U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- On 14 July, 2019, there was one of the frequent shootings on Chicago’s West Side, in the Austin Neighborhood. A 22-year-old was killed. Bullets also hit State Representative La Shawn Ford’s car. Representative Ford (D-Chicago), has been ambivalent about concealed carry in the City. He has been a representative for the past 12 years. He ran for mayor in 2019 but lost the election. In 2011, he was ambivalent about a concealed carry permit bill. He eventually voted present rather than vote against it.
Representative Ford sponsored and passed a bill creating a Violence Prevention Task Force in 2013.
La Shawn Ford is a liberal democrat in Chicago. He favors more tax money going to Chicago from the State of Illinois, and from the Federal government. He thinks there are plenty of police in Chicago, and they should have more controls on what they do.
On the Mancow Show, on WLS, he said he is encouraging people in his neighborhood to obtain concealed carry licenses so they can defend themselves. From wlsam.com:
Ford tells The Mancow Show on WLS-AM 890 that he is encouraging his residents to arm themselves against the violence.
“I think about it all the time,” Ford said of the shootings that plague his community. “That’s why I’m working with a concealed carry instructor and we’re going to go through the neighborhood and we’re going to encourage people to get their concealed carry license because it makes no sense for people not to have the protections that they need.”
John Lott has written that minorities in high crime urban neighborhoods benefit the most from an increase in concealed carry permits. Maybe Representative Ford has read some of John Lott’s research. Maybe it is a classic case of a liberal changing their view when confronted with reality.
Welcome to the party, Representative Ford.
One of the healthiest things for law-abiding black people to do is to obtain a concealed carry permit. It is proof they are no longer considered second class citizens. Free men have the right to arms. It shows the system works because they were not excluded from being armed because of their skin color.
For many years, black people were kept from exercising their right to arms. An entire class of gun laws was written and enforced to keep them disarmed.
The Civil Rights movement and its red-headed stepchild, the concealed carry movement changed all that. Black Americans are applying for and obtaining concealed carry permits in greater and greater numbers.
Illinois was dragged into recognizing the right to arms by federal courts. It was Otis McDonald, a Chicago resident, in the seminal McDonald v. City of Chicago, that incorporated the Second Amendment as applying against state and local governments, as well as the federal government. Otis McDonald was a black resident of Chicago.
I continually monitor the Internet for reported self-defense events. More and more cases involve black people who have concealed carry permits. This is not surprising; the highest concentration of violent crime occurs in black populations.
The way to prevent criminal violence in black populations is to instill the rule of law and respect for the criminal justice system. When a black person applies for a concealed carry permit, their legal rights are respected and another small brick is placed in the foundational respect for the rule of law.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Glad he saw the light,also glad his scare didn’t harm him or his family. Welcome and stay safe
There is no second class citizen. However, there is a prohibited person underclass of citizens. This is a de facto class, populated by law. To be inducted into this class requires only being a human being. Being a law-abiding person is not a barrier to membership. Prohibited persons are legally denied the right to access firearms, among other restriction. Mr. Ford should note that a third of the black male population in Chicago are prohibited persons; not counting the females. These numbers only include felons, not other causes for becoming a prohibited person. It would be most beneficial for Chicago… Read more »
Smart young man – I hope he wins. Chicago needs a strong leader after the devastation of Obama’s reign of power.
Google Maj Toure, he’s doing important work.
No law abiding citizen should be charged a license fee for, and taxed by the State, in order to exercise a Freedom granted by the Federal Constitution.
It’s a small step in the right direction. I think most city folks have been ingrained from birth that only bad guys have guns, because they haven’t had any positive experiences growing up. It’s not a racial thing, it’s politics.
@Albbac2, yes, “ingrained from birth” that is the key.
Agreed
“It is proof they are no longer considered second class citizens.” A permit to carry is not proof of 1st class citizenship. It is proof that RTKB is treated as a second class right, at best.