Overlooked in the brouhaha over Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is what his imminent defrocking will do to the Gun Rights vs. Gun Control debate.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that G-Rod and his cronies in the Illinois legislature have been at the forefront of those that are trying their best to legislate private ownership of guns out of existence. Illinois boasts a disproportionately large number of firearms manufacturers.Despite the fact that most voters in Illinois are pro-gun, G-Rod and his pals have consistently voted against any and all bills that would make it possible for citizens in the state to own guns for their own protection. Even worse, G-Rod has been positively rabid, trying to pass laws that would effectively make it impossible for gun manufacturers to operate legally within the state. For instance, they’ve tried to pass laws that would forbid the manufacture, transportation, and sale of high-capacity magazines for handguns. Pull that off, and you put every Illinois manufacturer at an impossible to overcome disadvantage in comparison to their non-Illinois based competitors.
I can’t imagine that the NRA is too upset about ol’ Blago. I would think they dance a little jig of grief with every sordid revelation. Question is, will the Illinois Lieutenant Governor be any better? My dad (who was born and raised in Chicago) used to tell me that Chicago politics was a blood sport. He cited verified reports where Mayor Daley (the First) and the Daley Machine withheld the Cook County ballot boxes in the 1960 Presidential Election, until he could play Kingmaker. In that election, the dead, family pets, and under-age kids somehow managed to vote. Several times. Turns out, Illinois has much the same kinds of corruption problems that Lousiana (my home state) has – a city (Chicago and New Orleans, respectively) that exert a disproportionately large influence on the rest of their states. In the case of Illinois, that means that the liberal political machine in Chicago perverts the will of the people across the state. Blgojevich is not an anomaly, but a natural result of machine corruption in Illinois.
From a practical point of view, in this current economic climate, why would you want to kneecap an entire industry, forcing it to relocate all their jobs (and the associated tax base) to another state. One manufacturer has already bolted. Until now, more were virtually certain to follow. Now the question is, what is the position of the Governor-to-be on gun rights?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Leave a Reply