Rockford, Illinois Federal Judge, Iain Johnston has ruled Illinois’ concealed carry ban on public transportation unconstitutional, yet it is clear that just days after the murder of four CTA Blue Line passengers, city officials and policymakers still don’t get it or simply don’t care. The U.S. District Judge’s decision pertains specifically to Illinois residents who have already been vetted and approved for concealed carry permits, a bad look for opponents of the ruling as they are unable to stop criminals from carrying firearms and committing murder but have instead targeted law-abiding citizens, callously leaving them unable to defend themselves in Chicago, one of America’s most violent and crime-ridden cities.
Illinois became the last state to adopt a concealed carry law in 2013, however, the measure forbids permit holders from carrying firearms in government buildings, stadiums where sporting events are taking place, hospitals and public buses or trains. Ironically, lawmakers do not seem to understand that violent criminals don’t really concern themselves with relatively petty restrictions. If they did, they wouldn’t be out trying to murder people in the first place.
This week’s decision is the result of a 2022 lawsuit filed by four concealed carry permit holders who alleged the ban violated their Second Amendment right to self-defense. Johnston’s ruling is a constitutional test requiring gun laws to be “historically” consistent with the right to bear arms when it was written, the established standard arising from New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a 2022 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision. The Bruen decision will be tested again later this month during arguments in front of a southern Illinois federal judge over the state’s ban on so-called assault weapons.
Johnson, in his Aug. 30 ruling, wrote that defendants, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, “failed to meet their burden to show an American tradition of firearm regulation at the time of the Founding that would allow Illinois to prohibit Plaintiffs — who hold concealed carry permits — from carrying concealed handguns for self-defense onto the CTA and Metra.”
On Monday, attorney David Sigale, representing plaintiffs in the case, applauded the decision but urged permit holders to avoid trouble with authorities “until the judgment is final and the broader applicability is made clear.” While a wise recommendation, the fact that it must be made out of fear that officials and authorities will act in disobedience of Johnson’s ruling is a chilling yet demonstrable scenario that is played out often in Democratic-run states. It would be nice to see justice served in those cases with officials and authorities brought up on contempt of court charges in the same manner as private citizens would for defiance of a judge’s ruling.
“This is an important ruling regarding locations where law-abiding persons have too often been vulnerable, and we are gratified by the Court’s ruling upholding their Second Amendment right of self-defense,” Sigale added in an email. It was a well pointed statement as this past Labor Day weekend alone saw at least 31 shot and 5 killed in Chicago. Is it really possible, in light of overwhelming evidence, that lawmakers can’t understand the fact that criminals don’t care, or is there a larger elitist agenda at play here that overshadows the need for law-abiding citizens to be able to defend themselves? Realize that one of these options must be true, but that neither would be acceptable as officials and policymakers should neither be ignorant, nor of nefarious intention when representing the public.
Speaking of these types, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s office said in a Tuesday email that it was reviewing the decision “and will likely appeal,” even in light of four murder victims on the CTA Blue Line just one day prior. Contempt for the safety of law-abiding citizens continued to spew from Raoul’s office.
“In the meantime, it should be noted that the court’s decision is limited to the four named plaintiffs,” he wrote, warning citizens not to assume that the ruling on constitutionality applies to everyone. It doesn’t even make sense.
Democratic Governor JB Pritzker on Tuesday, also ignoring the four murder victims only a day before, criticized the ruling as a “misguided decision” adding, “Well, unfortunately, many of the conservative judges who’ve been appointed have misunderstood what it means to uphold public safety, and we still believe in the Second Amendment. It’s part of the Constitution. You have rights as a result of the Second Amendment. But there are limitations to that.” With palpable doublespeak, it’s clear the Governor does not know or cares very little about the safety of his constituents. As for the Second Amendment, he seems to suggest that he believes it exists, but that he has the authority to regulate it into a right that law-abiding citizens will not be able to exercise legally.
The delusional roller coaster ride did not end there as the governor continued, “If it has to go all the way to the Supreme Court, it’ll be disappointing if they uphold this… But I’m hopeful that the law that was passed in Illinois a number of years ago that’s frankly done a lot to keep people safe will be upheld.” Yes, he really said that. It’s a quote. With a heaping spoon of additional irony, the case is being argued during a time of heavy concern for overall violent crime in Chicago, but specifically for those who rely on public transportation, as statistics provided by city officials through Aug. 27 report 626 instances of violent crime this year on the CTA, up from 547 at the same time last year. It is also important to note the mass shooting that took place on the Blue Line this past Monday morning occurred less than a week after the transit agency announced the implementation of an AI-based program being used to detect firearms on the CTA and notify the police.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx threw her “progressive” hat in the ring arguing that the government has a right of exclusion if it owns the property, similar to that of a private property owner. Johnson rejected this argument in court, describing it as “breathtaking, jawdroppin, and eyepopping.” With a firm grasp of constitutional law, Johnson added, “Ms. Foxx’s position — that government’s powers over public property are equivalent to those of private owners of property — is untenable, and was rejected by the Supreme Court long ago… Under Ms. Foxx’s argument, demonstrators could be barred from the Daley Center Plaza, despite it being a quintessential public forum.”
