Updated details on newest March of the "Snuffy" Brigade on Chuck's Gun Shop

As mentioned Monday, "Father" Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger will be leading yet another siege of Chuck's Gun Shop, in Riverdale, Illinois this coming Saturday (June 23), apparently at 1 PM.

The Illinois State Rifle Association is once again organizing a counter-protest:

Action Alert for Saturday, June 23, 2007: Counter-Protest at Chuck's Gun Shop, the 3rd Time in 4 Weeks

ISRA has found out that Fr. Michael Pfleger is going to march yet again at Chuck’s Gun Shop, 14310 S. Indiana, Riverdale, IL on Saturday, June 23rd. This is four weeks after the highly publicized protest at the same location where he called for the "snuffing out" of Chuck's owner, John Riggio. He will probably bring Reverend Jesse Jackson with him.

Many of you have followed the news about Pfleger's threat and wished that you could have been at Chuck's on May 26th to show your solidarity. Some of you took advantage of the short notice to come out to Chuck's last weekend. ISRA 1st Vice President Mike Weisman was there to stand with John Riggio and the counter-protestors at both marches. He's going to be there again, and he's urging all gun owners who can do so, to come to Chuck's this Saturday.

"Chuck's Gun Shop is a part of my own personal history with firearms. I first went there over 25 years ago, when I lived in the city. The staff helped me get my first FOID card." Mike Weisman said, "Chuck's Gun Shop as been part of the community in the south suburbs for decades, it's a vital, family-run business that should stay and serve the community in the decades to come."

"So I'm going back there this Saturday, and I'm calling on my fellow ISRA members and Illinois Gun Owners from all across Chicagoland to join me. I'm also making a special appeal to those who have ties to this part of the metro area. It's important to me personally that we have strong representation there." Weisman concluded.

Background info: The owners of Chuck’s have been long-time defenders of the right to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, they have paid dearly for supporting your rights. Chucks was the primary target of Mayor Daley’s $433 million lawsuit against the 2nd Amendment. Although the Daley suit failed, Chuck’s was forced to bear huge legal costs to defend their business - and to defend the 2nd Amendment. Chuck’s has also been harassed ceaselessly by anti-gun church groups and the gun-hating media - including “60 Minutes.” Rev. Jackson and Fr. Pfleger have marched twice on Chuck's Gun Shop in the recent weeks, including May 26, when Fr. Pfleger called for John Riggio to be "snuffed out." The ISRA has an audio copy of his turn at the microphone, which you can download and listen to. (550KB mp3 file)

ISRA is calling upon gun owners to make the return trip to Chuck's Gun Shop to take a stand for the right to keep and bear arms. Please do the following:

1. Plan on gathering at Chuck’s Gun Shop & Range, 14310 South Indiana Avenue, Riverdale, IL, at 12:30 PM on June 23rd for a counter protest against Michael Pfleger and Jesse Jackson. Click here for a mapquest map.

2. While at Chuck’s, express your solidarity with the owners and, if you can, make a purchase. No matter how small, your loyalty to Chuck’s will be greatly appreciated.

3. Prepare to peacefully confront anti-gun protesters with the truth. Don’t be shy about defending what you know is rightfully yours.

4. If possible, take photographs of the anti-gun protesters and send copies to webmaster@isra.org.

5. Please post this alert to every Internet blog and bulletin board that you belong to. Encourage all your friends and fellow shooters to join in this counter-protest against the gun grabbers.

Only you can defend your rights from destruction by guys like Fr. Pfleger and Rev. Jackson. The gun grabbers must not attack our rights with impunity. You are the gun owner who will stand up and be counted. Make sure that you are there Saturday, June 23rd at Chuck’s Gun Shop.

Be sure to enjoy some more excellent commentary from the Armed School Teacher.

Keep in mind what we're up against, folks--but never doubt that We Shall Overcome.

Jesse and "Snuffy" back at Chuck's for an encore tomorrow

Just got an email alert from ISRA--apparently Jesse and "Father" Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger have decided that the owner of Chuck's Gun Shop has not been adequately threatened yet, so they're planning another siege tomorrow. Let's see if Pfleger tries again to incite murder.

