, or federal level - is that debts contracted over time are obligations tied to specific geographical boundaries but not to the citizens living there when those debts were incurred. For example, while it's customary to say that each of the 210,000 residents of Stockton, California, are on the hook for their share of the bankrupt municipality's estimated $700 million in unpaid bills, the day one of them picks up and moves, personal responsibility for that debt drops to zero.

The cesspool known as Chicago probably has the toughest gun laws in the country, yet despite all the shootings, murders, and bloodshed, you never hear a peep about this from the corrupt state run media. In Chicago, there have been 446 school age children shot in leftist utopia run by Rahm Emanuel and that produced Obama, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, etc. 62 school aged children have actually been killed by crazed nuts in Chicago so far this year with almost two weeks to go. So why isn’t this news worthy? Is it because it would embarrass those anti second amendment...

CHICAGO (CBS) — A homeowner shot an intruder in his home in unincorporated DuPage County near Naperville on Tuesday, but the suspect was able to get away. A school in the area was briefly on lockdown after the shooting. The incident happened on Woodcrest Drive in the Steeple Run subdivision. CBS 2′s Suzanne Le Mignot reports, Tuesday morning, homeowner Richard Niemiec fired his 9mm handgun at least eight times at a burglar standing at his back door, after being roused out of bed by his dog.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' public pension funding problems, likely to persist if not worsen, led Moody's Investors Service on Thursday to revise the state's credit outlook to negative from stable, putting more pressure on state lawmakers to act. Illinois' finances are buckling under a $96.8 billion unfunded pension liability while Governor Pat Quinn and various state lawmakers are pushing to get various reform measures passed by the legislature in early January. But Moody's, which affirmed Illinois' A2 rating, said the passage of any reforms stands a good chance of being challenged in court on the basis of strong state constitutional...

Two states, two takes: Even as Illinois officials are lamenting a court order requiring them to let state residents carry concealed weapons, Florida officials are boasting about just how many hundreds of thousands of state residents are carrying concealed weapons. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam happily announced Wednesday that some time next week, Florida would become the first state with more than 1 million residents holding "active" concealed-carry permits. That's proof, said Putnam — whose agency administers the permit program — of Florida's "strong tradition in upholding Second Amendment rights." As Putnam spoke at a news conference Wednesday, anguished officials...

New details are emerging on a former Illinois state senator and treasurer for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading of Playboy Enterprises stocks based on information he obtained from his wife, Daily Finance reported yesterday, citing transcripts obtained by Bloomberg News related to charges initially announced in August, 2011. William Marovitz, now separated from former Playboy CEO and “progressive” activist Christie Hefner, “was secretly trading Playboy stock based on inside information he gleaned from their relationship,” the report claims, gaining profits and avoiding losses using personal brokerage accounts, allegedly...

Mary Shepard had concealed carry permits from two states — but no gun — when a robber broke into the First Baptist Church in Anna, Ill., south of Carbondale, one September afternoon in 2009. He beat Shepard, the 69-year-old congregation secretary-treasurer, and another woman nearly to death. The attacker went to prison. Shepard, joined by the Illinois State Rifle Association, went to court. U.S. District Judge William D. Stiehl, based in East St. Louis, rejected her attempt to nullify the Illinois law against carrying guns, finding that “bearing of a firearm outside the home is not a core right protected...

It really boils down to a difference in perceptions. On the one hand, "gun control" fetishists gleefully dance in the blood of victims and exploit the murder of innocents to further their own, personal, unjust, totalitarian, anti-Constitutional dreams, as documented in the image to the right. (Highlights added to really bring out the crazy in those cultists’ eyes.) On the other hand, we quite cheerfully and respectfully celebrate the lawful, peaceful defense of civil rights and the restoration of the same to an entire state of people for whom certain aspects of the United States Constitution might as well have...

