Illinoisans denied right to self-protection

Contrary to the assertions of Coleen Daley of Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence that concealed handguns will not make us safer, they already do.

Between 800,000 and 2.5 million times annually people in the U.S. use firearms to defend themselves or prevent a crime. That’s 2,100 to 6,800 incidents per day in which in the majority of those occurrences no shots are fired so nobody is killed. In some cases where shots are fired by armed citizens, innocent lives are saved.

Our right to protect and defend ourselves from the lawless is codified as a natural right in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is being denied us by law in Illinois.

I am licensed to carry concealed firearms in 33 states, but when I return to my home state where I should be most secure, I am obliged to render myself and my loved ones vulnerable to lawless predators.

The source for the above statistics may be found at the Citizens Committee for the Right To Keep and Bear Arms, www.ccrbka.org.

Wake up, Illinoisans. Demand your right to defend yourselves. The police have no duty to protect you as has been determined by court cases. Calling 911 may bring assistance, but seconds count when the police are only minutes away.

Victor LaPorte

Elgin