We have tried for over 10 years to repeal no guns on buses and the Metro train (which runs to East St. Louis) in Missouri. The damn Rinos can’t get it out of committees in the majority Republican’t Legislature for a vote where it would pass. Time to sue.
“We have tried for over 10 years to repeal no guns on buses and the Metro train (which runs to East St. Louis) in Missouri. The damn Rinos can’t get it out of committees in the majority Republican’t Legislature for a vote where it would pass. ”
That’s the reason its taken you 10 years with no success. You are not going to be successful in repealing a law unless those that can do it are on board with doing it and take the necessary actions to do so. Committees are where repeal pleas go to die, if the powers that be on the committee don’t want it to happen it doesn’t get out of committee and effectively dies.
You need a court to rule it unconstitutional or some other way ‘nullified’ or non-effectual or illegal.
You need a lawsuit, a court, to rule it unconstitutional.
God speed and hopefully your circuit is faster and less retarded than what we are still dealing with in NY. If it gets past the initial filing stage drop a link to funding donations.
Something of concern, which the 2A community could leverage (but almost certainly won’t):
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1831725019862311381
Oh my, it seems things are spreading quickly. Funny how exponential functions work, eh? Too bad the citizens of West Texas voted for this, amirite?
That last line is what tends to be a sticking point between crab pot and not my problem.
What do you want to bet that the shooter was a sanitation worker cleaning up the subway car and “taking out the trash.”
Seriously, I’ve never understood why public officials ban firearms on public transit, when the statistics show them to be hot beds of criminal activity. I think one of the Supreme Court justices commented (I believe in the Bruen argument) on how there are many law-abiding individuals who work the late shift and who are effectively disarmed during their middle of the night, 0 dark hundred commutes on public transportation, thus becoming easy targets.
“Seriously, I’ve never understood why public officials ban firearms on public transit, when the statistics show them to be hot beds of criminal activity.”
Fear is a motivator that keeps the public listening to government. If the people were allowed to defend themselves, the government would be less relevant to them as the ‘protector’ they claim to be even though they actually are not protecting the people.
and…
The fear by government that a populace empowered in such a way to protect them selves would one day ‘rise up’ to be the actual ‘bosses’ of government the populace was intended to be and use that “empowered in such a way to protect them selves” against that government.
and…
Something a government hates and fears more than anything else … a populace not under their control and able to fight back and able to tell government how its going to be.
“Seriously, I’ve never understood why public officials ban firearms on public transit, when the statistics show them to be hot beds of criminal activity.”
Simple, actually….
It is settled science that law-abiding gun owners/possessors are much more likely to “snap” and shoot up the pasenger compartments, than gangs and criminals are likely to do.
It is just common sense to focus resources and laws on the greater threat.
you win the interweb sarcasm award of the day. 🏆
😂
“It would be nice to see justice served in those cases with officials and authorities brought up on contempt of court charges …”
True justice would be the United States Department of Justice prosecuting them for the federal felony crime “deprivation of rights under color of law” along with the federal felony crime “conspiracy to deprive civil rights”.
Of course that will never happen because Democrats control the U.S. Department of Justice and they only prosecute political enemies.
It’s almost like you think .gov gives a shit about “the people”.
Look at the recent security announcements about TdA (that gang in Aurora, Tren de Aragua) and how they’re now moving into the Permian Basin in West Texas, armed and looking to steal shit and unafraid of confrontation. Seems they’ve teamed up with Cubans too.
You have LE bulletins about this all over the country. bUt ItZ nOt HapPeNinG! according to the people who are either gaslighting or just can’t believe how fucked we really are.
If people understood fuck-all about TdA they’d know this ain’t no joke and it ain’t no drill. These people are used to a situation where cops “interrogate” them with a pair of plyers and blowtorch and they see that as nice compared to what the competition will do to them.
Maybe look into the links they have to major organized cartels like Primeiro Comando da Capital. Those boys control fairly large parts of West Africa, they run the European coke trade FFS. They’re not afraid of Wagner mercs, French troops, Islamists or run of the mill African tribal nutjobs armed to the teeth. Think they’re nice guys? Think they’re afraid of your LE? Think they’ll hesitate to “try that in a small town”?
