Judiciary Committee hearing on concealed carry

The Illinois House Judiciary Committee held a meeting on concealed carry this morning in the Chicago Loop at 160 N. LaSalle Street. The meeting room was just off Speaker Mike Madigan’s office, and his staff was set up to demand a driver’s license from all arrivals (except press) and photocopy that driver’s license before returning it and admitting the person.

I objected, because it was an open meeting of a public body, and I’ll be filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office and submitting a Request for Review. As I left after the hearing, I asked that the photocopy of my license be returned to me and a staffer refused, saying it would be filed securely. When I asked if it would be shredded, he said it would not.

When I asked where to sign up to speak, I was directed from a woman at the entrance to a man in the hearing room. He told me to have a seat in the second row. A few minutes later, I overheard someone say that you had to be registered to speak, so I went back to the entrance and asked how to get on the list. It turned out that the list of speakers was closed, so Speaker Madigan’s staff had willfully and intentionally misdirected me twice.

Just before the meeting started, NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde told me that the U.S. 7th Circuit Court had declined Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s request for a full-court review of the December 11th decision by the three-judge panel that the Illinois prohibition of concealed carry was unconstitutional.

When the meeting started, it was a dog-and-pony show right from the top.  Many speakers encouraged the panel to create gun-free zones, such as in hospitals and government buildings. The Executive Director from the Illinois Restaurant Association wanted all places in the state that serve alcohol to be gun-free zones, even to the customer who did not drink alcoholic beverages. Women from Moms Demand Action were there in force.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was there. The gang from mass transit (CTA, RTA, Pace) was there; they don’t want guns on public transportation.

One of the most embarrassing speakers was Chicago Police Department Supt. Garry McCarthy. You do not want to ask him what time it is. Two hours later, he won’t have taken a breath and you still won’t know what time it is. He doesn’t have a clue how to stop gun violence. He couldn’t even describe clearly how an interaction between a legally-armed driver stopped for a traffic violation and a cop ought to go; he kept calling it a “confrontation”.  He even mentioned that a cop might handcuff a driver while he sorted out legal possession of a firearm.

When asked about training for a concealed-carry license, McCarthy launched into the training required for police officers. And McCarthy wasted far too much time talking about strawman purchases.

Rep. Drury (D-58) hammered Todd Vandermyde about whether the NRA would agree to a waiting period for the effective date of the concealed carry law. Todd responded that the 7th Circuit Court had ordered a law be in effect in 180 days.

With all the scare talk by the anti-gunners, not one person gave a clear example of when an armed, licensed civilian might shoot. Speakers don’t want Illinois to become the Wild, Wild West and fear that over-crowding on the ‘L’ will result in shootings by civilians. How stupid.

Maybe it’s good that I didn’t get to testify. I would have given them an example like a passenger on the ‘L’ who shoots, but only after some punk gets on at Halsted and starts shooting passengers. Wouldn’t they want an armed citizen available to intervene, or would they just want a bunch of bodies on the ‘L’?