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ComEd trumps guns at town hall meeting

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Illinois

* Last week, the Illinois State Rifle Association urged its members to attend a town hall meeting sponsored by “Anti-gun state Represenative” Karen May. A couple of days later, ISRA sent out another message to its membership headlined: “REP. MAY SEEKS TO SILENCE YOUR VOICE ON THE ISSUE OF CONCEALED CARRY”…

In our earlier alert, we urged supporters of concealed carry to attend Rep. May’s town hall meeting and challenge her on her position against self defense. In response to our alert, Rep. May issued a statement saying that her staff would be checking IDs at the door to the meeting and would deny entry to anyone who did not live in Rep. May’s House District.

Recall that the meeting is being held in the Highland Park Public Safety building – a building most certainly built using state and federal tax dollars – your tax dollars. Therefore, we believe it improper - and possibly illegal - for May to deny any well-behaved person from entering a public meeting in a public building.

Do not let May’s threats deter you! It is now especially important for you to attend Saturday’s public meeting.

* Outsiders were apparently allowed into the meeting, according to a LakeForester reporter who covered the event…

Nearly a dozen attendees, most from outside May’s North Shore district, wore yellow shirts or hats that displayed IGOLD (Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day) decals and messages. Several more gun-rights activists joined members of the Illinois State Rifle Association to help create the standing-room crowd. […]

Evanston resident Blair Garber and Oak Brook’s Jim Nazarowski changed the subject, asking the first two questions about the state’s conceal-carry policy.

Nazarowski told May her opposition is hypocritical based on her thoughtful positions on the other public safety laws she supported. […]

Garber asked May why Illinois wouldn’t be able to manage effectively a conceal-carry law if 49 other states currently have the regulatory framework on the books. The Evanston resident said May’s opposition is actually an extreme position given the national support of conceal and carry. […]

“We are a very different state,” May responded, prompting one of two crowd uproars.

* Another reporter had a different angle…

Public anger at Commonwealth Edison arising from the severe storms on June 21 and 30 thwarted efforts by backers of conceal-carry gun legislation to dominate state Rep. Karen May’s (D-Highland Park) town hall meeting Saturday. […]

Though the gun legislation dominated the early part of the question-and-answer period, as soon as Jane Mordini of Highland Park told the group about her longstanding issues with electric service, interest in a firearms debate subsided.

“I’ve lived in this home in Highland Park for 14 years and it’s an ongoing problem,” Mordini said. “This year I’ve been without power on 17 different occasions. It’s the whole block; it goes out all the time.”

* And it wasn’t just pro-gunners in the audience…

May then talked about the day in 1988 when Laurie Dann walked into schools in Highland Park, Glencoe and Winnetka murdering a fifth grader before taking her own life.

“I believe in gun safety. It goes back to when Laurie Dann, who was a mentally ill young woman, took a gun and went on a shooting spree in park districts, camps and local schools,” May said.

Mazerowski interrupted May to opine if one of the teacher’s at Hubbard Woods Elementary School had a gun on May 20, 1988, Nicholas Corwin would be alive today.

Phyllis McMillan of Northbrook responded before May had a chance: “I was there when Laurie Dann came in to that school and a teacher in that building having a gun could have done nothing.”

* ComEd outages are a serious issue in the Chicago area. Check out these numbers from today…

Severe thunderstorms swept through the Chicago area Monday morning, pelting commuters rushing to get to work and leaving more than 576,000 Commonwealth Edison without power.

The heavy rain, hail and winds have downed wires throughout the city and sent trees into streets.

As of 11 a.m., more than 576,000 ComEd customers were without power after the storms, a spokesman said. The hardest hit region was in the northern suburbs where 253,000 are without power.

At its height, more than 660,000 customers were affected by the outage.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:42 pm

Comments

I despise the idea of people wandering around with guns on their persons, but even I concede there’s no compelling, logical argument against a well thought out conceal carry law.

Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:46 pm
Was there any word on how many of the gun right’s people actually lived in May’s district?

Comment by Ahoy Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:51 pm
The shocking thing was that they were able to find 15 people on the north shore who support gun rights.

Comment by Shore Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:52 pm
=== “We are a very different state,” May responded… ===

Really Rep. May? It must be that in the 49 other states their citizens have the wherewithall to carry, but the citizens of Illinois are special people that cannot be trusted, we must need the government to protect us from our own decisions.