Action Alert for Saturday, June 16, 2007:
Mobilize AGAIN to Protect Your Gun Rights at Chuck's Gun Shop

Late breaking news: We've just received word that Reverend Jesse Jackson & Operation PUSH is going to protest again at Chuck's Gun Shop, 14310 S. Indiana, Riverdale, IL on Saturday, June 16th. This is three weeks after the highly publicized protest at the same location where Jesse's pal, Fr. Michael Pfleger from St. Sabina called for the "snuffing out" of Chuck's owner, John Riggio. It's been predicted that Pfleger will return for a repeat performance.

Many of you have followed the news about Pfleger's threat and wished that you could have been at Chuck's on May 26th to show your solidarity. Tomorrow is your chance. If you're not sure what kind of a threat this is to gun rights, we suggest that you listen to Pfleger's screaming diatribe recorded at Chuck's Gun Shop last time. Here is the link to our copy of the audio. It's a small (550KB) mp3 file.

Background info: The owners of Chuck's have been long-time defenders of the right to keep and bear arms. Unfortunately, they have paid dearly for supporting your rights. Chucks was the primary target of Mayor Daley's $433 million lawsuit against the 2nd Amendment. Although the Daley suit failed, Chuck's was forced to bear huge legal costs to defend their business - and to defend the 2nd Amendment. Chuck's has also been harassed ceaselessly by anti-gun church groups and the gun-hating media - including "60 Minutes."

ISRA is calling upon gun owners to make a return trip to Chuck's Gun Shop to take a stand for the right to keep and bear arms.

As a show of support for Chuck's, and as a rebuke to Jesse Jackson and his liberal gun-grabbers, we are asking all Illinois gun owners to do the following:

1. Plan on gathering at Chuck's Gun Shop & Range, 14310 South Indiana Avenue, Riverdale, IL, at 1:00 PM on June 16th for a counter protest against Jesse Jackson and Michael Pfleger.

2. While at Chuck's, express your solidarity with the owners and, if you can, make a purchase. No matter how small, your loyalty to Chuck's will be greatly appreciated.

3. Prepare to confront anti-gun protesters with the truth. Don't be shy about defending what you know is rightfully yours.

4. If possible, take photographs of the anti-gun protesters and send copies to webmaster@isra.org.

5. Please post this alert to every Internet blog and bulletin board that you belong to. Encourage all your friends and fellow shooters to join in this counter-protest against the gun grabbers.

Only you can defend your rights from destruction by guys like Jesse Jackson. The gun grabbers must not attack our rights with impunity. You are the gun owner who will stand up and be counted. Make sure that you are there tomorrow, June 16th at Chuck's Gun Shop.

By the way, thanks for the plug, David.

While we're on the subject of fringe loonies complaining in the Chicago area about slow progress in the civilian disarmament lobby's agenda, some group called Protest Easy Guns, in conjunction with the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, is having something they call a "LIE-IN" (wouldn't nearly every utterance of organizations dedicated to denying the existence of a Constitutional right, and claiming that the best way to combat violence is to disarm peaceable people, constitute a "lie-in"?).

Is there a full moon tomorrow?

A bit of good news regarding the proposed Cook County ordinance?

I considered posting this update as an edit to today's earlier post, but such updates can get kind of lost in the shuffle, so I decided a new post was in order. What this is about is what looks like some good news for Chuck's Gun Shop, and bad news for Cook County's aspiring tyrant, Larry Suffredin.

Remember what Suffredin smugly and pompously stated (also remember that the lack of spaces between many of the words isn't my fault):

"As a home rule unit, Cook Countyhas the legal right to regulate where these establishments are allowed tooperate. Chuck's Gun Shop is within one mile of a school which will not beallowed once this ordinance passes."

Fellow Illinois gun rights activist GarandFan discovered the following in the Illinois state constitution (in SECTION 6. POWERS OF HOME RULE UNITS).

(c) If a home rule county ordinance conflicts with an
ordinance of a municipality, the municipal ordinance shall
prevail within its jurisdiction.

