6 May 13
Last weekend, during a Defensive Handgun Course in the Midwest, one of my students, an unassuming black man, told us an amazing story:
My student lives in Chicago, is gainfully-employed, and has been his entire adult life. He is the very definition of “law-abiding,” having no arrest record, except as noted below. He is a decent, hard-working citizen, doing his best to be a good person.
In 1995, he was arrested in the City for “unlawful possession of a gun.” It happened during a minor, traffic stop. He was asked by officers to step out of his car, which he did. They then frisked him and found nothing. He subsequently volunteered that was carrying a concealed pistol and pointed to its location. Red-faced officers then seized it and arrested him. The gun had been legally purchased and was legally owned, but anti-gun politics of the City’s liberal politicians makes legally possessing any kind of gun close to impossible, unless, of course, you have political “connections.” Like liberals everywhere, they’ve done their best to convert what is supposed to be an “inalienable right” into a “political privilege,” to be enjoyed only by the “ruling class,” (themselves) and their friends.
Chicago’s embarrassing reputation for violent crime is well known, and the mere possession of a gun seems to be a perfectly reasonable thing to do while out and about, much like wearing a seat-belt while driving.
In any event, he paid a fine and never saw his gun again.
Several years later, he applied for a City “gun-permit,” and was denied. The City cited his previous misdemeanor charge.
With the help of the NRA, my student sued the City in Federal Court, contending that a conviction for a minor, non-violent misdemeanor should not represent a permanent bar to his enjoying his Second-Amendment Rights. Curiously, his “misdemeanor record” did not prevent him from successfully renewing his state-issued FOID (Firearms Owners’ Identification) card!
When it became obvious to City officials that there were going to lose this case, they cynically threw my student a bone. They grudgingly offered to belatedly issue him a City Gun Permit, if he would drop his litigation. He courageously refused! He told us that might solve his problem, but “… what about all those other poor Chicago residents who have the same issue?”
He stood his ground, and won. The Court did rule against the City! The Federal District Judge declared the City’s anti-gun ordinance unconstitutional, and struck it down. The City may not treat people with non-violent, misdemeanor convictions as if they were felons.
My student continued, making the point that the NAACP and Urban League, who claim to stick-up for black people, don’t! In fact, both organizations encouraged him to knuckle-under to sleazy, liberal, mostly-white politicians. It was the much-maligned NRA that stepped-up to the plate and fought with him. He indicated he has not forgotten that!
He also said he does not have, nor has he ever had, any interest in politics, nor in being “famous.” “I just want to be a good, decent, and productive person, and not be casually murdered by violent, armed criminals, about which pious, heavily-armed city officials do nothing … they constantly tell us to never do anything for ourselves, but to patiently sit and wait for them to arrive and do everything for us. For one, I’m not waiting!”
My student is just a humble, ordinary man, but with a spark inside, a spark that is uniquely American! The spark of personal independence, freedom, and liberty. The spark liberals/leftists are doing their best to suffocate, particularly is urban areas like Chicago.
He made us all proud to be Americans!
“When they took the fourth amendment, I was quiet, because I didn’t use illegal drugs.
When they took the fifth amendment, I was quiet, because I was innocent.
When they took the second amendment, I was quiet, because I didn’t own a gun.
Now, they’ve taken the first amendment, and I can say nothing………”
/John
