Next
month, the Illinois House could revisit House Bill 148, seeking to bring the
state in line with all 49 others with a law giving citizens some form of
concealed possession of a handgun.
The idea
of being able to legally carry a handgun is OK with William Bradley – on the
one hand.
The
68-year-old retiree wants to be able to walk out of the Chatham home where he
and his wife reside, without fear for his personal safety. Right now, he said
he doesn’t have that comfort.
“When I
walk out of my front door right now, I poke my head out my door looking for
somebody standing around, and that’s not the way you should live,” he told the
Defender following a community forum Aug. 31 at WVON-AM headquarters. The forum
was hosted by groups who were outspoken in their support for concealed carry
legislation as a Constitutional right.
Bradley,
like most at the meeting, wants to be able to protect himself against
criminals.
“If I had
a way of protecting myself ... these criminal types would be less inclined to
be stalking around and just walking up on you,” he said.
But on
the other hand, he doesn’t want to see more armed - legally or illegally -
citizens.
State
Rep. Marlow Colvin, D-33rd Dist., heard from Bradley and others who expressed
fear of being out-gunned by criminals and feel that they aren’t protected by
police they called over-worked on a forced stretched thin.
Colvin
voted against HB 148 earlier this year, but in case it comes up again during
the House veto session next month, he said he is dropping in on meetings like
the one at WVON, talking to his constituents and doing his own research. It
could change his vote.
At the
end of October, state Rep. Brandon Phelps could bring the measure for a vote
again, and is reportedly working to garner veto-proof majority support.
Gov. Pat
Quinn previously put lawmakers on notice that he would veto concealed carry
legislation.
The bill,
also known as the Family and Personal Protection Act, would allow 21 and older
Illinoisans who have a valid Firearm Owners Identification Card to pay a $100
fee to obtain a license issued by the state police that allows them to carry a
handgun on them or in their car that is completely or “mostly” concealed from
view. Felons, people with some misdemeanor drug convictions, those with some
driving under the influence convictions, people declared to have mental illness
and others would not qualify for a license, according to the current version of
the bill.
While
opponents cite studies showing that more guns on the street could lead to more
gun violence, backers of concealed carry cite studies that say the opposite is
true.
Colvin
said at the forum that he didn’t support HB 148 because, in its current form,
it is “flawed” legislation. He told the Defender after the meeting at WVON that
the bill could be “great” in some other areas of the state but he is “not sure”
if a law that legally arms some citizens would work in places like Chicago and
Cook County.
“I think
most people see it as a proliferation of guns in Chicago, and they can’t get
beyond that,” Colvin said. “Do I believe flat out will a gun make you safer?
No, I don’t. Not safer. Will it put you in a position to respond to violence?
Perhaps.”
But
Gerald Vernon, one of the panelists at the forum and a representative of the
pro-handgun organization IllinoisCarry.com, offers an emphatic yes.
He is
sure that “realistically, yes, a gun is needed for self-defense.”
Like most
of the vocal proponents of a concealed carry law who were hardly shy about
making their case for allowing “law-abiding citizens” to be strapped, at their
own discretion, Vernon said more than fear of being a defenseless victim of
crime, some Illinoisans should be able to carry a gun because it is “God-given
right that can’t nobody legislate.”
Chicago
has been an anti-handgun metropolis since the 1960s when the City Council
outlawed the sale of handguns within the city limits (1968), and then a decade
later (1982) banned the possession of the firearms.
Last
year, a U.S. Supreme Court decision overruled the city’s handgun ban, saying it
violated the 2nd Amendment which says the “right to bear arms shall not be
infringed.”
One of
the most vocal opponents of concealed carry laws has been former Mayor Richard
Daley. Daley told lawmakers last March that a state concealed carry law would usurp
the responsibilities of local governments. He said any legislation should allow
Chicago to opt out of the law. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also argued against the
legislation.
Colvin’s
colleague in the Illinois House, LaShawn K. Ford, held a town hall meeting the
same night, on the same subject. The West Side meeting drew Rev. Michael
Pfleger, who has marched against guns and violence committed against youth.
“If the
NRA (National Rifle Association) and the gun pushers are serious about
responsible gun ownership, why do they fight us trying to close the loopholes
and title guns just like cars?” Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church
questioned.
“The
answer is because the number one consumer of guns is the criminal and stopping
easy access means making less money. Their motive has always been money at the
cost of our children’s lives.”
Annette
Nance-Holt, who lost her only son Blair to a gunman's bullet in May 2007 on a
Chicago Transit Authority bus, was at the West Side meeting.She does not favor
concealed carry legislation.
Ford told
the Defender that the May vote on HB 148 came up so quickly in the House
that he
didn't have time to sort things out before casting his vote. He voted “present”
then and is now listening to his constituents in case the legislation is
revived.
“This
bill is not easy to decide,” Ford said. “There is a strong force against it and
there's a strong force for it.” He said he has heard the pro-rights groups push
for concealed carry for those groups’ own reasons - mostly due to
Constitutional rights. And he has heard the fears of others that the
legislation would do the opposite of what they want done - get guns off the
street.
But Ford
said the whole to-carry-or-not-to-carry debate is “misfocused.” He said that
gun violence, in general, and especially in urban communities, is a result of
“social injustice” that has put people “in predicaments that they should not be
in in America” in this day and age. Ford said people need jobs and education.
Chinta
Strausberg contributed to this report.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
