The waiting...

"They" say it's always the hardest part and I'll have to agree.

Although only a month has passed since the 7th Court of Appeals heard the orals in Moore/Shepard, it seems like time is dragging on.

Since it was one of the last arguments heard, I really don't expect an opinion until August, but it doesn't seem to help. I know plenty of other folks are in the same boat though, so I don't feel alone in that regard.

In the meantime, let's support those like minded folks in Chicago. It sure seems like the city is rife with violence already this summer. Next week is Taste of Chicago and lots of folks will be attending that event. Good thoughts of safety to all of them.

Personally, I'm thinking of skipping IMTS (International Manufacturing Technologies Show) this year. It's held at McCormick Place in Chicago and reports are that even that area is getting pretty rough lately. I haven't missed it since 2006, but that may have to change since Chicago is starting to look more and more like Detroit.

For more on Right to Carry news, visit Illinoiscarry and visit awhile.

For no-BS updates on violence in the windy city, check out Second City Cop.


Edit: Repaired links.

Moore/Shepard v Madigan orals are now available

Orals for the court cases were this morning and by all accounts, the state took a beating. 

Hear it and decide for yourself here: http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/fdocs/docs.fwx

You'll need to input "12" under the year and "1269" in the other box, this brings up a new page with the link to the audio file. 

Enjoy. 

Next step

Well, now that the Spring session is over in the IL legislature and we still haven't had our RTC recognized, it's time for the next step.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments tomorrow (June 8) on both the Shepard and Moore cases. This is the same court that gave us Ezell so there is some hope. I encourage everyone to stay tuned to IllinoisCarry tomorrow, some of the members will be present for the arguments and will (hopefully) inform us of their impressions afterwards. No electronic equipment is allowed in the court so we'll have to wait until they finish.

8 years of RTC in Ohio, still no blood in the streets.

I was linked to a great editorial from a Columbus, OH paper that IL legislators should read. Seems that some folks in OH had the same arguments that some of our IL legislators have been using for years and the concerns turned out not to be concerns at all.

I'm short on time this morning so here's the link, thanks to IllinoisCarry forum member "mauserme":
"Concealed carry, why the uproar?" 

Chicago Murder rate increases 60% in 3 months

How much longer will they continue to deny basic rights in Illinois? Since we KNOW that disarming the law abiding outside the home isn't working, let's try the other option and see what happens.

Yes, some folks will still die, but it will be the thugs who were previously doing all the killing. When a handful go down, it tends to take some of the fire out of the rest of them.

Try this link on for size and check out the last 2 lines in particular. Great to see a news outlet saying this!

http://www.irnnews.com/2012/04/12/chicago’s-murder-rate-has-risen-60-in-just-the-last-three-months/

Mayor Emanuel wants folks to stand up to gangs? That's great news! When will he understand that the citizens need tools to do so? He's made the statement, now let's see if he can follow through!

Is it too much to hope that change is in the air?

A sad state of affairs

Let me step away from IL RTC issues briefly....well sort of, as this stuff may eventually affect everyone in the country if it continues to spiral out of control.

I'm sure that everyone is familiar with the shooting in Sanford, FL by now. I will not give an opinion as I wasn't there and didn't see what happened, I will not defend anyone or point a finger. Sadly, there are a LOT of news outlets that weren't there either, but it hasn't stopped them from spewing "facts", some of which are turning out not to be "facts" after all. Some of the news outlets are being investigated for putting firth outright lies and doctoring 911 tapes.

We've had celebrities tweeting addresses for the shooter, which turned out to be wrong and harmed innocent people's lives. We've had an 78 year old man in Toledo that was beaten and robbed and it may or may not have been retaliation for Martin ...we don't even have all the facts there as you can see in the following links.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2012/04/03/Man-78-recounts-assault-by-6-youths-in-E-Toledo.html

http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2012/04/07/Toledo-police-Man-s-account-of-assault-may-be-exaggerated.html

We have politicians screaming to make new laws or repeal others based on knee jerk responses. We have anti-gun groups dancing in Martin's blood and using it to try to strip the rights of  law abiding people in this nation. (Sorry, I refuse to link to their stuff)

Right now, we have to wait until the investigations are over and all of the actual facts are in before we consume ourselves. 

Here's what we don't have and I want to know why:

We don't have public outrage about the daily homicides that occur in Chicago (and other cities, but Chicago is the one I hear about the most). Why is the Rev. Jackson -among others- not looking into these? I don't wish to take away from the Martin case, any premature loss of life is regrettable. But seriously, what Chicago is doing isn't working and things need to change. The following link refers to just one weekend in Chi-town, it can be an ugly place.
http://www.suntimes.com/11400560-417/mayor-city-to-do-more-to-fight-violence-after-bloody-weekend.html

First quarter figures put homicides in Chicago at 118. So why aren't they looking for real change in the way things are done? Of course, some of these may be criminal-on-criminal homicide rather than innocents being murdered, but it's clear that there's a problem.
 http://homicides.redeyechicago.com/

And it's really bad when the officials BRAG that the city went murder-free for a whole day!
http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Chicago-Murder-Free-24-Hours-137672038.html

So, where's the outrage?

Pike County is now Constitutional Carry (?)

If you keep up with IL gun Rights at all, then you've likely heard of an effort in Pike County to get a public vote on concealed carry. It was on the ballot yesterday and passed at ~ 85%, which means.... well, I'm not sure what it means. Read more here.

Please note, the following couple of bits are reliant on a weapons carrier that is not otherwise barred from owning a firearm and is of age, etc.
The Sheriff says he won't be arresting anyone for carrying a weapon and the State's Attorney says he won't be willing to prosecute anyone (provided they were arrested in the first place, possibly they expect the ISP won't be so friendly).

I'm no lawyer, but I'm betting that the IL AG's office is going to have something to say. I'm also betting that it won't be favorable. As far as I'm concerned that office can pound sand, but sadly they are the law.

So that leads to the question of whether Pike can do this or not, it isn't uncommon for Home Rule communities to make state laws tougher (see Chicago's gun laws) but to make the laws lighter is certainly not common and I'm not sure if it's legal.

For the record, I hope it is legal as it's a sharp stick in the eye of the Chicago Machine, I also hope that it finally brings RTC issues in IL into the mainstream. There are so many people out there that still aren't aware that EVERY state but IL has some form of carry for self defense. (That's why I bother with these ramblings, to spread the word)

Some are worried that this will work against efforts for a statewide/pre-emptive RTC law, others are saying that this is the kick in the pants that the legislature needs (particularly those reps in the NE part of the state). I have to admit that I'm still undecided, it is certainly a small victory and sends a message that people do want the legal ability to protect themselves.

Either way, it's bound to be an exciting topic for some time to come. You can check out more opinions and thoughts over at IllinoisCarry.