City of Chicago
Illinois Senate Could Vote On Right To Carry Legislation Friday
In Illinois, right to carry legislation emerged today from the state’s Senate Executive Committee, and could be voted on by the entire chamber as early as tomorrow. Lauren Leone-Cross reported on The State Journal-Register (Springfield) website this afternoon:
A Chicago Democrat’s restrictive concealed-carry legislation made it through a Senate committee Thursday, with opponents vowing again to fight its passage.
The measure, which gives local law enforcement veto power for permits and home-rule municipalities additional say over where people can carry a weapon in public, passed the Senate Executive Committee by a party-line 10-4 vote.
Dave McKinney blogged about Illinois House Bill 183 this afternoon on the Chicago Sun-Times website. On the Sun-Times Politics blog, McKinney wrote:
Within Chicago, [State Senator (D-Chicago) Kwame] Raoul’s legislation would require police Supt. Garry McCarthy to sign off on all concealed-carry applicants before they could get permits from the Illinois State Police, setting up what gun-rights advocates fear would be a choke-point that could keep city gun owners from getting licenses…
Raoul’s bill, which could be voted on by the Senate Friday, also would permit Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and other sheriffs to lodge objections to any concealed-carry applicants that the State Police would have to consider along with 17 other qualifying hurdles.
Among those requirements are the broad standards of whether an applicant demonstrates “good moral character” and whether the issuance of a concealed-carry license to that person is “consistent with public safety.”
Rather than “shall-issue” right to carry, Illinois residents as a whole would be left with “may-issue” right to carry, which some say will result in only a small number of permits being issued- outside of those for family, friends, and campaign donors, according to scuttlebutt. A prominent pro-2nd Amendment group is going so far as to declare the new legislation not even a right to carry bill. Monique Garcia, Rafael Guerrero, and Ray Long reported on the Chicago Tribune website tonight:
Leading the opposition was the National Rifle Association, whose lobbyist delivered a clear message that the bill was so restrictive it could not be properly called a “carry bill.”
“This is a bill to discourage people and prevent people from carrying firearms and exercising their constitutional, fundamental right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in public,” [National Rifle Association's Illinois lobbyist Todd] Vandermyde testified.
Sounds like if this legislation is passed in the Illinois General Assembly and signed by Governor Pat Quinn, it will probably be heading back to the courts. A federal appeals court required Illinois to put a concealed-carry law in place by June 9.
House Bill 183 could come up for a vote in the full Senate tomorrow, Friday, May 17.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Sources:
Leone-Cross, Lauren. “Senate panel OKs restrictive gun bill; full chamber could vote Friday.” The State Journal-Register. 16 May 2013. (http://www.sj-r.com/carousel/x1039442731/Illinois-Senate-committee-to-consider-gun-bill). 16 May 2013.
McKinney, Dave. “Senate panel OKs concealed-carry bill over NRA opposition.” Sun-Times Politics. 16 May 2013. (http://blogs.suntimes.com/politics/2013/05/senate_panel_advances_concealed-carry_bill_over_nra_objections.html). 16 May 2013.
Long, Ray, Guerrero, Rafael, and Garcia, Monique. “Concealed carry rules for Illinois emerge but face uncertain fate.” Chicago Tribune. 16 May. 2013. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-concealed-carry-0517-20130517,0,1062260,full.story). 16 May 2013.
Chicago Flash Mobs/Mob Attacks/Wildings Derailed This Summer?
South Side youths intent on carrying out a flash mob/mob attack/wilding in downtown Chicago may find themselves unable to get to their destination this summer.
From the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) website this morning:
Coming: May 19, 2013
Faster. Smoother. Better.
Beginning May 19, 2013, the CTA will rebuild the tracks along the south Red Line, from Cermak-Chinatown to 95th/Dan Ryan—a project that will provide faster, more comfortable and more reliable service for Red Line riders.
