Conceal carry bill passed for retired cops
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0403270210mar27,1,1331132.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Gun curbs suffer setbacks
Downstate, suburban lawmakers outdueling Chicago on issue
By Ray Long and Molly Parker
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 27, 2004
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Senate Friday approved legislation to allow retired police officers and former military police officers to carry concealed weapons, the latest example of a growing mood against gun control in the legislature despite the Democratic takeover of both chambers.
In addition to the concealed-carry measure, lawmakers in recent days have voted for bills that would lower the age to obtain a gun owner's permit without parental consent and allow a court to override enforcement of municipal handgun bans in cases where weapons are fired in self-defense.
The developments show the National Rifle Association and gun-rights advocates are making inroads around the edges of existing gun laws, critics of the legislation charge.
"I think what they're trying to do is erode what protections we have in place," said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago).
Rather than attacking the few broad restrictions on weapons sales that are in place, Currie said, gun-rights activists appear to be adopting a "strategy of eating away at the principle that guns are a public health menace" by trying to do away with less-sweeping limits.
But Todd Vandermyde, an NRA lobbyist, said the gun-rights group was simply reflecting the will of its members as it pressed for looser gun laws. "We have an obligation to respond to our membership, and our membership wants us to one, protect their rights, and two, fight for their rights," Vandermyde said.
The votes on the gun measures tend to break along regional lines, with Chicago lawmakers opposed to relaxing restrictions and Downstate and many suburban lawmakers largely backing the changes.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich aggressively pushed for tougher gun-control measures when he served as a member of the U.S. House. But that stance caused him problems with Downstate voters in the Democratic governor's primary in 2002, and his advocacy for gun control has been far more muted since he has taken office.
Still, he pledged in a January interview with the Tribune to renew his efforts this spring.
He has yet to push any gun-control legislation of his own, however, and has so far been silent about whether he would approve the relaxation measures if they land on his desk. Aides said he needs more time to review the bills, which have won approval in different forms in the House and Senate.
"The governor hasn't even had a chance to be briefed on these bills," said Cheryle Jackson, Blagojevich's spokeswoman. "The governor has a very strong record in the fight against gun violence, and I'm certain that, should these bills ever reach his desk, he'll act accordingly."
Governor urged to act
Currie urged Blagojevich to show more leadership in fighting measures that roll back gun controls.
The governor said in the January interview that he would enthusiastically support gun-control measures such as ones pushed by Mayor Richard Daley to ban assault weapons and restrict the number of handguns a person could legally buy to one a month.
Movement on major pieces of the Daley package has stalled, and to date Blagojevich has not overtly wielded his influence to push it forward.
Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston), a gun-control advocate, said politicians who have "traditionally stood for tougher gun-control measures, including the governor, need to rethink the existing strategies because the gains that we've made in the past are slipping away. Politically, we're overmatched.
"The NRA has been pumping iron and flexing all week, and we're getting sand kicked in our faces," Schoenberg said. "I don't think we can simply allow this to continue."
On Thursday, the NRA successfully pushed separate bills through the House and Senate that would lower to 18 from 21 the age at which a person may apply for a firearm owner's identification card without a parent's permission.
Vote backs self-defense
Also on Thursday, the Senate approved NRA-backed legislation inspired by a Wilmette man who shot an intruder in his home and then was charged with violating the village's handgun ban. The legislation, similar to a bill that the House has passed, would allow self-defense as a legal argument in such municipal cases.
The NRA took a neutral position on the concealed-carry bill that was passed Friday, not because it didn't like the idea but because the group didn't think the measure went far enough, Vandermyde said. The NRA believes all law-abiding citizens should be allowed to carry concealed weapons, he said.
The concealed-carry bill would authorize the Illinois State Police to issue concealed weapon permits to retired local, state and federal police officers as well as former members of the military police. To qualify for the permits, the retirees would also have to have at least 10 years' experience at their former law-enforcement positions as well as hold valid firearm-owner's cards, supporters said.
The legislation, if it were to become law, would also require that an applicant have graduated from a police academy or training institute.
The measure is sponsored by Sen. Ed Petka (R-Plainfield), a former Will County state's attorney. In debate Friday, he said retired police and MPs should be allowed to carry concealed weapons as a protection against retribution from someone they may have once confronted on the job.
"The individuals who would be asking for this permit are individuals who we've already given the honor and the trust in protecting us in society, not only domestically, but also perhaps foreign," Petka said.
The Senate this week did pass two minor pieces of Daley-backed gun legislation that would stiffen penalties against people who use guns to commit crimes. But more-controversial gun initiatives backed by the mayor are not moving.
Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago), a gun-control advocate, warned that people are becoming too "laid back about violence."
But Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) said Downstate residents grow up around guns and so have learned to deal with them responsibly.
"We don't have the fear of them," Bost said. "The only time someone in an inner city sees a gun, either a police officer is carrying it or it's being used in a crime."
The measure was passed 40-12, with most opposition coming from Chicago-area Democrats. One who backed the measure, however, was State Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago), the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.
Obama, a liberal who is trying to broaden his appeal to Downstate voters for the Senate race, said he voted for the bill because law-enforcement officers may be "more vulnerable and need protection" and because they're experienced and trained in handling firearms.
"I don't think anybody thought that this was going to be somehow opening the door to the Wild West," Obama said.
