only did a quick search on here so if this has been posted before i'm sorry.


The overwhelmingly anti-gun Chicago political machine has historically enjoyed the support of a similarly anti-gun electorate--the gun culture in the city has, for decades, largely been supplanted by the thug culture. Now, though, there are signs of a "sea change" in Chicagoans' attitudes about armed self-defense. This new attitude became particularly apparent after the murder last week of Chicago Police officer Thomas Wortham IV, as reported by CBS Chicago.
The last straw was the death of Chicago Police officer Thomas Wortham IV last week.
That has some African-American families in Chicago considering doing something they never would have done before: carry a pistol.
In Chicago, of course, one cannot legally even buy a pistol to be kept in one's home, much less carry it for self-defense in public. Officer Wortham's murder, I should note, occurred just hours before Chicago Mayor Richard Daley proposed demonstrating the effectiveness ("It's been very effective") of Chicago's handgun ban by putting a bayonet-tipped rifle up a skeptical reporter's butt.
Particularly interesting (and particularly gratifying) is the fact that much of the new impetus for legalized defensive handgun carry in Chicago is coming from the black community--so much for the idea that gun rights advocacy is a "white" issue.
Many Chicagoans have been upset for some time about violence here, but Wortham's murder has touched a raw nerve in the black community.

Now some want to do more than simply call 911 or march for peace in the streets. They want their own gun.
As is the case elsewhere in the U.S., the history of "gun control" in Chicago is rooted in racism. To quote Raymond Benwood:
With passage of the '68 Act another door opened under the color of law, this time in the state of Illinois. Since white liberal racism energized the '68 Act, seeing it as a tool to further their socialist agenda, Mayor Daley Sr. of Chicago used his influence to bring about a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card in Illinois as a response to race riot concerns in Chicago. The FOID card was believed to be a powerful tool, to keep guns out of the hands of certain groups in the state deemed dangerous to Daley.
In the intervening decades, though, advocates of forcible citizen disarmament have largely succeeded in framing their agenda as being for the benefit of blacks and Hispanics, and opposition to that agenda as "racist." Now, perhaps they'll have to explain to black Chicagoans why they must choose between defenselessness and becoming "criminals."
Former legislator and current gun rights lobbyist (with ISRA) Coy Pugh was quoted in the CBS Chicago article:
"In the community that I grew up in, they say it's better for the police to catch me with it than the robber to catch me without it," said Pugh.
While I agree with that as far as it goes, the fact remains that being caught carrying a loaded handgun in Illinois is a felony, with prison time, and a lifetime ban on ever legally so much as touching a firearm. To force people to choose between the danger of facing a murderous thug unarmed, or facing prison, is sheer evil.
With the Supreme Court expected to strike down Chicago's handgun ban next month in McDonald v. City of Chicago, Daley has already announced his intention of replacing the outright ban with the next "best" thing--a de facto, near ban. It's time for the people of Chicago to say "No."

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