From just north of the Cermak-Chinatown station to the 95th Street station, crews will replace everything in the track bed: ties, rail, third rail, ballast (the stone material that holds the ties in place) and drainage systems. Some stations will also receive improvements ranging from new canopies, paint and lighting upgrades to new benches and bike racks. Additionally, the stations at Garfield, 63rd and 87th will get new elevators, making all stations on the South Side Red Line accessible.
The south Red Line, called the Dan Ryan branch, is more than 40 years old and needs a full replacement…
The work is part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Building a New Chicago program, which is updating infrastructure that’s critical to the city—and includes improvements that will help ensure that CTA continues to serve customers as effectively as possible.
The project is made possible by $1 billion in state and local funding announced in late 2011 by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Governor Pat Quinn for the Red and Purple Lines.
The Red Line will completely close from Cermak-Chinatown through 95th/Dan Ryan. The closure is expected to last 5 months, until late October 2013.
Knowing all this, I won’t be surprised if it’s a “quiet” summer along the “Magnificent Mile” and in other tourist hotspots downtown. Still, if I were an urban dweller/visitor in that part of the city, I wouldn’t let my guard down for an instant. They shouldn’t be doing that anyway, especially as the more-established criminal element in the city is probably well-aware of the ongoing manpower shortage in the Chicago Police Department.
You can read more about that CTA project beginning this weekend here.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Chicago, Cook County Residents To Be Discriminated Against On Right To Carry In Illinois?
Following the local news as I do, I’ve been made aware of a push to discriminate against Chicago and Cook County residents from the rest of Illinois concerning the coming right to carry concealed firearms in the state. It seems to have some teeth to it, judging from what appeared on the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action website yesterday:
Illinois: Legislature Under Pressure to Compromise on Shall-Issue Right to Carry Legislation
Legislators in both the state Senate and House are under extreme pressure to exempt Chicago and Cook County from any “shall-issue” mandate in the concealed carry law that a federal court has ordered to be adopted by June 9. Such an exemption would allow Chicago and Cook County authorities to deny a concealed carry permit to an applicant even if that person meets all of the statutory requirements used to judge eligibility in the rest of the state. Any exemption for Chicago and Cook County could easily deny 40% of Illinois’ population “shall-issue” right to carry, and put gun owners state-wide at risk of felony prosecution if they happen to travel across Cook County or Chicago lines.
Further, in anticipation of the June 9 deadline, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is trying to force an ordinance that would allow him to approve and reject licenses for concealed carry in Cook County, and force applicants to cough up a clearly discriminatory $300 fee just for a license to legally exercise their right to self-defense. Please contact your state Senator and Representative TODAY and urge them to support equal right to carry laws for ALL Illinois residents.
Any semblance of an argument for more restrictive gun control laws in Chicago and Cook County falls apart when faced with facts: at a time when gun ownership throughout the country is at an all-time high, the nation’s murder rate has fallen to a near all-time low. Additionally, Chicago has had a long history with the inverse relationship of increased gun control laws and public safety. Chicago imposed a handgun registration requirement in 1968, with no effect on the city’s rising handgun homicide numbers or the percentages that handgun homicides comprised of total homicides. In April 1982, a law prohibiting possession of handguns not previously registered with the police took effect in Chicago. Annual handgun homicide numbers and percentages of total homicides fluctuated, and then rose sharply.
The bottom line is that criminals do not obey the law – but the law-abiding people in Illinois, regardless of where they might live, or what their economic standing may be, have a natural, fundamental, and constitutionally protected right to defend themselves. Any Right to Carry law passed by the legislature in compliance with the federal court ruling MUST recognize this. Given the high violent crime rates in Chicago and Cook County, law-abiding residents of these municipalities have a great need to carry a firearm for self-defense since they are likely to be victims of violent crime, and their local government officials refuse to deal effectively with violent criminals there. It is time for Chicago politicians to face the facts – their ideological crusade against guns has only ensured that criminals are armed and the law-abiding are defenseless victims.
Contact your state Senator and Representative immediately. Urge them to oppose any legislation or amendment that would discriminate among the residents of Illinois, recognizing the rights of some, but not others. Our constitutional right to keep and bear arms and inherent right to self-defense protect all Americans, not just some in a particular state, city or county.
