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West Side Democrat says he’s leaning in favor of concealed carry

Thursday, Sep 8, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mark Brown reports that Rep. La Shawn Ford might vote for a bill legalizing the concealed carrying of firearms next time around…

A West Side state legislator with a predominately African-American constituency says he is leaning toward breaking ranks with his fellow Chicago lawmakers to support allowing individuals to carry concealed weapons in Illinois.

Rep. La Shawn Ford, a third-term Democrat, told me he is prepared to become the first black legislator from the city to vote for a concealed carry law — if sponsors of the bill will add a provision requiring the National Rifle Association to pay for sensitivity training for police officers.

Ford, who hosted a spirited town hall meeting last week at which supporters and opponents debated the advisability of a such a law, said he believes a majority of his constituents want the right to own a gun.

“Black people want guns, and I know that sounds bad…,” Ford said.

“They’re saying we’re making criminals out of law-abiding citizens,” he said. “They’re saying you’re only siding with the criminals because the criminals could care less about the law.”

Some of them are saying that, and some are saying what I saw one woman tell him in a YouTube video of the meeting: “We put more guns on the street we’re going to have a bigger problem.”

The NRA thought they had at least one African-American vote the last time the issue made it to the House floor. But she either flipped or the NRA got it wrong to begin with. Nobody ever truly figured out what happened.

Rep. Ford voted “Present” on that earlier roll call.

* The Austin Weekly News was also at the Ford event…

Annette Nance-Holt was in the minority.

The mother of a slain 16-year-old teen, Nance-Holt was among a handful of people last week speaking out against carrying a concealed handgun during a West Side town hall meeting. She lost her son, Blair, to gun violence in May 2007 when a teen fired shots into a crowded CTA bus. Blair Holt was killed while four others were wounded. At an Aug. 31, town hall hosted by state Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-8), Nance-Holt said greater access to guns does not equal increased safety.

“Had everyone had a gun on the bus that day, there would have been a whole lot more people dead besides my son,” she said. “So I understand that people are scared…but I lost everything, and I still don’t want a gun.”

The meeting drew more than 200 attendees to an Austin banquet facility at 4630 W. Augusta. The majority there supported carrying a concealed firearm for self-protection. While the discussions were heated, the event remained civil between panelists and the audience.

* All those pro-gun Chicagoans who pay NRA dues are a big reason why the group has refused to accept this compromise…

[GOP state Sen. Sue Rezin] said one plan being considered is exempting the Chicago area, or perhaps Cook County, entirely from any concealed carry legislation.

“This might be our best shot as seeing such a bill passed,” she said.

State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, agreed.

“I also think the best thing we could do is not make the new law stronger than existing home rule city ordinances,” he said. “Any concealed carry law would be easier to pass that way. I believe that might very well happen.”

* Meanwhile…

If a Pittsfield chiropractor gets his way, his neighbors will be allowed to be armed in public.

Dan Mefford is spearheading a petition drive to have an initiative addressing the weapons issue placed on the March primary ballot.

“The initiative essentially bypasses the Chicago Machine that is currently ruling Illinois,” Mefford said. “I recommend that each county in Illinois get on board and pass the same gutsy version for the constitutional carry of arms.”

An initiative is a process that enables a specified number of voters by petition to propose a law and submit it to voters in a general election.

Still, there are hurdles to clear before carrying weapons in Pike County is legal.

If the initiative makes the ballot and passes, Mefford said the courts will decide if it is constitutional.

That’s rich. The state specifically outlaws concealed carry…

A person commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons when he knowingly… Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person except when on his land or in his own abode, legal dwelling, or fixed place of business, or on the land or in the legal dwelling of another person as an invitee with that person’s permission, any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm

* Pike County cannot just override state law via local referendum. And the federal courts have not been kind lately to attempts to broaden gun rights with lawsuits…

The Second Amendment’s “right to keep and bear arms” is proving to be a right to keep a gun at home, but so far not a right to bear a loaded firearm in public.

The Supreme Court breathed new life into the amendment when it struck down strict handgun bans in Washington and Chicago and spoke of the “inherent right of self-defense.”