These dudes helped run off the French Army and the Foreign Legion FFS, French jokes aside, they’re not to be toyed with. They have extensive operational capacity.
For all the “They voted for it” nonsense, this shit’s coming to a town near you, vote or not. Act accordingly.
It’s almost like Ed Calderon was right when I was talking about him two plus years ago.
And by “act accordingly” I mean maybe it’s time to be a bit more ungovernable, you know, care a bit less about what the law says, because you can be damn sure that no one on the other side of the law gives a rat’s ass about your life.
I lived in that neck of the woods, and spent over a decade in the Permian as a wellsite geologist. Everyone I know in the area is tooling up. Everyone. Waitresses. Hotel staff. Truck drivers. Rig workers, dog walkers.
The network news people are clueless as to what is going on. Her Majesty of the Governor of New Mexico is clueless as to what’s going on. The F*A%G(G#O^T governor of Colorado is clueless as to what’s going on. Law enforcement in Texas is just now cluing in to what’s going on, about six months too late.
The southern portions of this country are overrun with organized criminal cartels. From Yuma through Tucson through Las Cruces through Del Rio. I live within a hundred miles of the border in the boonies and see weird sh* every day: caravans of heavy trucks rumbling down rural roads in the wee hours, white vans loading up with illegals in the parking lots of gas stations, groups of migrants walking along secondary roads. Fentanyl deaths are off the charts in border communities, but the police do not report it.
My neighbors and I are strapped at all times, and have access to greater firepower in our vehicles and homes. It’s a mess, and will take years, YEARS, to clean up, and hundreds of millions of dollars, IF the right people are elected. Otherwise, the illegal alien criminals will settle in and it will be impossible to root them out.
The thing that grinds my gears about all of it is the, obviously coordinated, attempts to say that none of this is happening.
Which is really weird considering all the memos out of various state and local departments as well as DHS.
These dudes green light hits on cops at this point. That’s pretty bold.
And we have credible reports of them basically everywhere, out to the Northeast even. Hardly shocking since PCC is known to operate in Canada. Chicago has credible reports of these dudes, specifically TdA, operating in numbers within the city. 30+ showing up to an apartment complex armed. Went out on the cop’s radios too, the scanner traffic is public.
Yet still the denials. The media doesn’t say much, social media trolls say the media is overblowing it…. just straight gaslighting to the max.
I’m reminded of an interview with Ed Calderon (mentioned previously) where he’s asked “When will the government actually step up and do something about this?”
His answer takes about 10 minutes because it’s detailed, but boils down to this:
Because of cartel control/influence over the US legal system via an army of lawyers who have a JD the cartels paid for, and their control over huge swaths of non-illegal markets, and tons of NGOs the government will ignore this for as long as they can.
The breaking point in his estimation will be when the cartels feel powerful enough to “flex”, by which he means, run heavily armed convoys ignoring the cops/state police and go make a statement like they do in parts of Central/South America. You know, burn down a police station and shoot everyone.
In 2022, Ed was saying that’s going to happen within five years. Then you’ll get a US .gov response because that isn’t something they can use the media to hide.
If you look at how cartels get into things… it’s crazy man. They took over the jellyfish fishing industry in Mexico. Jellyfish FFS! But they also control huge amounts of gasoline, diesel and crude oil as well as water distribution and mining. Wild how deep they’re dug in and the US media never gives you a peep about it.
Welp, that’s coming here and, in all likelihood, .gov will do nothing until it gets to basically open warfare.
Hey, I enjoy my cartel avocados! I wish they would lower their price tho. I guess when you corner the market using AKs you can name your price.
They do serve up a damned delicious avocado.
Maybe in 20 years we’ll get a movie about that. Blood Avocado doesn’t sound as cool as Blood Diamond but Hollywood is obviously hurting for material these days.
Used to work with a guy who was in one of the autodefensias of that region before the Mexican gov and cartels ran them off. If I hadn’t seen some of the shit I did in Nicaragua I would never have believed him.
“…the scanner traffic is public.”
was. chicago finally implemented encryption maybe one year ago. what is dribbled out is on 30 min delay and i think that’s on the citywide, less specific channels.
i’ve got a repurposed ymca .75mi from my home housing fenna swaylins for a couple years now. mom can’t swim their no mo.
“Is it really possible, in light of overwhelming evidence, that lawmakers can’t understand the fact that criminals don’t care, or is there a larger elitist agenda at play here that overshadows the need for law-abiding citizens to be able to defend themselves?”