Contact information for your state legislators can be found here.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Tinley Park, Illinois, Site Of Urban Warfare Training Exercise
A little over a year ago, I blogged about Chicago hosting one of these military training exercises that since have popped up with increasing frequency in the news. From that April 16, 2012, post:
The City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC) released the following statement about the scheduled urban warfare training exercise today:
The City of Chicago is providing support for a routine military training exercise in and around the Chicagoland area on April 16 -19. This routine training is conducted by military personnel in cities across the country, designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments as service members meet mandatory training certification requirements and prepare for upcoming overseas deployments.
The training sites have been carefully selected to minimize the impact on the daily routine of residents.
The training is not open to the public.
“The training is not open to the public.”
I guess downtown Chicago residents and workers were supposed to close their eyes and pretend the helicopters that buzzed them during last year’s event didn’t exist.
Anyway, last week, another one of these exercises took place in the Chicagoland area- in the southwest Chicago community of Tinley Park, Illinois. From the Chicago Tribune website today:
Department of Defense training exercises that included explosions heard miles away and helicopters flying over Tinley Park angered residents.
Residents said they heard “bomb” noises from about 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on April 23 during what was an urban warfare training exercise at the former mental health center. Tinley Park police received about 25 calls from residents who were either fearful or angry, especially in the wake of the bombings in Boston the previous week.
Defense officials followed up with another exercise April 24 involving helicopters that flew over Tinley Park for much of the night. Residents reported hearing them from 8:30 p.m. until about 12:45 a.m…
Local police were not involved with the training, said Pat Carr, Emergency Management Agency director.
Like the Chicago urban warfare exercise last year, the public was not allowed to view the training. But that didn’t prevent a few from trying.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
“Urban warfare exercise rattles Tinley Park residents.” Chicago Tribune. 2 May 2013. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/tinley_park/ct-tl-tinley-park-dod-exercise-20130502,0,7645588.story). 2 May 2013.
CBS Chicago Asks: Is Chicago, Cook County Safe From Terrorists?
From a CBS Chicago news broadcast last night:
ROB JOHHNSON: Chicago’s Mayor and Police Superintendent have said they would use lessons learned from the Boston Marathon bombings to make Chicago safer.
KATE SULLIVAN: But tonight, we’ve learned that they’ve already made some changes. Chief Correspondent Jay Levine sat down with Superintendent McCarthy and began by asking the simple question, “Are we safe?” So what do you say, Jay?
JAY LEVINE: One word Kate- absolutely.
Tuesday night, CBS Chicago’s Levine focused on Cook County as the second most populous county in the U.S. refines its anti-terrorism plans and procedures in the wake of the Boston terror attack (video segment here).
Personally, as long as our borders are as porous as they are, I won’t feel safe from terrorists. It won’t stop me from doing what I want, when I want, but you won’t see me at some mass gathering or in some other situation that screams “juicy jihadist target” anytime soon.
Besides, I dislike crowds.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Chicago May Update Emergency Plan After Boston Attack
Here’s something out of City Hall that all Chicagoans can get behind. From Craig Dellimore on the CBS Chicago website last week:
Mayor Emanuel says Chicago may revise its emergency medical plans in light of Boston’s response to the Boston Marathon bombings a week ago, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
Mayor Emanuel says special circumstances not withstanding, Boston showed it was well-prepared to face a crisis when those bombs went off.
“Now not every time are you going to have an incident where you have medical care on-site because they had a marathon they had it on-site. That clearly saved lives. But having a well-rehearsed, well-planned, well thought out medical emergency response, was crucial in saving lives. We have a very good plan. We did it for NATO exercise. I have asked everybody to go back and look at it,” said Emanuel.
And he says after Boston authorities review their response, Chicago will see about updating its emergency plan.
I’ve never seen the City of Chicago’s “official” emergency preparedness plan. Even when I worked in the public safety field. Last I heard, the plan was closely-guarded. Leah Samuel wrote in The Chicago Reporter website back on September 12, 2007:
Although the federal government recommends that cities plan their responses to terrorism with inclusiveness and openness, Chicago’s emergency preparedness plan is known only to a few in city government, The Chicago Reporter has found.
