http://www.suntimes.com/output/stevens/mich01.html
Law abiders under fire
October 1, 2000
BY MICHELLE STEVENS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Guns don’t kill; people do.
Yet the anti-gun advocates are at it again, bullying
Congress to support their cause–which is to banish the
object rather than the person who illegally uses the object.
Instead of lobbying for longer sentences for criminals who
use guns, the gun-control advocates continue their efforts
to make it difficult or impossible for law-abiding citizens
to own a gun. In their well-meaning but warped thinking, all
guns are bad.
Not so. And there are endless incidents where people have
prevented a robbery or assault by brandishing a gun, but
many of these cases go unreported. And that’s too bad: The
gun-control folks love to exaggerate gun use in committing
crimes. The police and John Q. Public need to know how
effective guns can be at preventing crime.
But in this climate where guns are demonized by the media
and such groups as the Illinois Council Against Handgun
Violence, it’s dangerous to speak out in support of guns,
even for defensive purposes. Those who do risk being
stereotyped as “gun nuts” or potential criminals.
That’s why I respect people like John Birch, president of
Concealed Carry Inc., who is ignoring the heat and
relentlessly lobbying the General Assembly to give Illinois
residents the right to carry a gun for self-protection.
And I admire Christopher K., 32, a disabled man who carries
a handgun for self-defense. “Somebody has to speak out,” he
said. “I feel that, by putting a face on the issues of
self-defense and concealed carry, the debate will be brought
into the open. Gun owners are not all crazies.”
I will not divulge Christopher’s last name, even though he
insisted that I do so. In the virulently anti-gun climate in
Chicago and northern Illinois, Christopher risks his job and
his freedom for shooting off his mouth in favor of guns.
Because Christopher has cerebral palsy and walks with a
cane, he makes an easy target for criminals, who prefer to
pick on the weak and defenseless. He began carrying a gun
about five years ago after a particularly harrowing assault
one night at a CTA L station. “The guy had me cornered and
demanded money,” he said. “Several people saw what
happened,” but nobody interceded. He can’t run away.
Christopher has carried a gun ever since, and says police
tell him–off the record, of course–that he’s smart to
carry a gun. Police are never around when you need them.
Christopher never has used his gun. But he has had to reach
for it at least twice–and that was enough to scare away the
bad guys, including a man who demanded money while
threatening to break a 40-ounce beer bottle over
Christopher’s head.
Gun-control advocates like to cite dire statistics about how
many victims are killed or injured each year by guns. I
prefer the unpublicized statistics on the many thousands of
times crimes are prevented because the would-be victim was
armed–legally or illegally.
“Under Illinois law I risk a felony conviction every time I
step outside my home when carrying a gun for self-defense,”
he said. “For years I’ve battled with the fear of being
arrested vs. my terror of further victimization. I’m damned
if I do and damned if I don’t.”
Christopher is willing to risk all for his principles. He
embodies the spirit of Americans who risk going to prison
for defying a law that says you can’t carry a gun to protect
yourself when you work at night or travel through dangerous
neighborhoods. On taking one’s chance in such a dilemma, my
father used to say, “I’d rather be judged by 12 [jurors]
than carried by six [pallbearers].”
Remember that when you’re passing the Kluczynski Federal
Building Plaza downtown on Monday afternoon, or watching the
television coverage of the 18th annual Rally Against
Handguns. I doubt that reporters or news editors will seek
out anyone in the crowd who supports gun ownership by
law-abiding people. But there will be gun supporters in that
crowd, just as there were last summer at the Million Mom
March. And remember: A gun is just an inanimate object. It
is only as evil as the person carrying it.
E-mail: stevensm@s…

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