And
as is to be expected, everybody seems confused.
I
STUMBLED ACROSS a pair of news reports (the Chicago Tribune and the Bloomington
Pantagraph) that makes it seem as though nobody knows what to expect from the
new law.
All the exemptions for the Chicago area create conditions where someone can ride his bike through a public park or forest preserve property while carrying a pistol. But the instant that person gets off the bike, that person becomes an offender who could face jail time.
But
the confusion in the rest of the state seems to stem from the fact that the
Illinois State Police (who will issue the “concealed carry” permits) will have
90 days to act on applications (120 days if someone chooses not to submit
fingerprints with their application).
Why
would it take so long? And why bother to submit fingerprints – as though they’re
some sort of criminal? Although the fingerprints are part of the background
check to ensure that people with criminal records don’t get the permits.
WHICH
IS SOMETHING that nobody of any sense ought to have an objection from.
Although
I thought the Chicago Tribune came up with the perfect example of the chaos
that will be created by the new law. Someone walking along Western Avenue
during the South Side Irish parade who is trying to get to his car is not
violating the law. But he is if he stops to try to enjoy the parade
festivities.
How
many drunken parade-goers will now try to claim they were trying to walk home,
and just happened to wander into the parade?
What
else is of note along the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan on this final
weekend of 2013?
DOUBLE
LAWSUITS, WHO’S RIGHT?: Ninth Ward
Alderman Anthony Beale filed a lawsuit this week against a former school
principal whom he claims is trying to defame his public reputation.
 |
| BEALE: Victim? Or oppressor? |
Of
course, that principal, Dushon Brown of Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory
school in Beale’s Far South Side ward, claims the alderman tried several years
ago to get her fired after she refused to give him sex.
Beale
says his retaliatory lawsuit is in response to Brown’s attorneys sending him
letters asking for $1 million in order to settle her claims against the
alderman. Who’s to say who is actually at fault in this case!
The
Chicago Sun-Times reported that Beale tried ignoring the former principal’s
claims for as long as he could, while the newspaper was not able to contact
Brown or her attorneys.
TAINTED
MONEY? EXCUSES, EXCUSES: Nobody seems to
want to take a $3,000 charitable donation because the money was raised by a
suburban Morton Grove man who is an atheist.
The
Chicago Tribune has written about how he tried donating the money to his local
park district. Then, to the local public library. Both of them turned it down –
the first said it could create a “First Amendment issue” they didn’t want to
deal with, while the latter had a board member who called the atheist and his
web site “a hate group.”
Now,
he says he wants to give it to a food pantry that benefits people in the
northwest suburbs of Niles Township. Which would be of significant benefit to
area communities. You’d think all would be willing to accept such a donation.
How
often do people claim that “tainted” money winds up being cleansed, so to
speak, by putting it to charitable use. Even if you really find atheism to be
so abhorrent, you’d think somebody would want to use this as a way of
benefitting the public good!
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