Comment by Just Observing Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:58 pm
==Nazarowski told May her opposition is hypocritical based on her thoughtful positions on the other public safety laws.==

Nazarowski is right. Rep. May does have thoughtful positions on public safety laws and she believes in evidence-based practices.

Regardless of the merits or problems with carrying hidden guns, from my experience her constituents are not the types to like it. It feels uncivilized to them. This kind of approach ambushing a good representative at a town meeting just convinces them further. ISRA is going after the wrong target here, and doing it the wrong way.

Comment by tired of press Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:59 pm
===It must be that in the 49 other states their citizens have the wherewithall to carry===

You should probably look at the details more closely. It ain’t as cut and dried as you make it out to be.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 12:59 pm
ComEd’s poor tree trimming efforts and their aging infrastructure has exacerbated the numerous
residential and commercial outages this spring and summer. Dig into your pockets and shore up the existing infrastructure before you ask ratepayers to ante up for a “smart grid”…you are one of the wealthiest utility companies in the nation…think about your users instead of you shareholders for once Frank and John…

Comment by Loop Lady Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 1:12 pm
Hey JO, take your rhetoric and keep it warm and oiled somewhere else. Anyone who has lived or worked on the north shore in the years surrounding the Lauria Dann rampage knows how those families, those communities, will never be the same.

ISRA ought to know that.

ISRA goofs sneaking into the audience, standing and shouting, are never gonna change the reality in May’s District.

This argument that a teacher with a gun could have stopped Dann is absurd.

Comment by Mongo Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 1:17 pm
Since guns wouldn’t be permitted within the school environment even with concealed carry, the remark about a teacher carrying is both inappropriate and incredibly insensitive.

Comment by Wensicia Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 1:23 pm
“It feels uncivilized to them.”

Yikes T.O.P. That’s about as thinly veiled as it gets.

Comment by Gallery Sitter Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 1:32 pm
Karen May is my State Rep and I am proud of her for not surrendering to gun lobby intimidation. I can tell for sure, her constituents DO NOT want to loosen restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons. And as for keeping non-constituents out of her Library Meeting: it would be no different than the NRA reserving a room for use of its members and preventing non members from attending and participating.

Comment by Bartelby Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 1:42 pm
Anyone who thinks ISRA and NRA care about “appropriate” or “insensitive” or “absurdity” should pay close attention to what happens in other states.

First, there is concealed carry law, with locations that don’t permit concealed carry (schools, churches, bars, sporting arenas, shopping centers).

Second, then there is a hue and cry about such prohibitions being a “violation of one’s rights” … .

Third, there is a demand to let conceal carriers bring their weapons to work.

Fourth, there is legislation to prohibit employers from banning their employees from bringing weapons to work, taking away the property rights of the owner / operator.

Finally, when there is a mass shooting in a place that does not permit “concealed carry” the local affiliate of the NRA says that prohibition guarantees the criminal unarmed victims, and such prohibitions should be eliminated.
http://politicalblogs.startribune.com/bigquestionblog/?p=947

According to people like Nazarowski the two most dangerous places in the US should be Manhattan and Chicago (no death penalty, no concealed carry [nearly all NYC concealed carry is retired cops]). Yet, as Rich has shown here, Miami (concealed carry and death penalty) has a per capita murder rate as high, if not higher, than Chicago. Go figure!

Comment by Smitty Irving Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:03 pm
I grew up in northern Illinois in the ’70’s and ’80’s. ComEd territory. Then I lived in southern Illinois for about 10 years and had other electric companies (depending on where I was). Now I live in Springfield, and have our public company, CIPS. ComEd was by far, hands down, apply what ever cliche suits you, the worst electric company I’ve ever had.

My memories as a child were that any time there was even a moderate storm, our power was out for hours. I also sweated through many a night because it was so expensive my father refused to turn on the air until we were on the verge of death. Once I moved out of the area, I was quite surprised to learn that power outages are not frequent occurrences elsewhere. Even in southern Illinois, where I would expect the infrastructure to be less maintained, only major storms would cause problems. Here in Springfield, where I’ve lived for over ten years, I can probably count outages of more than a few minutes on one hand. And, the public power we enjoy here is not only the most reliable, but it’s also the cheapest I’ve ever had. Really makes one wonder what might also be better handled publically (GASP! Socialism!) rather than privately.

