My thoughts on Pike’s recently passed referendum….

 

A great victory for the People of Pike and the People of Illinois as they take a poke in the eye of the thieves of Liberty.

Over the last several years verbally and in writing I have said repeatedly that in my opinion we have the fundamental God given right to carry an arm in defense of ourselves, family, friends and property. This right was not granted by the Constitution but rather preceded this document which secures the right. I have since had some confidence restored in the system by the recent Heller case and McDonald case and some others. With a complete ban on the public carry of an arm and the further requirement to ask permission via the FOID card application to exercise a fundamental right, Illinois has become excessive and overbearing in its theft of the People’s Liberty.

Now with the passage of the Pike County Constitutional Carry of Arms a blessing has been created. We now know with hard copy vote that the People of Pike County, and likely Illinois in general, at least outside Chicago, agree that the State is usurping a fundamental right. Now that we have a county referendum which acknowledges the right on our own books, how are we going to resolve the conflict now created between a county referendum reflecting the will of the People, and Illinois State law, which in my opinion is unconstitutional? The critical issue is how do we resolve this without some well meaning non-criminal People being charged with a crime?

My opinion remains that we have the fundamental right to keep and bear an arm before this referendum; however, I would say the State legal process, which makes our country different from many others around the world, needs a little more time to work. There are some cases already in the pipeline that have the potential to resolve the conflicts with regard to Illinois’ present draconian laws. Therefore I would recommend that the People bear with the State a little longer and avoid carrying unless they feel like their life is in danger; at that point you have to weigh the legal risks for yourself. If my life or that of my family is in imminent danger, I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6. Till then we will have to continue to catch the ear of the Chicago Machine.

Many will recall that during hurricane Katrina the People of the various communities banded together to protect their lives and properties from armed thugs, including police officers who were stealing and vandalizing properties of people who evacuated. In Illinois, if the New Madrid earthquake
would strike, or some other major catastrophe would occur, anybody who banded together on the public way, off their own private property, is subject to felony conviction. Keep that in mind as you go to the poles this fall.

I would further like to add that the way current Illinois law is written is not the fault of any local politicians currently serving in our County.  It is, however, time to take an ACTIVE role in the screening process of the candidates who will be running for offices in this county and in the state. That includes those running for the board. If you don’t show up and ask the hard questions, then you are part of the problem and I don’t want to hear any whining about how deprived we are in Illinois. I am not saying be rowdy or disrespectful. I am saying ask nice easy questions, such as, where do you stand with regard to preserving fundamental rights as secured by the constitution over and above clearly unconstitutional law. 

One other tool that needs to be addressed is learning the rights of jurors to decide both the law and the facts of a case. Just because someone is charged with breaking an unconstitutional law doesn’t mean that you have to convict if you are on the jury. (See www.fija.org) That is a subject for another day.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike license.