So now the question is whether or not Riverdale has an ordinance that conflicts with Suffredin's new pet tyranny. Let's take a look. I couldn't find anything about proximity to schools in Riverdale's municipal gun laws, which might spell bad news for Chuck's after all, but I did find this (click to enlarge):

So it would seem that Riverdale intends to be protected from Cook's draconian gun laws (Riverdale has some fairly draconian laws of its own, but that's another matter), but I wouldn't be surprised if Cook County took Riverdale to court in order to impose Chicago-style tyranny on Riverdale (arguing that Riverdale has no ordinance that directly conflicts with the provision that imposes a minimum distance from schools), and not much more surprised if Cook won. Just to be safe, I think Riverdale ought to pass a new ordinance, specifying that gun shops must be a minimum of one inch (maybe one angstrom) from a school--now that would indisputably put their ordinance in direct conflict with Suffredin's proposal, giving Riverdale the upper hand.

I realize, of course, that this proposed ordinance goes well beyond Chuck's, and needs to be fought tooth and nail regardless, but a chance to defeat this portion of it is still good news--especially given my sneaky suspicion that Chuck's was to a large degree the target of this abomination. I would certainly like to see "Snuffy" Pfleger's face if it does turn out that Chuck's is safe after all.

I knew Father Michael Pfleger was crazy, but I didn't know he was homicidal

Over that last few days, I've discussed (here and here) the mob of people that gathered in front of Chuck's Gun Shop, in Riverdale, Illinois, to complain about lawful sales of firearms. I talked a bit about some of what Jesse Jackson spewed, but I neglected to say much about his even crazier counterpart, Father Michael Pfleger (in this picture--from an unrelated event, he's the one who is not Louis Farrakhan).

It's actually not that I neglected to post what Pfleger said, it's just that it's so over-the-top, so unbelievably vile, that I hesitated to post it without being able to back up the fact that he did indeed say it. Well, thanks to the Illinois State Rifle Association, now I can back it up. One of the counter-protesters at Chuck's Saturday recorded Pfleger's hate speech, in which he called for the murder ("snuffing out," in his words) of John Riggio (owner of Chuck's Gun Shop) and pro-rights legislators.

During an address at an anti-gun rally in front of Chuck's, Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina's Church, exhorted the crowd to "drag" shop owner, John Riggio, from his shop "like a rat" and "snuff" him. Rev. Pfleger went on to tell the crowd that legislators that vote against gun control legislation should be "snuffed" as well. As many know, "snuff" is slang for especially violent murder.

Still don't believe me? Listen to the MP3 file.

So much for "Thou shalt not kill," eh? Clearly, the civilian disarmament lobby is the farthest thing from being an "anti-violence" movement, as it purports to be. Apparently Pfleger has gotten tired of even pretending that violence prevention is the goal.

UPDATE: Kudos to the Second Amendment Foundation for helping to make sure this isn't just swept under the rug.

By the way, it looks as if Pfleger (or someone from St. Sabina, anyway) stopped by here--too bad he didn't leave a comment--even if it was just to threaten to "snuff" me out, too.

Deacons for Defenselessness causing hardship to Riverdale

The mayor of Riverdale, IL (home of Chuck's Gun Shop), although a proponent of strict gun laws herself, takes issue with the harassment campaign engineered by Jesse Jackson and "Snuffy" Pfleger against Chuck's Gun Shop.

A suburban mayor is speaking out against a protest in her village last weekend. That demonstration ended with the arrests of Reverend Jesse Jackson and Father Michael Pfleger. They have led two protests at Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale. The mayor there says the demonstrations have cost the village thousands of dollars.

The mayor says resources spent on protecting protesters' rights and safety will be better spent elsewhere, in particular, trying to prevent gun violence. This was all sparked by an incident over the weekend, a protest of a gun shop in Riverdale.

I do not contest the right of people to protest whatever they feel compelled to protest. The Constitution protects such speech, and I would not want to live anywhere that such protections were not provided by law.

Still, when the protests are damaging to the very people they're ostensibly intended to protect, perhaps a different approach is indicated.

Mayor Evans has expressed interest in accompanying the Deacons for Defenselessness to Springfield, where the legislating is done (Blagojevich's and Daley's wishes and delusions notwithstanding).

If it's new laws they want, their protests should be where laws are made--not at Chuck's, where they are obeyed.

What--no calls to "snuff out" anyone this time, "Father"?

