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Handgun giveaway aimed at city's ban.(Chicago)
Josey1
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Handgun giveaway aimed at city's ban
Group to offer pistol per month to Chicagoans
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By Ted Gregory
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 22, 2002
A gun-rights group that called on supporters to attend Taste of Chicago with handguns concealed in fanny packs is planning another controversial promotion--giving away one handgun a month to a resident of Chicago, where handgun possession is illegal.
Concealed Carry Inc., which has the motto "saving lives by arming citizens," is planning to start the giveaway in May with a semiautomatic .32-caliber pistol, said John Birch, president of Concealed Carry, based in Oak Brook. He compared the drive to an effort to push for gun owners' civil rights.
"At this point it's a moral imperative that we act on that which we speak," Birch said. "The problem is here. Cook County and Chicago are the 800-pound gorillas in the gun-rights battle, and the people are dying here. That's where the work is to be done."
Birch, who posted the promotion Friday on the organization's Web site, said the group's estimated 1,130 members will determine who receives the gun each month. Every applicant must be at least 21 years old, possess a firearm owner's identification card and pass an instant background check, Birch said.
In addition, applicants must confirm on a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms form that they are not a convicted felon, substance abuser or mentally ill. The penalty for lying on the form is a federal perjury charge.
Finally, applicants must write a brief statement explaining why they deserve the gun, which retails for $300 and is designed as a plainclothes police officer's secondary weapon or "for concealed carry by licensed citizens," according to promotional material from the manufacturer, Kel-Tec CNC Industries Inc. of Cocoa, Fla.
Birch said members have agreed to fund the program, and the guns will be distributed to recipients in Oak Brook, which does not impose a ban on handgun possession.
A spokeswoman for the City of Chicago corporation counsel's office said the city has no plan to deal with the gun giveaway but cautioned that the penalties for breaking Chicago's handgun ban are severe.
"We take this very seriously," said spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle, adding that city prosecutors routinely seek jail time for those who violate the ordinance. The maximum penalty for violating the handgun ban is 6 months in jail. Hoyle noted that offenders often receive 10-day jail sentences.
"People have the right to disagree with the ordinance," she said, "but as long as they break these laws, they must face the consequences."
Thomas Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence in Chicago, called the giveaway a stunt to build support for an issue the public continues to reject. Illinois is one of six states that prohibits citizens from carrying concealed firearms. Proposed legislation to allow concealed carry has failed repeatedly.
"John is always talking about how law-abiding citizens should be able to carry concealed weapons," Mannard said. "Clearly, giving handguns to Chicagoans is not law-abiding. You should practice what you preach.
"This is just a matter of whatever stunt you can do today and get a little attention, he's going to do," Mannard said.
Birch said the city's ban would fail under court scrutiny. That belief is part of the motivation behind the gun giveaway, he said.
"I want them to sue me," Birch said. "The sooner we get this in court, the better."
In May, Birch invited members "to load up a fanny pack and head to the Taste of Chicago for a peaceful demonstration of our rights."
The drive drew the anger of law-enforcement and gun-control groups. By June, Concealed Carry had backed away from the Taste of Chicago promotion, although Birch maintains that supporters did bring handguns in fanny packs to the festival discreetly.
A year earlier the group began promoting carrying handguns in fanny packs as a way around the state ban on carrying concealed weapons. That strategy brought calls for rewriting the state law to block the use of fanny packs to carry a weapon but did not result in a change. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/showcase/chi-0204220036apr22.story
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Group to offer pistol per month to Chicagoans
E-mail this story
Printer-friendly format
Search archives
By Ted Gregory
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 22, 2002
A gun-rights group that called on supporters to attend Taste of Chicago with handguns concealed in fanny packs is planning another controversial promotion--giving away one handgun a month to a resident of Chicago, where handgun possession is illegal.
Concealed Carry Inc., which has the motto "saving lives by arming citizens," is planning to start the giveaway in May with a semiautomatic .32-caliber pistol, said John Birch, president of Concealed Carry, based in Oak Brook. He compared the drive to an effort to push for gun owners' civil rights.
"At this point it's a moral imperative that we act on that which we speak," Birch said. "The problem is here. Cook County and Chicago are the 800-pound gorillas in the gun-rights battle, and the people are dying here. That's where the work is to be done."
Birch, who posted the promotion Friday on the organization's Web site, said the group's estimated 1,130 members will determine who receives the gun each month. Every applicant must be at least 21 years old, possess a firearm owner's identification card and pass an instant background check, Birch said.
In addition, applicants must confirm on a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms form that they are not a convicted felon, substance abuser or mentally ill. The penalty for lying on the form is a federal perjury charge.
Finally, applicants must write a brief statement explaining why they deserve the gun, which retails for $300 and is designed as a plainclothes police officer's secondary weapon or "for concealed carry by licensed citizens," according to promotional material from the manufacturer, Kel-Tec CNC Industries Inc. of Cocoa, Fla.
Birch said members have agreed to fund the program, and the guns will be distributed to recipients in Oak Brook, which does not impose a ban on handgun possession.
A spokeswoman for the City of Chicago corporation counsel's office said the city has no plan to deal with the gun giveaway but cautioned that the penalties for breaking Chicago's handgun ban are severe.
"We take this very seriously," said spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle, adding that city prosecutors routinely seek jail time for those who violate the ordinance. The maximum penalty for violating the handgun ban is 6 months in jail. Hoyle noted that offenders often receive 10-day jail sentences.
"People have the right to disagree with the ordinance," she said, "but as long as they break these laws, they must face the consequences."
Thomas Mannard, executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence in Chicago, called the giveaway a stunt to build support for an issue the public continues to reject. Illinois is one of six states that prohibits citizens from carrying concealed firearms. Proposed legislation to allow concealed carry has failed repeatedly.
"John is always talking about how law-abiding citizens should be able to carry concealed weapons," Mannard said. "Clearly, giving handguns to Chicagoans is not law-abiding. You should practice what you preach.
"This is just a matter of whatever stunt you can do today and get a little attention, he's going to do," Mannard said.
Birch said the city's ban would fail under court scrutiny. That belief is part of the motivation behind the gun giveaway, he said.
"I want them to sue me," Birch said. "The sooner we get this in court, the better."
In May, Birch invited members "to load up a fanny pack and head to the Taste of Chicago for a peaceful demonstration of our rights."
The drive drew the anger of law-enforcement and gun-control groups. By June, Concealed Carry had backed away from the Taste of Chicago promotion, although Birch maintains that supporters did bring handguns in fanny packs to the festival discreetly.
A year earlier the group began promoting carrying handguns in fanny packs as a way around the state ban on carrying concealed weapons. That strategy brought calls for rewriting the state law to block the use of fanny packs to carry a weapon but did not result in a change. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/showcase/chi-0204220036apr22.story
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878