But to the dismay of gun rights advocates, judges in recent months have read those decisions narrowly and rejected claims from those who said they had a constitutional right to carry a loaded gun on their person or in their car. Instead, these judges from California to Maryland have said the “core right” to a gun is limited to the home.

* A New York federal court is the most recent…

New Yorkers do not have a constitutional right to carry a concealed handgun in public, a federal judge ruled yesterday.

In a case brought by four New Yorkers challenging the denial of “concealed carry” gun permits by four state judges, Southern District Judge Cathy Seibel said she found persuasive the reasoning of the Illinois’ Court of Appeals in People v. Marin, 795 N.E.2d 958 (2003), that the overriding purpose of gun statutes should be to prevent innocent people from being victimized by gun violence.

As such, Judge Seibel ruled, that granting licenses to carry concealed firearms is a matter of discretion to be decided by state authorities and is not a right.

The US Supreme Court will undoubtedly have to get involved here.

* As always with this issue, take a deep breath before commenting. This topic always brings out the hothead in people. No bumper-sticker slogans, either. Keep your prepared talking points to yourself. We’ve heard it all before, so you don’t need to tell us again.

* Related…

* VIDEO: West Side Chicago Town Hall meeting for Concealed Carry part 1 of 3

* VIDEO: West Side Chicago Town Hall meeting for Concealed Carry part 2 of 3

* VIDEO: West Side Chicago Town Hall meeting for Concealed Carry part 3 of 3

* Kenn Blanchard Preaching Both God & Guns In Chicago Sept 10th

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So, what’s he up to?

Wednesday, Sep 7, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

* There are lots and lots of theories about what Gov. Pat Quinn is “really” up to with his threat to close facilities and lay off thousands of state workers. This is the governor’s explanation…

“Our state won’t have enough money to get through the fiscal year, so we have to make reductions,” Quinn said. “I’m prepared to do what has to be done.”

That’s not a new concept. Senate President John Cullerton has been warning about the inadequacies of this budget for months…

“(T)he Senate president has warned for months that there are shortcomings in the current budget that will need to be addressed either during the fall session or early next year,” a statement noted.

And Sen. Gary Forby admitted the GA voted for a flawed plan…

“I knew the money would be short,” Forby said. “We passed a flawed budget.”

But not all Senate Democrats are sending the same message…

Sen. John Sullivan, a member of the Democratic leadership team, denied Quinn’s claim that legislators have given him no choice but to make deep cuts.

“We did not pass the budget with the assumption that it would require layoffs and closures, that’s for certain,” said Sullivan, D-Rushville.

* And not everybody is convinced that Quinn’s threats are completely real. The governor’s credibility being what it is, many have their doubts. For instance…

“That number, I’m sure, is inflated for dramatic affect by the governor,” said State Sen. Matt Murphy (R-Palatine). “What he may be trying to do here is use political pressure to get more support for his $9 billion borrowing plan, which we think is unconscionable.”

Ouch…

“These latest announcements are in the same spirit of former Governor Blagojevich — float some scary scenarios without many details, then take them off the table before they even get any air,” [Sara Wojcicki, spokeswoman for House Minority Leader Tom Cross] said.

* Sen. Bill Brady laid out why so few trust Quinn’s word…

“Once again, Gov. Quinn is betraying the citizens of Illinois and proving that his word is suspect,” Brady said in a prepared statement. “First, he promises to veto any tax hike that raises the income tax more than 33 percent, and he signs a tax increase double the size. He promises in a campaign deal there will be no layoffs or closure of any state facilities, and now we see that he is going back on that agreement with the state’s largest public sector union. He is using state employees as pawns in this political game.”

* So, now what? Some Republicans are open to using “excess” state revenues to keep the facilities open and prevent layoffs, even though the House Speaker and the House GOP Leader have decreed that those revenues should be targeted at overdue state bills…

[Rep. Jim Watson (R-Jacksonville)] said he might be open to using excess revenue to keep facilities open.

“I don’t have a hard-line thing,” he said.

Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, said Quinn is probably just setting the stage for a vote during the veto session to spend more money.