As mentioned Friday, Jesse Jackson and "Father" Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger yesterday led a mob of complainers again to harass Chuck's Gun Shop, in Riverdale Illinois. Thanks to a timely alert from the Illinois State Rifle Association, there were pro-rights activists there, as well.

One of those can be seen in this video segment (click on "Chicago activists target suburban gun shop," on the right). That would be my fellow Illinois gun rights blogger, who pointed out that the civil rights movement would seem to have lost its way, if it is now advocating the suppression of rights, rather than the protection of them. He apparently also tried to make mention of the fact that Pfleger's St. Sabina "Church" does a great deal of politicking, despite enjoying the tax-free status of a 501(c)(3) corporation. The reporter wasn't interested--sounds a bit like Americans United for Separation of Church and State in that regard, doesn't she?

In another video segment (click on "Chicagoans march for an end to gun violence," on the right), we see coverage of several protests, including both the one at Chuck's and the other one I mentioned Friday (the "LIE-IN"). In this segment, we are also treated to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley screeching about the need to license gun dealers--has someone forgotten to tell him about the endless, unconstitutional, bureaucratic hoops required to get and maintain a Federal Firearms License? Maybe Ryan Horsely would be able to find the time to explain it to him--that is if he can take a minute away from the fight against the BATFE stormtroopers who are bent on destroying his livelihood.

In both video segments, the protesters are forced to acknowledge that there is exactly zero evidence that Chuck's Gun Shop has violated any laws--but that's not good enough for them.

No exhortations, apparently, to "snuff out" anyone--this time--maybe there was enough backlash from that last time to convince even Pfleger to be a bit more circumspect.

As David Codrea and I (just me for the moment--David is going to be busy for the next few weeks) keep pointing out, the way to make Pfleger's attacks on the Second Amendment more difficult is to sic the feds on him for his obvious violations of the provisions governing 501(c)(3) corporations. The stated mission of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State is blowing the whistle on just that kind of activity (although they seem to have a marked preference for going after churches on the right side of the political spectrum--going after a church that violates the same laws for the purpose of advocating draconian gun laws would seem to be less attractive to AUSCS). As mentioned here and here, I would like to see AUSCS blitzed with emails (americansunited@au.org) urging them to show some consistency and fairness, and avoid the hypocrisy of applying different rules based on their own political preferences.

Jackson and Pfleger have already announced that they'll keep coming after Chuck's (and other gun shops), and they're just a small part of the threat. There is a War on Guns, and we won't win if we don't fight.

Chuck's Gun Shop "protest" to be covered on Hannity and Colmes tonight

Email notice from the Illinois State Rifle Association:

May 31, 2007:
Last Saturday's Protest at Chuck's Gun Shop on Fox News Channel Tonight at 8:00 CDT

This is a quick note to our members and other readers:

If you've been following the fallout from Jesse Jackson's protest at Chuck's Gun Shop last Saturday, especially Father Michael Pfleger's inflammatory threats leveled at John Riggio and pro-gun legislators, then you might want to tune into the Hannity & Colmes show tonight on the Fox News Channel.

This show is transmitted via cable, satellite, certain broadcast affiliate TV and radio stations at 8:00 pm CDT. If you don't have the Fox News Channel, or don't have a TV, you might be able to listen to a live webcast at www.foxnews.com.

I don't know how much (if at all) "Father" Pfleger's outrageous behavior will be covered, but there's one way to find out.

UPDATE: For those who missed it, you're in luck--here it is. It turned out to be all about Pfleger's death threat. It was worth watching just for the beginning, which had much clearer audio of Pfleger than the initial MP3 file did.

Still don't want to talk about your tax-exempt status, Mike?

Apparently not, but it seems "Father" Pfleger is getting a little sensitive about all us nasty gun people calling him out on his terroristic threats.

Response to I.S.R.A. Attack

On Tuesday, May 29, 2007 The Illinois State Rifle Association released a press statement titled, "Chicago Priest Call for Murder of Gun Shop Owner".

This is not only a lie, it is absurd! On Saturday, May 26, 2007 at an anti-gun rally at Chuck's Gun Shop, I said that John Riggio of Chuck's Gun Shop had the business listed in a trust, so that you could not find out who he is or where he lived, but that we would find it out and that we would snuff him out, as well as legislators who are being bankrolled by the N.R.A. and fighting common sense gun legislation.

