“Concealed carry” just a battle, the war about firearms handling still carries on

For those people amongst the firearms fanatics crowd who thought they had succeeded in ramming their ideals down the throats of all of Illinois when the state Legislature was pressured into backing a concealed carry law, think again.

Twisted ending, but humorous moments

For the basic premise that there are certain places where it is out-of-place to carry a pistol is one that no amount of politicking will overcome.

AND YES, WE’RE going to continue to see fights about firearms-related issues.

Take the far north suburb of Vernon Hills, where the Dave & Buster’s restaurant chain wants to open another one of their video-game laced outlets.

It seems that the municipal officials who run Vernon Hills want to make sure the only firearms within the restaurant are those that are part of the video games, and not those brought in by anyone whose view of the world is so paranoid that they don’t feel they can set foot outside without their pistol at their side. Of course, if Dave & Buster's served more alcohol, the restriction would already be a requirement in state law.

Yes, I write about this in a mocking tone because their viewpoint is so warped that it would be a tragedy for our society if they ever prevailed. It’s as though they want our society to become the real equivalent of the cinematic “The Road Warrior” or maybe even “Waterworld.” (If you really need to see a post-apocalyptic world on film, try “A Boy and His Dog” – which at least has humorous moments mixed in with its message).

I SUSPECT IF our society ever does get to the point where we decline into anarchy, the people we’re going to need protection from are the ones who seem eager to have their firearms now. Perhaps that’s the only way they can see themselves succeeding in society – if it falls apart into rubble.

Sometimes, I wonder if these films ...

But back to the point of this commentary – village officials in Vernon Hills want Dave & Buster’s officials to post signs in their new restaurant saying that firearms are not permitted on the premises; even with a firearm owner identification card and a concealed firearms permit.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a final action by village officials could come sometime next month.

This issue is a matter of local officials expressing the will of the public – that in a place meant to draw crowds, a firearm is probably not necessary and is a possible threat.

... are the firearms fanatic's dream come true

AND FOR THOSE people who are going to claim that the officials are overstepping their bounds, I’d argue that voters can then dump those officials come the next election cycle.
 

That’s a true Democratic society at work. Even though we often have Election Day apathy, it may also be that the majority just doesn’t get worked up over this issue and sees some sense in telling people that there are places where the pistols are not needed.

Of course, the people who feel compelled to “pack heat” (what a silly phrase) are also worked up over Gov. Pat Quinn these days. For the governor on Tuesday signed into law a measure that requires people to report any private sales of firearms, and also makes it an offense to NOT report to the police if one’s firearm is stolen.

I have heard many law enforcement-types say they like this idea. Because all too often, when a firearm used in a violent crime gets traced back to someone, that person tries to claim they didn’t do it and that the pistol was stolen from them.

IT MUST HAVE just slipped their minds that they didn’t report the crime. Or that they own so many firearms that they didn’t notice the weapon missing.

The new law is meant to crack down on the people who sell firearms in these private transactions – which all too often is the way that the criminal element that the ideologues like to rant about (and claim they need protection from) get their weapons in the first place.

You’d think that the firearms advocates would like anything that tries to seriously restrict alleged criminals from being able to obtain firearms. But they don’t.

They seem more interested in whining and complaining about themselves being abused, when all too often it comes across as them being upset that they can’t pick on other people.

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Could Koch brothers breathe new “life” into Chicago Tribune? Define “life!”

I have to confess to having to fake outrage at the thought of the Koch brothers potentially becoming the new owners of the Chicago Tribune.

The Koch brothers' new Chicago office? The New York Times seems to think so

 

Yes, I disagree with the political ideals espoused by the brothers. And I think it would be cheesy for them to use the newspaper as an arm of their own personal propaganda.

BUT LET’S BE honest. We’re talking the Chicago Tribune of Col. McCormick. Seeing the newspaper being used in such a manner might well be completely familiar to the oldest of readers.

Even though McCormick himself died in 1955, it wasn’t really until the mid-1970s that his influence was really eradicated from the publication’s quirks. And there are some readers who are convinced that the conservative tendencies never really went away.

So the idea that the Chicago Tribune is a “conservative” newspaper? What else is new. It just means a different family name atop the mast-head.

Now the reason this is being stirred up again is that the New York Times on Sunday felt compelled to publish a story about how the Koch brothers – who have spent countless millions to try to influence elections with candidates of their ideological ilk – are among the entities who might buy the Tribune Co. publications.

IT ISN’T NEWS that they’re interested, along with several other entities – including Newscorp head Rupert Murdoch. But it seems that most of the business entities expressing interest in the Tribune Co. newspapers being for sale are really interested in buying the Los Angeles Times.

Murdoch himself seems to like the idea of taking over the LA Times just like his people took over the Wall Street Journal a few years ago.

Only the Kochs, the New York Times reports, seem willing to buy all the publications – including our city’s very own Tribune. Which is the preference of Tribune Co. types. They want one huge payday from a mass sale – rather than several deals for smaller amounts and the possibility that a publication or two might not be able to draw sufficient interest from would-be buyers.

Personally, I’d rather see the Chicago Tribune wind up in the hands of someone with an interest in Chicago proper.

BUT IT SEEMS that the only people willing to take on that kind of media property are those Wrapports types who took advantage of the Chicago Sun-Times’ lesser business status to buy themselves a daily Chicago newspaper with a lower price tag than the Chicago Tribune would command.

I don’t know if there is anyone else out there with the kind of whimsy to buy the Tribune – even if it gives them a chance to work out of that 24^th Floor office that once was the working place of the Colonel himself!

So we may well get the Kochs as a part of our media scene – although personally I find that as less of a shock to the local scene than the idea that WGN-TV, WGN-AM, CLTV and ALL THE OTHER media properties that make the Tribune a news goliath will no longer be connected to the Chicago Tribune proper.

If anything, such a buy may well ensure the continued existence of the Chicago Tribune brand name, since the ideologically-aligned newspapers in our nation (the New York Post, the Washington Times and others) wind up with ownership who are more interested in using them for political statements and other ego-boosting activities.

WHICH MEANS THE financial bottom-line just doesn’t matter as much. If it did, the New York Post would have died decades ago! And the Times in Washington would NEVER have been created!

And I’ve always taken the attitude that I don’t care if newspapers are blatantly ideological in their leanings – so long as they’re honest enough to admit their biases.

Because the bottom line is that we all can simply ignore any publication that feeds us too much nonsense on its pages or its websites. That IS the real American Way – not the trite trash that the Kochs might choose to spew at us if they succeed in making this purchase.

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