Comment by TwoFeetThick Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:06 pm
Just like with the recent Town Hall meeting with Keith Farnham, pro-CCW atendees were respectful to others and shared the Representatives time with others who have concerns in the district. Nobody went there with the intention to dominate, just to have their voices heard.

As for finding people on the north shore who support gun rights, how quickly we forget about people like Hale DeMar. Hale who?

Comment by Benny Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:10 pm
Oops, CWLP is what we have n Springfield. Had CIPS down south.

Comment by TwoFeetThick Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:29 pm
Some like to dance in the blood of the Laurie Dann tragedy, but several gun laws did not prevent Dann from bringing a gun to school. This simple fact cannot be ignored.

The recent 7th Circuit Ezell v Chicago decision mandates that government bears the burden of showing that its gun control laws greatly enhance public safety such that it is ok to override an individual’s right to defend their lives, and their loved ones lives, with a gun.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:33 pm
- Once I moved out of the area, I was quite surprised to learn that power outages are not frequent occurrences elsewhere. -

This is pretty funny to me. I used to work for Ameren on the gas side, and I participated in some training so I could help out on the electric side during storms. One particularly nasty storm I was working with another guy north of Bloomington around Chenoa, right by the boundary between Ameren and ComEd. Countless people flagged us down to ask when their power would be back on, and many of them asked if there was any way they could switch to ComEd, because their neighbors’ lights up the road a bit were all on.

I’ve lived with both, and with CWLP. The lights go out everywhere, sometimes, and I really don’t think any company has much of an edge on the competition in that respect.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:39 pm
- Once I moved out of the area, I was quite surprised to learn that power outages are not frequent occurrences elsewhere. -

Like STL, I also find this hilarious. During a July 4 BBQ, I was discussing some hypothetical big government socialism with a friendly liberty-minded fellow. I made a very convincing argument based on the sensible prices and exceedingly rare outages that we enjoy with Ameren Illinois, despite the volume of regulation that is levied on the industry.

In the back of my mind, I knew that this fellow had never lived in a Chicago suburb. Oops!

Comment by JN Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 2:48 pm
To both STL and JN:

We can argue anecdotes back and forth all you want. My experience is that the public power company I enjoy in Springfield is the best and cheapest I’ve ever had, and I’ve had 5:

1) ComEd (worst, most expensive, private);

2) Ameren CIPS (2nd worst, 2nd most expensive, private);

3) CIPS (not bad, until Ameren bought it and “improved” it, private);

4) Egyptian Co-op (pretty good, pretty cheap, not-for-profit); and

5) CWLP (most reliable, cheapest, public).

You both may disagree, but that’s my experience.

Comment by TwoFeetThick Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 3:15 pm
- You both may disagree, but that’s my experience. -

I don’t really disagree, and I’m all for public power distribution. However, comparing CWLP and small co-ops to Ameren and ComEd is kind of difficult. CWLP and co-ops have a pretty small territory compared to the bigger companies. When there are outages, the problems are limited to the local area and crews can find and repair them much more quickly. The logistics are a little more difficult with the bigger guys. However, I do agree that with public or non-profit companies, most likely there is a better investment in infrastructure since the profits aren’t going into shareholders’ pockets. I’m just of the opinion that outages aren’t the real issue when it comes to the big utilities, it’s the constant begging for rate increases without explaining how the extra money will increase value to the customers.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 3:26 pm
Why do I suspect ComEd of finagling with the weather to promote their rate increase for the “smart grid”?

Comment by soccermom Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 3:27 pm
STL, well said.

Comment by TwoFeetThick Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 3:28 pm
In general, I agree with all of the above. My experience is limited to Ameren companies, first in the CILCO service area, and the the old CIPS area.

The CIPS area definitely has better infrastructure than the CILCO area.

Comment by JN Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 3:55 pm
I got a flyer from Illinois American Water that described the rate increase that would go in effect the next month, and how my rates compared to nearby providers. i saw with my own eyes how much less CWLP charges than the company that was telling me this information IN ORDER TO RAISE MY RATES.