All the news media were there, as well as about 400 people and heard the whole speech. It is interesting to me that no one took this interpretation of the words I spoke, not the media or any of the 400 people present until Tuesday, when the I.S.R.A. sent out a press release with their propaganda.

I am a student of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and have always and will always preach non-violence. I am insulted by this character assassination, but not surprised. The tactic is to divert the attention off the real issue,easy access to guns and turn it on me.

It will not work!!!

Rev. Dr. Michael L. Pfleger,

Pastor,
Faith Community of Saint Sabina

I cannot help but notice that his "explanation" of what he said doesn't sound any less threatening than the original hate speech did. He still says that they're going to find out where Riggio lives, and snuff him out. At his little orchestrated mob scene in front of Chuck's he even spelled out Riggio's name, as if to make it easier for a would-be murderer to find him.

Mr. Riggio and his family are presumably unable to afford bodyguards, and so if any of Pfleger's pflock decides to carry out Pfleger's call to snuff Riggio out, he's on his own. Interestingly enough, though--the situation is different for Pfleger himself.

The Armorbearers Ministry consists of a group of God-called men who are responsible for protecting the anointing and the pastoral mantle that rests upon Reverend Michael L. Pfleger. This is accomplished through consistent prayer, fasting and personal assistance. The Armorbearers share an individual and collective desire to lay down their lives for the life of another, namely Pastor Pfleger. These men assist Pastor Pfleger on Sundays and also travel with him extensively throughout the year.

So, it would seem that this "priest of God" has a personal coterie of (fanatically?) devoted bodyguards willing to die for him.

The more I hear about this Pfleger, the less willing I would be to accept a glass of Kool-Aid from him.

Reminder: Chuck's Gun Shop under siege again--be there

Just a reminder of what I mentioned Monday and Wednesday--"Father" Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger (and most likely Jesse Jackson, as well) will be leading yet another mob of people calling for the demise of Chuck's Gun Shop. Even if Pfleger has learned better than to call for the "snuffing out" of its owner (I wonder when the state police will visit him), he will still be advocating that its owner and employees lose their livelihoods, that their families lose their incomes, and that people who depend on Chuck's for their self-defense needs be rendered defenseless.

On that last point, I propose that Pfleger, Jackson, and other, like-minded clergymen form a new organization. They could call themselves the Deacons for Defenselessness and Injustice (to show their diametrical opposition to these guys).

As a fellow Illinois gun rights blogger points out, it would seem that Jesse has switched sides in the Civil Rights battle. I wonder what price he exacted for the turning of his cloak.

Cook County (Illinois) slides a little further into decay

David Codrea (and others) got to this story well ahead of me, but since it's in my state (not that I'm happy to claim it), and since my old pal "Snuffy" Pfleger is involved, I feel kind of compelled to take a look at Cook County's latest outrage. Cook County (for those with the good fortune of living far enough away to be unaware) is the county in which Chicago festers in its combination of anti-gun tyranny and rampant violence (a combination that probably strikes many Chicago residents as incongruous, but is actually par for the course, and fairly predictable). By the way, the Reuters article in the link not only uses the wrong spelling of "reign" (for this usage, they mean "rein"), but apparently putting spaces between words was something the authors could only be bothered with when it suited them.

Anyway, it seems that Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (author of Cook County's ban on so-called "assault weapons") has now decided to go after gun shops--shops that are not even accused of breaking any laws.

Citing the senseless loss of liferesulting from random gun violence, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredintook a giant step today toward reducing the number of handguns on the streetsof Chicago and Cook County by introducing an ordinance that would restrict thelocation where gun shops in suburban Cook County can operate.

(See what I mean about spaces between words?) Anyway, let's take a look at this "giant step," shall we? How would placing more restrictions on Cook County gun shops keep guns out of Cook County? Does anyone really believe that someone who wants a gun will decide to do without, simply because he can't get it without leaving the county? Anyone who does believe that, perhaps I could interest you in a great deal on a pair of breeding mules.

"I am tired of business as usual. I am tired of picking up the paper orturning on the news to see reports about innocent children gunned down in coldblood, because some gang member bought a gun at their local gun shop,"Suffredin said.

