Pritzker's First Instinct: Always Demonize Gun Owners
Governor JB Pritzker speakers with attendees at an event in suburban Skokie Tuesday.
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OPINION
When all else fails, choose arrogance.
That seems to be Governor JB Pritzker’s default position every time he’s posed a questions about the rights of legal gun owners in the state.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m the worst conservative voice in support of gun rights. I think AR-15 style rifles are dumb and I think Republicans have done a crummy job supporting policies to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.
But, after a federal judge ruled Friday a provision in the state’s conceal carry law banning the possession of a concealed firearm on public transit, Pritzker went straight to his demonization game when he spoke to reporters Tuesday.
Pritzker criticized U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston, a Trump appointee to the bench in 2020.
“Well, unfortunately, many of the conservative judges who have been appointed have misunderstood what it means to uphold public safety,” Pritzker said speaking in suburban Skokie Tuesday.
While Pritzker made it clear any right-leaning judge is, in his words, “misguided,” Johnston’s confirmation earned yea votes from both Democratic Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth in 2020.
Pritzker echoed a familiar tone in his comments.
“We still believe in the Second Amendment, it’s part of the constitution, you have rights as a result of the Second Amendment, but there are limitations to that,” he said. “I mean, just to give one example: the right to bear arms is not the right to shoulder fired missile, as one example. There are limitations on the kinds of weapons and the places. Would we would allow people to carry and AR-15 into the White House? No.”
The Governor’s hyperbole is an extravagantly exaggerated view of an out of touch liberal view on guns.
There is no serious gun owner (sit down, Darren Bailey) that argues gun owners should be allowed to strap a rifle on their back when they get on the Metra to head to the office. No serious gun owner is arguing for open carry or permit-less carry in Illinois, either.
And Pritzker’s insinuation that gun owners are comparable to Taliban fighters with rocket propelled grenades on their shoulders is an insulting diminishment of people he simply disagrees with.
But, to Pritzker, gun owners are terrorists.
Pritzker and far too many Illinois Democrats believe gun owners in this state are more comparable to the suspected Highland Park shooter (who we do not mention by name in this newsletter) or the people causing news story after news story as shootings pepper the landscape of Chicago each weekend.
Violence and crime on Chicago’s transit systems is just part of the public consciousness at this point. (Like this, this, this, this, this, and…you get the picture.)
Top it off with the murder of four innocent people on a Blue Line train near suburban Forest Park this weekend.
I guarantee you the person charged in that crime didn’t have a FOID card, didn’t have a concealed carry license, hadn’t undergone proper training, and was previously convicted of gun crimes and likely wasn’t allowed to own, much less carry, a gun anyway.
And that’s the difference here. Whether for personal or political reasons, Pritzker refuses to see the difference between the criminal actions of the Blue Line shooter and the legal concealed carry owners around the state.
Concealed carry holders have been approved for a FOID card, which requires a background check. They’ve been trained and gone through an accuracy test to receive a concealed carry license. They’ve gone through another background check to buy a firearm.
Concealed carry holders are the safest gun owners in the state. Why shouldn’t they be allowed to protect themselves when they’re out in public?
Pritzker even admitted Tuesday the concealed carry law enacted in 2013 has “done a lot to keep people safe,” so why wouldn’t you want to help keep more people safe?
Pritzker has often promised to be a governor for “all of Illinois.” Maybe someday he’ll recognize millions of people in the state don’t live in his lakeshore liberal billionaire bubble.
It sure doesn’t seem like that realization begins today.