One of the biggest draws to Springfield for me is that y’all get publicly owned utilities. I would love to know that I’m not paying a profit tax for things I need to operate in the modern world.

If Springfield ever gets city provided WiFi, I’m packing up the kids and taking the plunge.

Comment by Colossus Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 4:06 pm
ComEd is already trying to use the early storms to promote their “smart grid” bill.

Problem is there is absolutely no evidence that “smart grid” would occur in sufficient level to make a significant difference in restoration in the event of major storm outages. There are operational savings, reducing truck rolls for premise visits only to find that power problem is not the utility, but the customer, etc.

But here is no evidence that restoration time would be significantly faster and the only estimate that has been done, in Illinois no less, is a 5% improvement!!!

When the tree is down, the restoration is not helped by “smart grid”, but by workers on the ground!

Happy to have CWLP

Comment by SportShoz Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 4:18 pm
@Rich — I know my argument was somewhat simplified, but it was in response in to Karen May’s overly simplified argument that Illinois is “different.”

@Mongo: I realize that you think I’m some sort of downstate conservative, but I grew up in North Shore — I was a child when Laurie Dann went on her rampage and I remember that day fairly well. Nice try, play again.

Comment by Just Observing Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 4:42 pm
When I was growing up we had CILCO (now Ameren) where I lived. Power outages were very frequent and lasted a long time. The problem our town had was that we were the end of the line of that particular offshoot. So, anytime something happened we lost power. Sometimes your location just sucks and there is nothing you can do about it.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 5:02 pm
–It must be that in the 49 other states their citizens have the wherewithall to carry,–

That “49 states” talking point needs to be retired. Why journalists repeat it is beyond me. As Rich said, it’s not that cut and dried at all, and it certainly doesn’t advance the debate.

I doubt it Todd or Dave would be happy if Illinois adopted the “conceal-carry” laws of Hawaii, Maryland or New Jersey, in which the great majority of citizens cannot carry a weapon. The “may issue” states of California and New York aren’t on top of the list either.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 6:58 pm
I don’t get it. IF the NRA and its supporters want conceal-carry, why exempt public schools? Universities? Bars? Why exempt sports arenas? Why exempt court houses? Police Stations?

Why? Because somehow the NRA is arguing that carrying a gun will make life safer but we’re not going to allow them in the aforementioned places.

Because the NRA’s argument is bunch of bull. It’s not like Mississippi or California have no crime or reduced crime because of conceal carry.

I find it a bit ironic the conservatives (and liberals) were correct in expanding the number of countries with nukes but somehow they want everyone here to have a gun. I guess some people are unsure of their own testicular virility.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 7:26 pm
The insults are starting, I see.

As for not counting certain states, I don’t think that helps the contra-argument. It is still over 40 states. For NY, it is pretty much shall-issue outside of NYC, I believe. As for CA, it is pretty much shall-issue in many counties, probably covering as much terrain and population of most states.

Frankly, I have never made the “reduced crime” argument because it is moot. It doesn’t matter to the victim of a crime what percentage chance was beaten to make them such, what matters is are they better off with or without the option to employ armed self-defense. Statistics show they are better of with (British Home Office).

Also, in a post-Ezell world, it is up to the government to prove that society is markedly better off without RTC, and the experience in over 40 states at least, disproves that. IL’s own experience proves that we aren’t better off without RTC.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 8:18 pm
Just Observing,

I was a friend of those 5 kids who were shot and survived the shooting by Laurie Dann. One of my vivid memories was that of my mother hugging me as tight as a mother could hug their child when my elementary school was on lock down — my school was two miles from Hubbard Woods.

I still remember one day in our sixth grade science class at Washburn. One of the kids shot still had bullet fragments lodged inside of him. There was an experiment we had to with magnets. He told me to move the manget around his body, see if the compass moved, and that’s where the bullets fragments were. Left shoulder, left hip. He along four others survived. Nick Corwin, fellow second grader, did not.

So, by the time a teacher has to get their keys to open up the “special” place where a gun would have to be “safely” stored in a grade school, the gunwoman, Laurie Dann, would have been able to shoot the teacher whose job is to teach, not to shoot.