Letting slide, for the moment, Suffredin's rather . . . interesting assertion that gang members are buying many of their guns in gun shops, are we to understand that it's the fact that the guns are bought (according to Larry) at local gun shops that offends him? I guess now we know why he thinks getting the shops out of Cook will help--it's apparently not the fact that armed thugs are killing people that bothers him--it's the fact that they're acquiring the guns locally (again, according to Larry).

"For nearly thirty years, I have fought for sensible gunlaws. Whether it was against the NRA or legislative leaders, I fought to passlaws to keep guns off our streets."

And a marvelous job you've done, Larry--which is why Chicago is so admired as an oasis of peace and domestic tranquility.

Here are the particulars of the proposed ordinance.

The proposed ordinance would amend the Cook County Deadly Weapons DealerControl Ordinance and would:

-- Remove the exemptions for municipalities, like Riverdale, that passed

less restrictive ordinances in order to avoid the provisions of the

existing Weapons Ordinance;

-- Extend the restriction on gun shops within one mile of a school or park

to all municipalities within Cook County.

-- Increase the distance required between licensed weapons dealers from

five to ten miles

-- Ban gun shows completely in Cook County.

By the way, does Cook County even have gun shows (I honestly don't know)?

Father "Snuffy" will be especially pleased, I'm sure, that Chuck's Gun Shop's location within a mile of a school makes it one of the shops threatened by this latest attack on freedom (has anyone ever explained why a gun shop near a school is so terrifying--is there a lot of shooting near gun shops?). According to another article, along with Chuck's, three other gun shops (of the twenty or so in the county) are on the chopping block.

I'm fascinated by the provision of the ordinance that overrides municipal ordinances less strict than the proposed county ordinance. Every time statewide firearms preemption laws are discussed, the citizen disarmament zealots launch themselves into hysterics because local control is being usurped (interestingly, though--these same people seem very keen on the idea of restrictive federal gun legislation). Now, though, we see Cook County proposes to attack the local laws of municipalities like Riverdale (where Chuck's is located).

In talking about the resolutions supporting the Second Amendment (most recently here), that are sweeping the state, county by county (and I'm overdue for another update on that--maybe later today), I have mentioned Cook County's growing isolation from the rest of the state. Judging by Suffredin's proposal, maybe that's how Cook likes it (as long as downstate taxpayers continue sending tribute up north).

UPDATE: More at Days of Our Trailers

So much heat, so little light, from Jesse Jackson and friends

Yesterday, either "about 1,000" (if you believe the Daily Southtown), or "almost 200" (if you believe the Chicago Tribune) people gathered outside Chuck's Gun Shop, in Riverdale, Illinois (near Chicago), to protest the completely legal and above-board commerce in firearms there. The crowd (whatever its size was) was "treated" to speeches by Jesse Jackson and others. If I correctly understand Jackson's column in the Chicago Sun-Times, he believes that gun shops should not be permitted anywhere near urban areas.

Metropolitan areas -- where most people live -- have no use for gun peddlers, for people packing concealed weapons, for kids fighting gang wars with assault weapons. If given their choice, most citizens in cities and suburbs would simply ban handguns, ban assault weapons and ban gun shops and gun dealers. Hunters could buy their guns in the rural areas where they hunt.

Evidently, he believes that people who use guns for evil would not bother driving to rural areas to buy them.

The Daily Southtown article points out that Jackson is not one to let trivialities, such as a lack of factual information, stop him from presenting groundless claims as fact.

Jackson has said in person and in prepared remarks that Chuck's sold the "majority of guns connected with recent shooting deaths in Chicago."

But pressed on his sources, Jackson admitted to the Southtown after the rally that he does not have statistics on the store.

"The police know -- everyone knows -- they get guns from here," he said.

That's good, Jesse--if you don't have information, just make some stuff up.

The Tribune article pointed out something that Jackson and his cohorts said, that I found a bit puzzling:

Jackson and Revs. James Meeks and Michael Pfleger encouraged the crowd to push for stricter gun laws. They vowed that the rally was just the beginning and that civil disobedience was possible.

