GarandFan Posted February 14, 2008 at 02:13 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 02:13 AM Check out this article! Get in there and post some comments! http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2008/02/1...16172108362.txt Loaded debate By REGAN FOSTER - rfoster@nwherald.comComments (41 comment(s)) Gun control – Depending on which side you’re on, those two words are either a loaded moratorium curtailing your constitutional rights or a logical way to prevent accidents from happening and criminals from obtaining firearms. Regardless of your position, a grassroots effort to get Illinois counties to state their support for the Second Amendment has come to local soil. Members of the McHenry County Board on Tuesday will decide whether to approve a resolution stating their opposition to any legislation that would infringe upon the right to bear arms. Essentially an advisory statement, the proposal is meant to send a message to state legislators about the constituents’ views on gun control laws, said Nick Provenzano, chairman of the County Board’s Law & Justice Committee. His group approved it, 6-0, to applause from a group of gun advocates. If approved by the County Board, the resolution would make McHenry County the 63rd of 102 Illinois counties – and the first collar county – to approve it, according to information released by the grass roots group Illinois Pro Second Amendment Resolution. “After reviewing the resolution, I thought it really fit well with communities here in McHenry County,” Provenzano said. “We have many gun activities ... in the county, such as gun shows, sportsmen’s clubs. We have a very active Friends of the NRA organization that really does a good job of extending training opportunities to the adults and kids. “I believe people have a right to make the decision [to own a gun] on their own.” What it means for the county depends on who you ask. “We don’t want people who shouldn’t have guns to have guns,” said Lee Luxow, the president of the McHenry County Sportsman’s Association who initially approached the county about the resolution. “I agree there should be laws. We do have plenty of laws, but it does not seem these people who want to keep adding more laws ever enforce the ones that are already there.” Both the state and federal constitutions protect citizens’ rights to bear arms in the context that those same residents could be called up as a militia. Luxow said sportsmen’s groups focus on training residents and educating them on proper gun-handling techniques. That helps ensure, he said, that the citizenry would be ready should a militia be called to action. “We’re just people who love freedom and realize there are consequences,” Luxow said. “There have been terrible consequences when gun bans sweep across a nation.” But Sondra Kastin, a long-time advocate for tougher gun-control laws who lives on the Kane County side of Huntley, took a different view. Although she didn’t argue residents’ rights to own guns, Kastin said they needed to be fully educated not just on handling a firearm, but on the potential problems the weapons present. She also supported stricter regulations on storing weapons – specifically keeping them out of the home or behind lock and key when not in use. “There are gun owners who really love their guns and they are just blinded in a certain spot,” Kastin said. “You don’t need an assault weapon to catch a deer. We’re trying to bring some sanity [after] reading those articles about students and children who were being killed by guns over the years.” Although statistics were not immediately available Tuesday, gun and weapon violence is on an uptick in domestic-violence cases here, two victims’ rights agencies said. The executive directors for both Woodstock’s Turning Point and P.E.A.C.E 4 All, in Crystal Lake, said they had seen increases during the years of weapons-related violence. “Guns and weapons play a huge role in keeping people in fear,” said Cindy Stockton-Smith, director of P.E.A.C.E 4 All. “The fact that they’re present creates huge issues.” Jane Farmer, the chief of Turning Point, agreed. She said she could understand gun owners’ arguments that the perpetrator would lose his or her right to own a weapon if convicted, but added that not all abusers were arrested and convicted. “It’s looking out for what’s in the best interests of our county,” she said. “It doesn’t ... mean that we’re stepping on people’s rights – we’re not terminating the amendment or anything. But it’s looking out for what is in the best interests of our community and how do we keep it safe?” Don Cichoski, the co-owner of Lakemoor’s D&J Guns, was sensitive to those worries, but noted that it was education and training, not stricter laws, that could help prevent accidents from happening. He added that regulations currently were in place to keep weapons out of the hands of known criminals. “It’s the same old argument, how can you stop that?” he said. “How do you stop accidents from happening with automobiles? You can’t, things are going to happen.” To date, 62 Illinois counties and one township – Oswego Township in Kendall County – have approved the pro-Second Amendment resolution, grass roots information shows. Three counties – St. Clair, Stark and Champaign – have rejected the issue, and Macon County has proposed the resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-rock Posted February 14, 2008 at 02:52 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 02:52 AM Woohoo!! I want to see when we present it at Cook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abolt243 Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:15 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:15 AM Check out this article! Get in there and post some comments! Looks like they don't need much help in the comments department. Maybe a little education in the number of states with CCW and deer hunting laws. Go McHenry, Go!!! AB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:32 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:32 AM collar county??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilphil Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:42 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:42 AM collar county??? McHenry County is generally considered one of the Chitcagoland "collar" counties, along with Lake, Dupage, Kane, Will & Crook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ol'Coach Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:51 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:51 AM Wow! Not a single negative! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNHNTN Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:58 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 03:58 AM Wow! Not a single negative! I read through them twice 'cause I thought sure I'd missed at least one, but like you said Coach, not one neg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Posted February 14, 2008 at 04:18 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 04:18 AM McHenry County is generally considered one of the Chitcagoland "collar" counties, along with Lake, Dupage, Kane, Will & Crook. I thought Cook County was Chicago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sticks Posted February 14, 2008 at 09:35 AM Share Posted February 14, 2008 at 09:35 AM Check out this article! By REGAN FOSTER St. Clair, Stark and Champaign – have rejected the issueThis is the first I've heard of St. Clair rejecting the resolution. The Pro 2A Resolution website has the resolution as failing in both Stark & Champaign, but not St. Clair. Any information available on St. Clair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilphil Posted February 15, 2008 at 01:22 AM Share Posted February 15, 2008 at 01:22 AM McHenry County is generally considered one of the Chitcagoland "collar" counties, along with Lake, Dupage, Kane, Will & Crook. I thought Cook County was Chicago.... King Richard may think they are one in the same; but hard as it may be for him to accept, there are parts of Crook County other than Chitcago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarandFan Posted February 15, 2008 at 03:29 AM Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 at 03:29 AM I thought Cook County was Chicago.... No. Cook county contains Chicago, and a whole bunch of "suburbs." The collar counties are defined by, and do not include, Cook. Collars are those counties that border Cook. All of these descriptors is based on Chicago...it's the center of the universe in this parlance, and in a lot of people's minds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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