Nice Try.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 8:53 pm
=== I don’t get it. IF the NRA and its supporters want conceal-carry, why exempt public schools? Universities? Bars? Why exempt sports arenas? Why exempt court houses? Police Stations? ===

Umm…. Concealed carry supporters are not the ones advocating for those exemptions… they were compromises put into the bill to appease opponents.

== somehow they want everyone here to have a gun. ==

Nobody cares if you or anyone else wants to own a gun or not. I’m a supporter of gun rights, have a FOID card, and do NOT own a gun.

Comment by Just Oberving Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 8:56 pm
That’d be an idiotic way to implement teacher carry at a school.

But of course, your special scenario is the only way it could go down.

Now explain how a ban on carry prevented Laurie Dann from taking the gun to school?

*crickets*

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 8:57 pm
==Umm…. Concealed carry supporters are not the ones advocating for those exemptions… they were compromises put into the bill to appease opponents.==

Careful. This is where you start to lose it.

If you’re asserting a Constitutional right, then certainly you buy into Justice Scalia’s contention that there are “sensitive areas” where guns can be banned.

If you’re just advocating a bill, you can go for whatever you want, but you may get nothing and like it, as Judge Smalls might say.

There are rights. There are laws. Pick a lane.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 9:46 pm
It’s a slippery slope thing. The 2nd Amendment wasn’t infringed bit by bit, so it seems natural to take it back the same way.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 9:49 pm
Wasn’t s/b was.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 9:49 pm
Dave, there have been local restrictions on guns since the founding, so I don’t it’s accurate to say there has been a slippery slope or erosion of gun rights.

If it’s a right, it will have been discovered on the order of an evolving, rather than strict, interpretation of the Constitution.

For the record, my own opinion is that the Illinois solution — “may issue” — has been staring us in the face for some time.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:02 pm
Wo,

We’d never accept the Sedition Act today and it was passed by some of the very same people who penned “Congress shall pass no law…”

There is no such thing as “strict interpretation” of the Constitution.

All the courts are going to give us is broad brush strokes and rules of thumb, the contours of the right will be defined legislatively.

There is a saying that goes “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” HB-148 was far from perfect. It was a deliberate attempt to compromise only to fail. We set out with the express goal of crafting not the best bill we wanted, but the worst bill we could stomach.

Hence the lawsuits. You’ll be lucky to get HB-148 passed now.

As for may-issue, why bother enacting something that will shortly be ruled unconstitutional? Seems dumb to me.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:16 pm
David,

You and others are assuming that you have a constitutional right to carry a concealed weapon (or an open one). I haven’t seen that right granted yet.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:26 pm
That’s because rights aren’t granted. Those would be privileges.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:30 pm
Same dumb argument that is always made by so-called “constitutionalists.” Conveys your lack of understanding of how things really work. You can say something is a “right” all you want but unless the Courts agree your opinion doesn’t matter.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:35 pm
Actually I’m an originalist. Anyway, you forget that the people trump the courts.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:36 pm
By the way, you could be right about concealed (or open) carry. Anxious to see what the Courts say. I have no opinon on the subject one way or the other.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:37 pm
“Originalist.” “Constitutionalist.” Not sure what the in-phrase is these days. Anyway, explain that to the judge when you believe you have exercised a right that the courts disagree with. I’m not sure that argument gets you very far.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:40 pm
Been there, done that. Be there again tomorrow, in fact. We’ll, not a judge really, more like a flunky hired by the City to operate their Kangaroo Court aka Administrative Hearings. Though this is not a rights-based challenge, but a matter of statutory interpretation.

Comment by David Lawson Monday, Jul 11, 11 @ 10:56 pm
~The shocking thing was that they were able to find 15 people on the north shore who support gun rights.

You can probably count this young lady as number 16…

Masked gunmen tie up and rob Lake Forest house sitter

Masked gunmen tied up a Lake Forest house sitter over the weekend and stole jewelery and electronics, police said.

The incident happened early Saturday morning, in the 100 block of Foster Avenue. Police say the house sitter awoke to find the three men standing over her.

One of the men bound her ankles and wrists together and put duct tape over the woman’s mouth, while the two others ransacked the home, taking jewelry and electronics, police said.

http://triblocal.com/lake-forest/2011/07/11/armed-gunmen-tie-up-and-rob-lake-forest-house-sitter/

Comment by Benny Tuesday, Jul 12, 11 @ 10:23 am