What kind of "civil disobedience" would one engage in for advocacy of a violation of rights?

The civilian disarmament advocates weren't the only protesters there--counter-protester on the pro-rights side had a question for Jackson.

One man carried a sign that read, "Jesse -- How many armed guards do you have?"

Apparently (and shockingly), Jackson declined to answer that question.

Too bad--I would like to have heard his answer.

Here we go again

Maybe "Father" Michael "Snuffy" Pfleger just realized that last Saturday, he forgot to try to incite his mob to murder, and now wants to correct that oversight. Whatever the reason, St. Sabina "Church" is planning yet another march on Chuck's this coming Saturday, June 23rd.

Saturday, June 23rd

March to Chuck's Gun Shop
Please call the Rectory for more information and to reserve a place on the bus.

Any gun rights activists who can get to Riverdale Saturday, you know what to do.

Deacons for Defenselessness take their show nationwide

No longer content with limiting his publicity seeking harassment of law-abiding Chuck's Gun Shop, Jesse Jackson is planning, to expand his campaign nationwide on August 28th (no word on whether or not "Snuffy" Pfleger is going to be involved).

Unlike Mayor Bloomberg, Jackson makes no effort to claim that he is after only "illegal" guns--he blames every gun buyer for violence committed with firearms.

“Our marching does not kill people; people who buy guns from gun shops kill people,” Rev. Jackson said.

That's funny--I've bought more than a few guns from gun shops, and know folks who have bought many more, but I don't know anyone who has killed a person.

It would seem that at least part of Jackson's angst regarding guns is based on confusion:

Rev. Jackson said the nationwide rallies would represent a grassroots effort to press state and federal legislators into passing “common sense” legislation to stem the flow of handguns and military-style automatic weapons.

The reverend should be very pleased to know that since 1934, "military-style automatic weapons" have been very tightly controlled by federal law (and even more so by state laws, depending on the state). This is great! One of his biggest objections is now taken care of. Don't thank me, Jesse--glad I could help.

By the way, if anyone has any idea what the following snippet means, please let me know in the comments section:

The National Rifle Association, a powerful special-interest lobbying organization and chief proponent of lax rules for gun ownership, is promoting a federal bill that would, among other things, eliminate any limits on the quantities of guns an individual may purchase.

Er . . . what? There is currently no federal law imposing gun rationing on purchasers. Three states (California, Maryland, and--interestingly enough, given the civilian disarmament lobby's vitriol over its supposedly "loose gun laws"--Virginia) do have such legislation, but if there is any effort underway to pass a federal law that would invalidate the gun rationing laws in those three states, I have not heard of it (and I try to keep abreast of such things).

Could be another case of confusion on Jesse's part--he seems to suffer from that a lot.

And another thing . . .

In my discussion yesterday of the siege of Chuck's Gun Shop, there was something I forgot to mention about the media coverage. This event, which (depending on whether one believes the Daily Southtown, or the Chicago Tribune) featured either "about 1,000" protesters, or "almost 200," got fairly heavy press coverage. The two newspapers I mentioned, plus ABC7Chicago (in which Jackson compared gun shops to Iraqi insurgency bases) are just the ones I know of to carry stories about it.

Contrast that to IGOLD (Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day), in which 1200 or more gun owners from all over the state went to Springfield, in the finest tradition of grassroots activism, to demand an end to Chicago-style "gun control" over the entire state. The media almost universally ignored it. Perhaps as few as 200 people complain outside a gun store, and it's big news, but 1200 people going to the State Capitol Building, to tell their elected representatives to start . . . representing them, for a change--and it's not a story.

Similarly, with four counties in Illinois adopting resolutions of defiance of the draconian gun laws oozing their way through the Politburo legislature, and more considering similar resolutions, one might expect some kind of reaction from the media. If so, one would be wrong, for the most part.

That's all I have for today. I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day, and is taking some time to honor the courage, the nobility, and the sacrifices of the brave men and women who have paid with their blood for our way of life. On a personal note, I'll never forget 1st Sergeant Ernest Utt, who was the chief of the cannon crew of which I was a minor part, many years ago, in my paratrooper days. He was killed in Baghdad on June 27, 2004. I am fortunate to have known him, and America is fortunate to have benefited from his brave service.