Among those who haven’t been shown the plan are the city’s aldermen, firefighters and police officers.
“We do not discuss the particulars of our plan so as not to allow those who would harm us an additional way to create disorder,” Cortez Trotter, executive director of the Office of Emergency Communications, or 911 Center, said in a written statement. “Full disclosure of the plan might assist those who would thwart evacuation and rescue procedures.”
Samuel added later in the piece:
“We don’t want anyone to see it,” said Larry Langford, public information officer for the Office of Emergency Communications. He called the secrecy “an unfortunate by-product” of emergency planning: “You want to reassure everyone, but you don’t want to give the plan away.”
Here’s hoping more than just “a few in city government” are familiar with the City’s emergency preparedness plan in 2013.
Or else Chicago residents could really be screwed in a major crisis.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Sources:
Dellimore, Craig. “Chicago May Update Emergency Plans In Wake Of Boston Terror Attack.” CBS Chicago. 22 Apr. 2013. (http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/04/22/chicago-may-update-emergency-plans-in-wake-of-boston-terror-attack/). 1 May 2013.
Samuel, Leah. “Emergency Plan Eludes City Officials.” The Chicago Reporter. 12 Sep. 2007. (http://www.chicagoreporter.com/news/2007/09/emergency-plan-eludes-city-officials). 1 May 2013.
City Of Chicago On Review For ‘Possible Downgrade’ By Moody’s
“We still have a very strong bond rating. Our fiscal position is getting better every year and we are aggressively managing our liabilities and obligations.”
-City of Chicago Comptroller Amer Ahmad, July 20, 2012, as noted in a July 22, 2012, Chicago Sun-Times article
I’ve been warning Survival And Prosperity readers for some time that the City of Chicago’s finances are not as peachy keen as City Hall would like outsiders to believe.
So much so, the City’s credit rating is on review for a possible downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service. From the Moody’s website earlier today:
Moody’s has announced its final approach to the way it will analyze and adjust pension liabilities as part of its credit analysis of state and local governments. These changes reflect the rating agency’s view that pension obligations are a significant source of credit pressure for governments and warrant a more conservative view of the potential size of the obligations. As a result of this new approach, Moody’s has also placed the general obligation ratings of the cities of Chicago, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and Portland, OR, and of 25 other US local governments and school districts on review for possible downgrade. The entities whose ratings have been placed on review have large adjusted net pension liabilities relative to their rating category…
Moody’s rates over 8,000 local governments in the United States. Less than 1% of those with general obligation or equivalent ratings have been placed under review because of the new pension adjustments.
(Editor’s note: Italics added for emphasis)
Great. Chicago is in another “select group” it really doesn’t want to belong to these days.
You can read the entire announcement on the Moody’s website here.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Chicago Police Department: ‘No Known Threat’ To City Related To Boston Explosions
All’s well in Chicago after the Boston Marathon incident?
From the Chicago Sun-Times website late this afternoon:
Chicago Police said Monday afternoon there is “no known threat” to the city, although police in Los Angeles, New York and London are stepping up security following explosions at the Boston Marathon.
“We are closely monitoring events as they unfold in Boston and the City of Chicago’s public safety departments are actively communicating with our law enforcement partners both locally and throughout the country,” said Melissa Stratton, spokewoman for the 911 center. “At this time, there is no known threat to Chicago.”
Good to know.
I’ll keep all of the above in mind as I continue practicing eternal vigilance in these uncertain times.
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
“‘No known threat’ to Chicago, official says.” Chicago Sun-Times. 15 Apr. 2013. (http://www.suntimes.com/19504594-761/no-known-threat-to-chicago-official-says.html). 15 Apr. 2013.
Spring Wilding In Chicago
Anyone remember this excerpt from a March 20 post I published about Chicago’s wilding problem?:
One needs only to follow local events (Second City Cop blog is my vehicle of choice) the last two years to recognize that Chicago has a wilding problem. So much so that City Hall is now even talking about clamping down on flash mobs/mob actions/mob attacks what have you.
