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Cook County President on mission to punish legal gun owners

Cook County President on mission to punish legal gun owners

Cook County president Toni Preckwinkle has been on a mission to punish legal gunowners of late. Preckwinkle, a mentor to President Obama, made headlines earlier this year when she said that “Reagan deserves a special place in hell.”

After decreeing in a Wednesday press conference that a “gun court” would be established by July 1 in the Circuit Court of Cook County, she was rebuked today by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans. Evans, who was shocked by Preckwinkle’s announcement, then released a statement implying that she lacks the authority to do so :

Before I can consider such a request, it will be necessary for me to obtain input from the judges and the other criminal justice system stakeholders. The creation of any specialized court is, by definition, a collaborative effort which requires assurances that all individuals coming before such a court are afforded due process. The proposal to create a specialty court also demands extensive research so that an informed decision can be made.

In light of the proposal by county officials, I have directed my staff to begin studying the gun court approach. I also will reach out to our judges and the offices of the Cook County state’s attorney and public defender so that, together, we can determine whether a gun court is in the best interest of the public and the court system.

Preckwinkle has seized upon demonizing guns as her route simultaneously to solve Chicago’s war-zone like violence while bringing in revenue. Until recently, Preckwinkle had planned to institute a $.05/bullet tax, which remains on the table for future consideration. After being informed that would in most cases exceed the price of the ammunition itself, she came up with the idea of the gun court. Preckwinkle also plans to institute a $25.00 transfer tax on each gun purchased in Chicago, which effectively will result in no one purchasing a gun in Chicago.

Preckwinkle promises this will reduce crime as these funds will go to nonprofits to help reduce violence. (Watch this footage at 3:24 to see inner-city black Chicagoans seething at the nonprofits already taking money from their communities they claim to help.) Richard Pearson, the head of the IL State Rifle Association, was quoted in Human Events about Preckwinkle’s plan:

I’ve seen a lot of harebrained gun control schemes over the years, but this one takes the cake.  Does Board President Preckwinkle really expect the state’s gun owners to pay a tax to fund organizations whose primary mission is to take their guns away?

Even the non-gun owning taxpayer should be outraged at Preckwinkle’s latest boondoggle…Over the years, local gun control organizations have flitted away tens of millions of foundation dollars in the name of violence prevention while, at the same time, Cook County’s rate of violent crime has hit the stratosphere.

Chicago residents only recently were afforded their second-amendment protections, long held in disregard by Mayor Daley, but recognized as a fundamental right in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. Preckwinkle effectively is making this right to self-defense one only feasibly exercised by rich, white suburban Cook County residents.

Currently, in order to obtain a gun in the city of Chicago, you have to obtain a FOID card for a fee, travel an hour (minimum) and then pay for a class and range time (there are no ranges in Chicago), pay for a firearms permit, pay for registration, and be fingerprinted. That’s just the beginning. I have been going through the process and I would estimate I have already paid around $450 for class costs, permit costs, and travel costs, not including time lost traveling 1.5 hours back and forth to the gun range. This is pre-Preckwinkle taxes.

Chicago residents seeking to defend themselves against violent crime ought to be warned that it is a privilege only for those who have the means and time to comply with the ever-burdensome laws. Preckwinkle’s plans to provide funds to nonprofits and cripple the ability for Chicagoans, and especially for those in the most dangerous neighborhoods, to exercise their fundamental right to self-defense are another example of the backwards Chicago logic.

Perhaps that’s why those at the collar-county gun ranges laugh when you tell them you’re from Chicago.

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Comments

“… you have to obtain a FOID card for a fee, travel an hour (minimum) and then pay for a class and range time (there are no ranges in Chicago), pay for a firearms permit, pay for registration, and be fingerprinted. …I would estimate I have already paid around $450 for class costs, permit costs, and travel costs, not including time lost traveling 1.5 hours back and forth to the gun range.
This is pre-Preckwinkle taxes.”

I recommend that the same requirements be imposed upon the right to vote.

1. pay a fee to register and another fee for the voter registration card
2. travel an hour away from your residence to take a class and exam – for which you must pay a fee for the class and a fee for the exam
3. get fingerprinted and be entered into a national data base.

Now, there! Doesn’t that solve a lot of problems? If you must pay to secure your second amendment rights, then you must pay for the privelege of voting!

Preckwinkle effectively is making this right to self-defense one only feasibly exercised by rich, white suburban Cook County residents.

And gangs, who steal their guns. Altho the gang’s idea of self-defense is shoot first, and ask questions later.

Just another reason for me to leave Illinois. I need to protect myself from the egregious politicians bearing lethal laws.

It would be interesting to find out what kind of security detail Preckwinkle has. If she is anything like Ed Burke or Richie Daley or our beloved current mayor, it is probably several 24hr, 7 day per week, armed cops. The thing is the press here will never call her on any of this. Just remember that the “conservative” paper here, The Tribune, called for the repeal of the 2A when Chicago lost in the SC. The Sun Times isn’t any better. The only hope that Illinois has for concealed carry, etc is it coming from a downstate area which wins on appeal. It can’t happen soon enough.

Gun ownership…the ability to effectively defend oneself…is a basic civil right. A natural right, indeed.

Historically, one of the prime aims of Jim Crow was to disarm the black population.

A fascinating fact (to me at least) is that for five years running, the highest demographic applying for concealed carry permits in Texas is black women.

Toni Preckwinkle is a certified idiot. She was my alderman when I lived in Hyde Park. She was a dummy then, which made her a superb alderman. She’s ambitious, of course, and like very good Chicago pol, she “smells the meat a’cookin’.”

What I don’t know is how close she’s been connected to Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama over the years. I suspect the answer is “fairly close”, but I don’t know. I also don’t know how well she’s done financially as an alderman, county board member and now county board president. Like most other pols, I suspect the answer is “very well” but I don’t know.

SoCA Conservative Mom | November 2, 2012 at 11:47 am

And I thought it was bad in CA.

I’ll betcha that Preckwinkle would fail a basic civics test.

Can the 2nd Amendment be any clearer? “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

I tell ya, this country is being taken over by those who would lead us back to a monarchy…

Henry Hawkins | November 2, 2012 at 1:08 pm

So…. a cub scout troop armed with BB guns could take Chicago. Good to know.

Dear Anne

Might i suggest moving out of chicago? There is a gun range down the street from my house out here in Will county. Just sayin…

Kind Regards

9thDistrictNeighbor | November 2, 2012 at 1:41 pm

When I worked at 79th and Jeffery, absolutely everyone (except me) knew where to buy a gun, no FOID, classes, permits or travel required. In order for me to shoot skeet at a private Cook County club, I need a FOID card. To apply for a FOID card I need to get a passport photo, have a driver’s license or state ID card, pay $10 fee, plus fill out a form that asks if I am a narcotics addict, illegal alien, or have been adjudicated as a mental defective, among other questions. That’s not to buy a gun, but use someone else’s.

Henry Hawkins | November 2, 2012 at 3:20 pm

Here in Possum Holler NC you are issued a gun and ammunition the day you move in. And no, not by the government.

They mis-spelled her name throughout the story, isn’t it spelled with 2 “i”s and not 2 “e”s?

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