Yes, there is a larger elitist agenda at play here. And that elitist agenda is causing as much chaos, suffering, and pain as possible. This dynamic is no different than the physically abusive husband who threatens, torments, and beats his wife. He gets sick thrills doing it. Likewise, the Ruling Class gets sick thrills doing the same to the masses.
“Likewise, the Ruling Class gets sick thrills doing the same to the masses.”
True, they do have their share of sadists. However, this is also part of a plan.
How do you build a police state in a free country? You get the public to beg you for it.
Hmm organized ultraviolent cartels and misc terrorists, DA’s willing to wreck an innocent person’s life via the ride if they dare defend themselves. Fed’s dedicating massive resources to infiltrate and disrupt any attempt at community organization to protect community……..yeah just a few things short of that Weimar vibe.
When I was a young man, just starting out in the work world in the s*cu*mm*y blue state I was born in, I took public transit to work and school every day. The buses and trains were dirty, cold in the winter, and the usual suspects did the usual, harassing me and other honest people going to work, something the usual suspects knew, and still know, nothing about. So one of the very first things I saved for was a $1000 junker car.
I haven’t taken public transport since. I also moved out of that S%H@I*T!H)O%L#E state and never looked back.
You don’t have to be a victim and put up with it. Get out and live your life free of the usual suspects.
“My neighbors and I are strapped at all times”
In the absence of adequate self defense laws, you are strapped longterm in the bad sense, ie, constrained. SYG, civil immunity, strong trespass laws and extension of Castle Doctrine to personal vehicles are essential if property owners are to maintain their rights against organized criminals.
I note that long and short term takeovers and looting by various types of mobs are not common in Sunny Florida.
I always thought concealed carry bans were silly. I ignore them.
Stupid liberals “Why don’t people want to use public transportation?”
The PTB idiots are doing the same song and dance they did a couple decades ago when the various drug gangs first showed up in various cities. Police command and city officials denied the arrival of the cali street gangs then and deny the existence of the central and south American gangs today. Now the old street thug gangs are busy killing each other over dope holes and street hoes or how ty ty or ray ray disrespected them.
Just another reason to get out of dementiacrat controlled cities and states. And arm up when you get to more sensible locations. While the red states aren’t perfect, most will at least have some semblance of common sense regarding self defense and firearm ownership.
“Under Ms. Foxx’s argument, demonstrators could be barred from the Daley Center Plaza, despite it being a quintessential public forum.”
But, but, demonstrations in a public forum are usually insurrection. If you want a legit political demonstration, you have to loot and burn private businesses. Or occupy/disrupt a campus.
/s
I know that is supposed to be sarcasm but after the last 5 years………..
Yeah, thinking about a new label for when life imitates sarcasm, to wit:
“/s”
Well just don’t make it all NY and CA even if we are largely the ones responsible.
Why This Case Might Be Bruen’s Biggest Impact Yet.
Can you imagine losing a Constitutional Right simply because you lawfully crossed state lines? Sounds crazy, right? Well, Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses that exact phenomenom as many lawful and responsible gun owing Americans can be charged with a crime if they travel to another state with their fireaerm without first obtaining permission from that state. And as stupid as that sounds, today we will learn of two cases in which that happened to residents of New Hampshire who traveled into Massachusetts without getting a permission slip first. This case, now the subject of a successful challenge finds its way to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts next week for oral arguments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeAm29WeJXI
Why This Case Might Be Bruen’s Biggest Impact Yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeAm29WeJXI
I didn’t see any news coverage about the four people who were shot to death on the CTA Blue Line. I think the tragedy wasn’t widely reported because of a color issue. The issue wasn’t that the murders occurred on the Blue Line. The issue was that the perpetrator was Black rather than lilly White.
I don’t intend to suggest that all Black people are murderers. The vast majority never have and never will commit murder. However; Black people are only one-eighth of the US population yet they commit well over half of all murders and two-thirds of all gun homicides. Focusing on guns, especially on the rare occasions when a White person commits a mass shooting, is an effective tactic to divert attention from the real problem.
OH MY GOD — YOU F*ING RACIST!
That was sarcasm, by the way.
I’ve actually been banned from other forums for making this point. James Carville recently spewed BS on FOX News about how illegal Invaders (aka “undocumented immigrants”) aren’t the perpetrators of violent crime. The problem is allegedly White men armed with AR-15s. The fact that our news sites, including TTAG, often don’t report on mass shootings committed by President Obama’s bastard sons is a travesty. Then again, the vast majority of gang related homicides in Democrat dominated cities are never solved. The gang bangers just Shoot, not bother to Shovel, and Shut up.
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