Illinois State Senator drafting bill to let judges be armed [View All]

[Tweed]

http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/031205/new_20050312044.shtml

"SPRINGFIELD -- A state lawmaker is planning to propose legislation that would allow judges to carry concealed weapons.

State Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, said Sangamon County Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley asked him if he would introduce the law in wake of the slayings of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow's mother and husband two weeks ago.

Bomke said such a law might have prevented the shooting of Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, who died Friday morning in Atlanta, Ga., along with two others when a rape defendant grabbed a sheriff deputy's gun and opened fire on the judge and his court reporter.

"In light of what happened this morning, I think the possibilities are pretty good that the judge could have had defended himself had he had a weapon," Bomke said Friday."

Or maybe the deputy sheriff SHOULD NOT be armed!