Monday's U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling striking down Illinois' outright ban of defensive firearm carry received support from a perhaps unexpected direction. Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins, chairman of the Chicago City Council black caucus, sees legal defensive firearm carry as a safety measure for peaceable citizens, according to the Chicago Tribune: Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, chairman of the City Council black caucus, welcomed the decision, saying allowing Chicagoans to carry concealed weapons would help level the playing field in neighborhoods where law-abiding citizens feel like they need firearms to protect themselves. "Certain people will have a sense of...

A law being crafted by the Illinois state legislature in Springfield to comply with Tuesday’s order from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals will result in a “shall issue” gun carrying permit, one of the foremost scholars, law professors, authors and attorneys on Second Amendment issues believes. David B. Kopel, who was cited in both the majority and dissenting opinions in Moore vs. Madigan, shared that opinion with Gun Rights Examiner this morning in response to an inquiry about the type of permitting gun owners can expect. Illinois is the only state that currently provides no options for bearing arms...

With a federal court ruling Tuesday possibly paving the way for those in Illinois to carry concealed weapons, some suburban officials are pushing to overturn the decision while others are now figuring out how a new law would work. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday in a 2-1 opinion that state lawmakers have 180 days to write a new law that legalizes concealed carry in Illinois. State Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican, called the ruling “historic” and said now the sides have to negotiate what kinds of fees, training and restrictions a concealed carry law in Illinois...

One of the highlights of the just-completed veto session in the Illinois General Assembly was when lawmakers overrode Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of a bill regarding mail order sales of ammunition. The Legislature’s action was significant because it prevented the governor from overstepping his constitutional powers by trying to rewrite a piece of legislation to the point of changing its intent completely. Earlier this year, the Illinois House and Senate passed Senate Bill 681, which was written to address a quirk in state law regarding mail-order sales of ammo. Current state law allows individuals to purchase ammunition through the...

Democratic state Senate President John Cullerton on Sunday continued his push for legislation that would give a special driver's license to illegal immigrants. Cullerton told congregants at a packed Spanish-language service at St. Pius V Church in Pilsen that though the bill sailed through the Senate, he would need their help to get it through the House. "The reason why we need to pass this legislation is not just so that illegal immigrants can drive, but also so that everyone will be safe," said Cullerton, whose talk was translated into Spanish. "I hope you can continue to encourage your legislators...

I am dealing with a woman who is willing to falsely accuse me of harassment and being a threat to abuse my children. She has used denying visitation of the children against me, and is doing so now by filing an Order of Protection based on false allegations, which denies me visitation until our court date later in December. My current attorney, who was also my divorce attorney, is very passive. He has talked down any ideas I have come up with, and when I push for better advocacy from him, he is quick to mention that he will require...

As an illegal immigrant, Jorge Mariscal waited eight years for a kidney transplant he feared would never come. His persistence paid off Thursday when he underwent the procedure at Loyola University Medical Center. After years of uncertainties, Mariscal said he's excited about his future and grateful for the help he received. But he remains frustrated with a health care system that he worries might leave out an untold number of illegal immigrants in need of lifesaving treatments. "Why can't we be treated the same?" he asked while sitting in his hospital room. "Health care should be a human right, not...

The security company employing state Sen. Donne Trotter has been paid more than $350,000 as a subcontractor on a City of Chicago security deal and is represented by a politically powerful lobbying firm run by a onetime top aide to former Mayor Richard M. Daley. When Trotter was arrested Wednesday at O’Hare Airport for allegedly having a weapon in his belongings, he told police he left the pistol in a bag after working at AllPoints Security. --------------------------cut------------------------ Several people who work with Trotter in Springfield said privately they were not aware that he carried a weapon, nor that he held...

COOK COUNTY COURTHOUSE - State Sen. Donne Trotter was packing an illegal handgun in his carry-on when he got pinched at an O’Hare Airport checkpoint, prosecutors said at a Thursday bond hearing. Trotter’s bail was set at $25,000 on felony charges that he tried to board a plane with an unloaded .25-caliber Beretta. He also allegedly carried an ammunition clip loaded with bullets. Trotter, D-Chicago, who last week announced he would seek the congressional seat vacated by former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., appeared in court wearing the same brown suit he was arrested in Wednesday as he attempted to board...