Jesse Jackson Sr., Bobby Rush and Others Denounce Supreme Court Gun Ban Ruling

While handgun advocates counted a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially struck down Chicago’s ban on handguns as a victory, others came out with strong words against the 5-to-4 decision Monday.

In a statement, Congressman Bobby Rush expressed his disappointment and was scheduled to hold a joint press conference with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has also decried the ruling.

“No words can describe the amount of disappointment I feel in today’s Supreme Court ruling,”  Rush said. “Chicago has experienced nearly 80 shootings in a two week period and like many other cities, people are under siege by unchecked gun violence. The  White House and the Congress has to quickly step in the void that’s been created by today’s ruling and they must provide meaning constitutional gun legislation a move that will expand the proliferation of guns on our streets and the number of killings on our streets.”

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who supported the city’s gun ban that was put in place in 1982, said he is also disappointed but unsurprised.

“We’re still reviewing the entire decision, but it means that Chicago‘s current handgun ban is unenforceable, so we’re working to rewrite our ordinance in a reasonable and responsible way to protect 2nd Amendment rights and protect Chicagoans from gun violence,” Daley said.

But Otis McDonald, the elderly, African-American man who was the lead plaintiff in the gun ban case couldn’t be happier.

At 76, McDonald told the Chicago Sun-Times that he had grown tired of neighborhood criminals threatening his life and wielding guns near his front porch.

“This will make criminals think twice,” McDonald said. “If you have the right to have a handgun in your house, even if you don’t have a gun, that will give criminals a second thought, a third thought about breaking in to your house.”

The question now is if the potential arming of Chicago’s citizens and virtually all citizens in the U.S. in the interest of upholding the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, will it make the violence better or worse?

A similar ban in Washington D.C. was lifted in Washington D.C. two years ago, the Associated Press reported. According to AP:

“Washington, D.C.’s police chief, Cathy Lanier, said the city has ‘yet to have a case where someone was about to be the victim of a crime where someone pulled a handgun and saved themselves.’ However, that isn’t the case in Chicago, and many say that could provide the motivation for more people to purchase guns if a ban is lifted.

In May, a retired police officer shot two men, one fatally, after, police say, the men gunned down his son during the theft of his motorcycle. Days later, an 80-year-old Korean War veteran shot and killed a burglar who’d broken into his West Side home after the armed intruder had fired his gun at the man and missed, relatives said.”

Lanier added that allowing people to legally register guns has not had a big impact on crime in Washington, D.C.

Still Daley and gun ban supporters pointed to other incidents where handguns in the home are dangerous.

“People will begin to think that since you had a couple high profile cases, they might think (buying a handgun) might be a good thing,”  Tio Hardiman, a spokesman for CeaseFire, an anti-violence program in the city, told the AP. “They don’t know if they’re going to be the next victim or not.”

A Chicago native, Bridgette has been a journalist since she first wrote for her seventh grade newsletter. Today, that passion is just as strong. She has written for several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Defender, the Marshall News-Messenger (Texas) and the Springfield News-Sun (Ohio).

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2 Responses to Jesse Jackson Sr., Bobby Rush and Others Denounce Supreme Court Gun Ban Ruling

1. Sule Moyo says:

   3:44pm June 30, 2010 at 3:44 pm

   The 50+ shooting over the weekend were done with a gun ban in place, are JJ and BR crazy? As Mr McDonald stated “This will make criminals think twice,” the people that most of the shooters prey on are Black people, shouldn't Blacks be able to protect themselves?

   Reply
2. Bridgette Outten says:

   8:04pm June 30, 2010 at 8:04 pm

   Hello there and thanks for your comment. I don't know that shooters mostly prey on black people but I can definitely why people want to be able to defend themselves. On the other, will access to a loaded gun cause your average citizen to injure or kill when they otherwise wouldn't? It's a tough issue.

   I'm also interested in finding out what efforts are being made to actually stop the flow of illegal weapons into cities like Chicago. We'll keep you posted.

   Reply