“He’s right, there isn’t enough money in the budget. I would consider it, but I would want to know what revenue looks like at that point,” Bomke said.

Both of those Republican legislators have lots of state workers in their districts, of course. Democratic state Sen. Mike Jacobs said those districts ought to be targeted…

State Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, suggested that Quinn, a Democrat from Chicago, shutter facilities in districts held by GOP lawmakers.

“I would hope that the governor would look at things like who has supported him on key issues,” Jacobs said.

…Adding… I forgot to post this earlier, but it’s well worth a watch. Sens. Donne Trotter and Kirk Dillard were on Chicago Tonight last night to discuss this topic…

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The AP whitewashes history

Sunday, Sep 4, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Comments opened.]

* The Associated Press is infamous for shortening stories to the point where they lose all meaning. Here’s a prime example for Labor Day…

A northern Illinois city has paid tribute to former factory employees who worked under dangerous conditions.

The Radium Girls memorial honors the women who worked at watch-painting plants for Radium Dial and Luminous Processes in the early 20th century. The women painted glow-in-the-dark watch dials using radium-laced paint. Many died of radium exposure from using their lips to hone their paintbrushes.

* So, why would the women workers be singled out for this honor? Because, as the LaSalle News-Tribune tells us, the company essentially ordered the workers to kill themselves…

Women who worked at Radium Dial applied glow-in-the-dark paint to watch and clock hands and were instructed to lick the brushes to keep the ends pointed for precise painting. It was an instruction that sickened and killed many of Fuller and Mennie’s co-workers.

The female workers were told that licking the brushes would be good for their complexions, even after company officials knew the radium was poisonous…

The Radium Dial and Processes factories were started in 1922. Within three years, company officials learned that radium paint was toxic and threatened the workers — but wouldn’t disclose this.

* This is what happened to the workers…

The women were told that the paint—a mixture of glue, water, and radium powder—was harmless. An instructor once made a show of swallowing some just to prove the point. The girls entertained themselves by playing with the “harmless” paint, decorating their nails and teeth with the luminous mixture.

The radium they were using emits low-energy radiation, which bounces harmlessly off the skin. However, if the material is swallowed, it permanently insinuates itself into the skeleton, where it continues to emit radiation for the rest of the victim’s life, and indeed long after she is dead. Investigators would later measure the radioactivity in the bones of long-dead dial painters to prove that they had been poisoned.

As the dial painters ingested more and more paint, their skeletons crumbled from within. Their teeth fell out, their jaws shattered. They suffered from excruciating bone pain from fractures, crippling anemia as the radiation killed blood-forming cells in their bone marrow, and various cancers.

* And when they fell ill, company doctors deliberately lied to them…

When women started becoming sick, company doctors said they had syphilis, typhus and pneumonia.

* Yet, this practice continued for many, many years. After the local media took notice, the company shut down, then reopened under a different name…

The Ottawa Radium Dial Studio was shut down amid lawsuits in the 1930s, but it re-opened under a new name, Luminous Processes, with some of the same management. Luminous Processes continued to make watch dials with radioactive materials until the 1970s, when it was shut down by nuclear regulators for mishandling tritium.

* The problems remain…

Even after the Radium Dial Co. building was demolished, people took bricks from the site to reuse and desks from the factory were donated to area schools, Sack said, spreading the contamination. [Emphasis added]

* The contaminated factory building was even used as a meat packing plant for decades…

Between 1930 and 1968, the original Radium Dial building was used as a meat packing plant and was later occupied by Farmers Co-op.

* And the cleanup is still not finished…

A contaminated site on the outskirts of town still needs to be remediated, a process that could take up to five years at a cost estimated over $80 million dollars.

More…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study outlining areas where contamination by radium-226 (Ra-226) as well as emissions of radon-222 (Rn-222) are at above normal levels. These areas include homes, public areas, schools, and even a car sales lot that is housed directly over the old Radium Dial Company site.

* The “Radium Girls” case sparked a rise in worker safety and compensation laws throughout the country. It also led to several environmental law changes, both here in Illinois and nationally. It takes a few minutes to get going, but check out a 1987 documentary made about the case…

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