U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- In the aftermath of a workplace shooting in the Chicago suburb of Aurora that claimed five lives, by a man who could not legally have a firearm, the Chicago Sun-Times reacted predictably by demanding in an editorial legislation to “require background checks on gun sales and almost all gun transfers.”
The newspaper identified the killer as Gary Martin, 45, who had just been dismissed from his job at the facility where he immediately opened fire. He reportedly was armed with a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun that he should not have had; one that he apparently purchased legally during a brief period several years ago, and did not surrender voluntarily when ordered to.
The Sun-Times acknowledged that, “Martin had been convicted of a felony that should have prohibited him from possessing a weapon, according to the Aurora Police. He stabbed a woman in Mississippi in 1995, and he’d been arrested by the Aurora Police six times since then, including for violating an order of protection.
“But,” the editorial continued, “the police said, Martin’s assault conviction might not have popped up on a criminal background check in 2014 when he was granted a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card — and sold a gun.”
According to the Chicago Tribune and CNN, Martin’s past caught up with him when he applied for an Illinois concealed carry permit, “shortly after purchasing the gun, according to police.”
At that point, the Tribune reported, the permit application was denied and his FOID Card was revoked by the state police.
But he still had the pistol, and police are investigating why.
To read the Sun-Times’ editorial perspective, “the gun lobby’s servants in Washington would tell you that more rigorous background checks are unnecessary.”
Perhaps the Sun-Times editorial board should read the Tribune’s news columns or even their own. The existing system caught Martin. The law worked, but the authorities apparently failed to make sure this man was disarmed. That’s not the fault of some mythical “gun lobby servants in Washington.”
Martin, the Tribune noted, “was in illegal possession of the gun used in the attack.” The Sun-Times would penalize every law-abiding gun owner in Illinois, if not the nation, because of it.
“In the last several months,” the Sun-Times editorial added, “Illinois has passed three bills to help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, but such laws come at a snail’s pace. And they rarely come along at all in Congress.”
What the newspaper seems to overlook is that all the strict gun laws already in effect in Illinois have not prevented Chicago street thugs from shooting one another, or innocent bystanders. The law didn’t prevent Martin from retaining his gun because apparently it wasn’t enforced, so when Second Amendment advocates insist that current laws should be enforced before passing new ones, maybe the Sun-Times should listen.
Chicago’s body count has declined over the past couple of years for sure, but last year saw a reported 561 people slain in the Windy City, which is a higher number than some entire states report. So the Sun-Times’ plea for more rigorous gun control laws seems designed to spread the blame rather than narrow the responsibility down to local authorities and the man who pulled the trigger.
An estimated 100 million American gun owners, including some 17.5 million people who are licensed to carry, didn’t hurt anybody in Aurora. But the Sun-Times editorial ignores that in favor of increased restrictions on the exercise of a fundamental right by millions of citizens.
“There is so much more we can do,” the newspaper says, insisting that every part of the nation needs to be more like big cities. “And until we own up to it, there will be no peace.”
Levelheaded firearms owners and rights activists could easily reply that there was “so much more” that could have been done, such as making sure that Martin was disarmed when his criminal past was revealed. It wasn’t the so-called “gun lobby” that dropped the ball on that, but Illinois authorities.
To paraphrase the last line in the Sun-Times editorial, “And until we own up to it, there will be no credibility.”
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Criminals supporting Criminals, 20,000+ firearms laws already on the books, and now they want more, That makes sense. NOT. Instead of enforcing the laws already on the books, it is quite obvious that they have once again failed in this specific situation. Then Again I really don’t expect much from the “D” and “F” students who are steering this ship. Socialism>Communism>Gun Control=Disarmament=Extermination… The Impoverished Deadly Agenda…As history has proven…. “Seemingly Utopian pacifists are free to profess their love of a weapon-free world, but they must start by disarming the evil, criminal and tyrannical. Disarming the public is a vent for… Read more »
Someone illegally obtained a gun therefore they want more gun laws. What ppl didn’t apparently get is that ppl that want a gun is going to get a gun while others hand theirs over like nice little sheep. Probably the same ppl that think our justice system puts innocents above getting a conviction.
How could he legally purchase a firearm? He had to lie on question 11c of the Form 4473. That in itself is a felony under Federal law. BATF didn’t bother to flag it or follow up on it? Who’s at fault?
..may be punished if the criminal is not in a dhimmi-rat enclave like crook county, il….
sp the snooze paper says he should have had his gun taken away when he was denied his Mother May I Card to carry. to which I say WRONGGG!!!! Anyone else catch this bit here: He had been CONVICTED of a felony assault. THAT is a disqualifyiung event. THAT should have been entered into the NICS database so he nevr could haev bought the Glock. One more case PROVING that the present background check system” is failed. Like the two Air Force desk jockeys that FAILED to report the mulitple disquoaifying records of the guy who shot up the church… Read more »
i want the same rights as con-gress, dhimmi-crats, illegals, muslims, thugs, etc. they don’t have to comply with anything.
Ironic, the very bureaucracy that meserably failed wants more gun control by the very bureaucracy that meserably failed!
they will not stop until we are like the EU controlled UK. It is a shame no leader will call it what it is. it is a take over of this country by a foreign group of Zionist bankers that want a dumb simple controllable nondescript race of idiots. the same ones want to do away with our borders, religion, history and internal combustion engines, HELL, they are after cow farts and want to tax rainfall. Think about it, Why is it that the only thing getting done in America is the BS, NATO CRAP Against Russia and the disarming… Read more »
Did the authorities know the murderer had the gun? How? A gun registry? I am against a gun registry. However, how would authorities disarm a felon without a registry?
Adding more laws is a sure way law abiding citizens will lose their rights. The left knows this and are waiting for the next carnage to add some more.