Alas, talk is cheap.
And the wilding was back in full-force downtown this past weekend:
One witness, community activist Andrew Holmes, estimated the number of wilding participants was close to 500 individuals.
As for the supposed clamp-down? Fran Spielman reported yesterday on the Chicago Sun-Times website:
In an email to his constituents, downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) described Saturday’s incident as “very disturbing” and said it was “orchestrated” on Facebook and Twitter involving 400 young people.
Reilly said he planned to meet with police officials this week to press for “additional, high-visibility resources” for downtown commercial corridors during warm weather months, including foot and bike patrols and a beefed-up CTA detail.
Shouldn’t Alderman Reilly be talking to the downtown business owners? After all, they’re the ones who’d be footing the bill for the extra police presence as part of his ordinance- last I heard.
No dinero from those local businesses, no cops.
If it’s on-duty CPD officers he’s referring to, I’m guessing the alderman never got that memo about the ongoing manpower shortage in the Chicago Police Department? From what I understood, “extra” cops are being paid overtime to help saturate some of the city’s problem neighborhoods these days.
Leaving districts like mine (16th District) an attractive target for the city’s criminal element.
As it stands right now, warm weather looks to be heading back into the Chicagoland area by the end of the week. Which should make for an interesting weekend in “Wildingville.”
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
Spielman, Fran. “Attacks on Mag Mile, CTA dim glow from 69% drop in murder rate.” Chicago Sun-Times. 1 Apr. 2013. (http://www.suntimes.com/19213008-761/attacks-on-mag-mile-cta-dim-glow-from-69-drop-in-murder-rate.html). 2 Apr. 2013.
Chicago Looks To Tackle Wilding Problem
One needs only to follow local events (Second City Cop blog is my vehicle of choice) the last two years to recognize that Chicago has a wilding problem. So much so that City Hall is now even talking about clamping down on flash mobs/mob actions/mob attacks what have you. Fran Spielman reported on the Chicago Sun-Times website Monday night:
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) has a plan to prevent a repeat of the ugly mob attacks that have plagued River North and downtown Chicago the past two summers: moonlighting, uniformed police officers paid for by local merchants.
Reilly wants to let local chambers of commerce, business improvement districts and “special service area” taxing districts hire off-duty Chicago Police officers to supplement regular police patrols…
Reilly’s ordinance, quietly introduced at last week’s City Council meeting, would allow off-duty officers to wear their uniforms while being paid $30 an hour by local businesses to work a minimum of six-hour shifts.
According to Spielman’s article, it sounds like area merchants and the Fraternal Order of Police support the proposed initiative. The City Hall reporter did point out that John Chikow, president of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, said there’s no money available to hire moonlighting CPD officers.
It sounds to me like the Association expects the City to pick up the tab for this program. Does anyone blame them for feeling this way? After all, their members and the revenue they generate are instrumental in keeping this city running.
Alas, this might not be an issue if the Chicago Police Department were operating at full-strength.
Still, it’s nice to see at least one elected official taking the wilding problem seriously. However, the City of Chicago needs to act now before the delinquents hit the streets. Without any additional measures in place this year I suspect 2013 is going to be another bad one for downtown Chicago when it comes to flash mobs/mob actions/mob attacks.
Remember what I blogged way back in May 2011 as all this was escalating:
If City Hall “loses” downtown to the bad guys- or, in this case, bad boys and girls- you lose the tourists, their money, revenue… you get the point.
You listenin’ Rahm?
By Christopher E. Hill, Editor
Survival And Prosperity (www.survivalandprosperity.com)
Source:
Spielman, Fran. “Plan calls for moonlighting cops, merchants’ cash to stop mobs.” Chicago Sun-Times. 18 Mar. 2013. (http://www.suntimes.com/news/18939262-418/plan-calls-for-moonlighting-cops-merchants-cash-to-stop-mobs.html). 19 Mar. 2013.
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