Pike County to Cook County: Drop Dead (CCW approved by the county - Illinois)

[shadowrider]

Fed up with the control the Chicago machine has exercised over Illinois state politics in general and firearms laws specifically, Pike County has voted to legalize concealed carry effective immediately. The measure was approved on March 20 by a 3,214 to 550 margin in what outdoorwire.com calls one of the largest voter turnouts in county history. “Historians have stated that this is the first time since 1862 that county voters in any U.S. state have explicitly reversed a state law. The previous example was when the five western counties of Virginal nullified that state’s secession from the Union, and themselves seceded from Virginia to form the new state of West Virginia.” As you might expect, this one is destined for judicial review. To say the least. Because of the conflict with state law, “legal observers . . .expect the inevitable court battle to be complex, because the new ordinance was enacted by the voters themselves, not by any county or local legislative entity.”

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/03/daniel-zimmerman/pike-county-to-cook-county-drop-dead/

More backlash

[COLGATE4]

1. Interesting information in the responses to this

article:

"It doesn’t reverse a state law. Concealed carry is still illegal, even in Pike. It was a referendum simply asking the electorate if the county should adopt a concealed carry ordinance. The county board still has to meet to draft and pass an ordinance, and that would be very quickly challenged by the Illinois Attorney General (a hardline anti-gun democrat) and Illinois State Police."

Is this correct?

[shadowrider]

2. I'm not an attorney nor an expert on Illinois CCW. Short answer?

Hellifiknow.

[COLGATE4]

10. I don't know. Just posing the question. nt

[Logical]

3. Wow, this is huge! And won by a 85% - 15% margin. This might be a turning point!

[shadowrider]

4. All it takes is one little leak in the dam.

Over time, the entire dam will fall.

[Logical]

5. Maybe more counties will do the same thing.

[PavePusher]

11. Surely this is...

Teh Backlash we are warned of...

[ileus]

6. Keeping our fingers crossed for our friends in the good parts of IL.

[nevergiveup]

7. I was born and grew up in this county.

My grandparents and parents are buried there. I still have nieces, nephews and a sister living there. It wasn't always to this extreme but today Pike County Illinois is as right-wing and racist and homophobic and religiously fanatic as you can get. God help us if the people of this county start having their say on any law at any level.

[PavePusher]

12. Voting in approval of CC is "extreme"? n/t

[gejohnston]

14. If I were gay or a minority there

I would want CCW and SYG.

[DonP]

15. Yeah, God help us if the people that live there actually have a voice in their government

The last thing you want is people you don't approve of to have the vote or to use it.

Are you a graduate of the "Bull Connor Charm School" too?

But the good news is, I hear most of the phobic trash has moved out of the County now.

[nevergiveup]

17. You obviously missed my point but

if guns are your total life then you would feel right at home living in this county. This is rural Mississippi in rural Illinois without the minorities. Today this is "Obama is a Muslim" country. There has always been a hunting culture here. My dad had a hardware store here in the 50's and 60's and he sold guns and ammo and as a teenager I probably sold enough shotgun shells to fill a couple of semi trucks. But something has changed in the culture. I still return every summer to see my sister and visit my favorite fishing holes but the people there, even the ones I have known for years, are so full of hate and right-wing propaganda. They can not separate gun rights from right-wing knee-jerk hateful dogma. It was not always this way and I find it unsettling. This was the point I was trying to make although I admit I didn't state it very well.

[gejohnston]

18. I blame Rush

and people like him. They dominate the airwaves in rural areas pushing the big lie. Last time I went home to Wyoming, the locally owned radio station that played Johnny Cash, Deep Purple, and Rufus in same hour when I was a kid was bought up by the corporate hate machine. The only other alternative was WPR/NPR. I listened to a lot of classical music.
When I was in California, Mike Savage was a local "talent" at right wing KSFO. I listened to Pacifica (my office was in a vault, it was the only signal that got through, plus I liked the music and Jerry Brown's "We The People&quot
Feed people the same line of shit over and over again, they believe it. What place is a good dose of Jim Hightower.
Hopefully Rush will keep crashing, and his copy cats will go with him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Lie

[angel123]

8. Chicago machine?

I realize that ALEC has it's fingerprints all over this nonesense. We, in Illinois should be ever vigilant with regards to ALEC's infleunce in our state, less we end up with the mess like Florida. Chicago brings revenue to this state. No, Pike County should drop dead. I'm sick to death of downstaters complaining about Chicago.

[DonP]

9. Well, maybe if Chicago could live within it's means?

And not require millions of $ every year from the rest of the state to "balance" the school and CTA/Metra budget, the downstaters wouldn't be quite as hostile. And FWIW, Chicago "contributions" to the GDP of the state have been shrinking every year. You are another Detroit in the making, but with better scenery.

Or you could try and concentrate on not having hundreds of school kids killed in the city every year. Last weekend alone you have 49 people shot and 10 of them died! And that's in a "Gun Free" city.

Yeah, you guys have all the answers to everyone elses problems but somehow can't manage to get your own shit together.

Now tell us more about how your great mayor refuses to give NATO protestors march permits, has designated "Free speech zones" on West Madison and pushed the OWS people out of Grant Park. The police union has no contract, nor the firemen and Rahm broke the teachers union contract and refuses to meet with any union representatives for extending the teaching day. Yeah, your a great example to the rest of the state.

Fuck Cook County and Fuck Chicago, and I lived there for 40+ years.

[PavePusher]

13. Ahem....

[ileus]

16. Wonder why IL doesn't trust it's citizens?