It is one of the most politically charged - and politically hypocritical - issues in the country: the battle over gun rights, the Second Amendment in general, and what the founding fathers actually intended when they included the subject of firearms ownership in the Bill of Rights.
Generally, the issue comes up during a high-profile shooting, such as the mass murder of moviegoers attending the premier of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado this past summer, or when NFL player Javon Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself in front of his head coach and general manager this month.
But occasionally, the subject of gun control vs. gun rights makes headlines because of the tremendously hypocritical nature of the person or persons involved.
Before this week, few people outside of Illinois had heard about state Sen. Donne Trotter, one of several Democratic candidates planning to run for a U.S. House seat currently held by Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., who announced in November he was resigning amid charges that he misused campaign funds (another case of hypocrisy for another time).
'It's important for us to act on this'
Trotter, who is chairman of the Senate Democratic majority caucus, was arrested Dec. 5 on federal charges of attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a Class 4 felony. That's bad enough, but what makes this even more noteworthy is that Trotter, who has been in the state legislature since 1989, "has been a longtime gun-control advocate who opposed concealed carry legislation in the state," the Chicago Tribune reports.
Generally, the issue comes up during a high-profile shooting, such as the mass murder of moviegoers attending the premier of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado this past summer, or when NFL player Javon Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself in front of his head coach and general manager this month.
But occasionally, the subject of gun control vs. gun rights makes headlines because of the tremendously hypocritical nature of the person or persons involved.
Before this week, few people outside of Illinois had heard about state Sen. Donne Trotter, one of several Democratic candidates planning to run for a U.S. House seat currently held by Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., who announced in November he was resigning amid charges that he misused campaign funds (another case of hypocrisy for another time).
'It's important for us to act on this'
Trotter, who is chairman of the Senate Democratic majority caucus, was arrested Dec. 5 on federal charges of attempting to board an aircraft with a weapon at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a Class 4 felony. That's bad enough, but what makes this even more noteworthy is that Trotter, who has been in the state legislature since 1989, "has been a longtime gun-control advocate who opposed concealed carry legislation in the state," the Chicago Tribune reports.
"In an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid in 2000 against U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, Trotter chided another candidate in the contest for being absent from a special legislative session during a crucial gun-control vote," the paper said. That other candidate was then-state Sen. Barack Obama.
"It's important for our constituents to be here to act upon this one way or another," Trotter said at the time.
In addition to opposing concealed carry, Trotter has worked to outlaw semi-automatic rifles that are often misidentified as "assault weapons," because they resemble military-grade weapons.
In 1995, he went up against fellow state senator Kirk Dillard, a Republican, after the latter proposed a concealed carry law. Trotter echoed the oft-used language of the statist in arguing that concealed carry laws would create a society of vigilantes, a phenomenon that simply has not happened in any of 40-plus states that have allow concealed carry (Illinois, by the way, is the only state where this right is denied, according to the USACarry.com website, which tracks such laws).
And yet, here is Trotter, just a few days ago, showing up at an international airport with a handgun in his carry-on bag.
'A man who favors banning firearms shouldn't have a gun'
"Senator Trotter, by his own action, has demonstrated the monumental hypocrisy of gun control advocates who try to disarm average citizens while reserving the right to bear arms for themselves alone," said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, in a press release.
"A man who favored banning firearms for thousands of his fellow Illinois residents shouldn't even have a gun, much less be packing one illegally into an airport," he continued. "He should not even be serving in the state legislature, much less be running for a seat in Congress, which already has its share of gun prohibition hypocrites."
Trotter is not the only anti-gun statist who thinks it is all right for them to carry a gun while denying that right to you.
-- Actress, comedienne and daytime talker Rosie O'Donnell once famously upbraided fellow actor Tom Selleck on her show over his support of the National Rifle Association. Some time later, it was revealed that she applied in anti-gun Los Angeles to allow her personal bodyguard to obtain a concealed carry license so he could better protect her and her kids.
-- David Brock, the founder of Media Matters, a left-wing media "watchdog" organization, had a personal assistant carry a concealed handgun illegally in Washington, D.C., in order "to protect Brock from threats," The Daily Caller reported. Few organizations have declared their opposition to gun ownership or concealed carry laws as strongly as Media Matters.
-- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire, has aligned himself with a group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, to - what else? - push for new gun control laws. Oddly, none of these mayors is pushing for their own police departments to put their dangerous guns away and start carrying nightsticks instead. Moreover, the Second Amendment Foundation took a look at the members of this mayoral group and found "a significantly higher rate of felonious activity among the mayors who teamed up with hizzoner than among the eight million citizens who are licensed to carry concealed firearms," the Washington Times reported. "If Mayor Bloomberg wants to align himself with this criminal element of mayors to push for gun control, we think the public should know about it," Gottlieb said.
Sources:
http://www.infowars.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://blogs.suntimes.com
http://www.washingtontimes.com
"It's important for our constituents to be here to act upon this one way or another," Trotter said at the time.
In addition to opposing concealed carry, Trotter has worked to outlaw semi-automatic rifles that are often misidentified as "assault weapons," because they resemble military-grade weapons.
In 1995, he went up against fellow state senator Kirk Dillard, a Republican, after the latter proposed a concealed carry law. Trotter echoed the oft-used language of the statist in arguing that concealed carry laws would create a society of vigilantes, a phenomenon that simply has not happened in any of 40-plus states that have allow concealed carry (Illinois, by the way, is the only state where this right is denied, according to the USACarry.com website, which tracks such laws).
And yet, here is Trotter, just a few days ago, showing up at an international airport with a handgun in his carry-on bag.
'A man who favors banning firearms shouldn't have a gun'
"Senator Trotter, by his own action, has demonstrated the monumental hypocrisy of gun control advocates who try to disarm average citizens while reserving the right to bear arms for themselves alone," said Alan Gottlieb, chairman of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, in a press release.
"A man who favored banning firearms for thousands of his fellow Illinois residents shouldn't even have a gun, much less be packing one illegally into an airport," he continued. "He should not even be serving in the state legislature, much less be running for a seat in Congress, which already has its share of gun prohibition hypocrites."
Trotter is not the only anti-gun statist who thinks it is all right for them to carry a gun while denying that right to you.
-- Actress, comedienne and daytime talker Rosie O'Donnell once famously upbraided fellow actor Tom Selleck on her show over his support of the National Rifle Association. Some time later, it was revealed that she applied in anti-gun Los Angeles to allow her personal bodyguard to obtain a concealed carry license so he could better protect her and her kids.
-- David Brock, the founder of Media Matters, a left-wing media "watchdog" organization, had a personal assistant carry a concealed handgun illegally in Washington, D.C., in order "to protect Brock from threats," The Daily Caller reported. Few organizations have declared their opposition to gun ownership or concealed carry laws as strongly as Media Matters.
-- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire, has aligned himself with a group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, to - what else? - push for new gun control laws. Oddly, none of these mayors is pushing for their own police departments to put their dangerous guns away and start carrying nightsticks instead. Moreover, the Second Amendment Foundation took a look at the members of this mayoral group and found "a significantly higher rate of felonious activity among the mayors who teamed up with hizzoner than among the eight million citizens who are licensed to carry concealed firearms," the Washington Times reported. "If Mayor Bloomberg wants to align himself with this criminal element of mayors to push for gun control, we think the public should know about it," Gottlieb said.
Sources:
http://www.infowars.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://blogs.suntimes.com
http://www.washingtontimes.com
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