Right to keep and bear arms should be honored
The Supreme Court recently applied the right to keep and bear arms to state and local governments. Justice Scalia wrote in that decision that this right guarantees, "the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation."
Where does that leave Illinois residents and visitors who want to exercise this fundamental right?
Illinois law makes it a felony for people to carry firearms for self-defense in vehicles or most any other places. The current Illinois statute is depriving you of your civil right to defend yourself and family with the exception of your home.
Most Illinois legislators believe your self-defense right only applies in your home. Outside your home those legislators care little about your family's safety. Gov. Quinn stated any right-to-carry bill sent to his desk "is dead" and Mayor Daley is still coming up with burdensome regulations to make defense in your home expensive and hard to comply with.
Heller vs. D.C. also states that the right to bear arms is a fundamental right. All laws currently on the books that prohibit or by regulation deny in practice the exercise of a fundamental right should be considered presumptively unconstitutional when challenged. Such laws abridging the Second Amendment would fail challenge if applied to First or Fourth Amendment rights.
Does a $100 permit renewable every few years to read a newspaper or to be secure from an unreasonable search or seizure sound ridiculous? Regulations prohibiting firearms for self-defense are just as ridiculous.
The current prohibition on your right to self-defense must end. The time has come to pass right-to-carry in the state of Illinois. Vote for right-to-carry candidates in November. Citizens should not have to file lawsuits to exercise their fundamental rights.
Jack V. Forbes Jr.
Elgin