LearnAboutGuns.com

Chicago has had a handgun ban since before I was born, and yet it is the murder capital of the United States.   The majority of Chicago’s murders are committed by handgun ban ignoring criminals, while law abiding citizens are left without a gun for self defense against these very criminals.   Against this backdrop, Mayor Daley has used the murder of Jennifer Hudson’s family to push his gun control agenda, despite the gaping flaws in his reasoning, and failure of existing gun control.  I respond to each of Daley’s unfounded contentions below. Read the rest of this article »

As I mentioned on my bio page, I’m an African American law student who lives in the Chicago area.   While in school and at work, I’ve had friends and colleagues assume that I’m anti gun, and invite me to contact my elected officials in support of more (pointless and unconstitutional) restrictions on gun ownership.  A few examples: Read the rest of this article »

Gun control has cost the Democrats multiple elections, however the party leadership continues push ineffective gun control.  Gun rights fit in with liberal values, and the Democratic party leadership needs to support the individual right to gun ownership. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, there was another armed robbery in Oak Park, despite the handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

As I’ve previously discussed, residents of Illinois who wish to own a gun need to first get a Firearms Owner Identification Card (FOID).  The law requires that the FOID be issued within 30 days, however the Illinois State Police have been breaking the law by taking longer than 30 days to issue FOID cards.  In this discussion forum thread, more people have reported these wrongful delays that can stretch for weeks or even months.  I also see at least a dozen people arrive at this site each day after searching for terms such as “where is my foid card” and “foid card status”.  I’ve started a petition to help end this wrongdoing on the part of the Illinois State Police: Read the rest of this article »

The Mossberg 930 is a gas operated semi automatic (autoloading) shotgun.  My review of this shotgun is below: Read the rest of this article »

As reported 62 year old Florida middle school teacher Juanita Enzor fatally shot a home invader. Mark Johnson, who was convicted of multiple felonies in 2007, reportedly broke in to Juanita Enzor’s home at about 5 AM and attacked her. She then fired one shot in self defense, which eventually proved fatal to the home invader. Read the rest of this article »

For parents, the desire to protect their children from the horrible harm home invading criminals can inflict is a good reason to own a gun.  However having children, especially small children, means that extra care must be taken to ensure that children aren’t harmed by guns.  This article addresses my suggestions in this area: Read the rest of this article »

Insurance companies spend a great deal of time to determine which activities are risky. They do so in order to charge an insurance premium that is high enough that they will make money, but low enough that people will still purchase the insurance from them. This video clip discusses how insurance companies have determined gun ownership by law abiding citizens poses so low of a risk that just a few dollars worth of insurance premiums can buy millions of dollars worth of coverage. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, the NRA has endorsed Debbie Halvorson, a Democrat who is running for Congress in Illinois. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, the mother (Darnell Hudson Donerson) and brother (Jason S. Hudson) of actress Jennifer Hudson were found shot to death in their Chicago home.  Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew (Julian King) is also reported missing [UPDATE: JULIAN KING WAS FOUND MURDERED AS WELL]. William Balfour, an ex-husband of Hudson’s sister who was recently released on parol after serving prision time for attempted murder, was reportedly arrested by the Chicago police as a suspect. Read the rest of this article »

Anti gun rights groups will claim that guns are ultra dangerous items.  The fact is that guns are less dangerous than many of the items we all interact with on a daily basis.  Furthermore, even taking the misuse of guns by criminals and negligent individuals into account, fewer lives are lost due to gun misuse than are lost due to car misuse. Read the rest of this article »

As it stands, Illinois is one of only two states that has no law allowing concealed carry.  The result is that criminals are armed, while law abiding citizens are defenseless.  In the hopes of changing this situation, a petition was started to bring concealed carry to Illinois: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/IllinoisCCW/

The Illinois State Rifle Association has released the notice shown below.  It concerns attempts by Chicago area politicians to take away gun rights of those living in the Western suburbs, and the forcing of failed Chicago-style gun control on other parts of the state.  On a personal note, I find this particularly troublesome, as I enjoy the wonderful hobby of trapshooting at the Naperville Sportsman’s Park.  I would urge those in Illinois’ 96th District to vote for the pro-gun-rights State House of Representatives candidate Darlene Senger. Pro gun candidates running for other offices can be seen here: http://www.isra-pvf.com Read the rest of this article »

I happened across one of the more beautifully written blog posts I’ve ever read, and wanted to encourage more people to read it: http://www.snubnose.info/wordpress/rkba/i-dont-carry-a-gun/

As reported, an off duty Chicago police officer shot and killed an armed criminal who attempted to rob him.  The incident happened on the 6200 block of South Honore.  The armed robber was said to be Sherrod Griffin, a 44 year old convicted felon that was on parole. Griffin’s previous convictions reportedly included armed robbery, aggravated criminal hijacking, and robbery of a victim 70 years or older. Read the rest of this article »

Penn and Teller point out the problem with “gun free zones” in a quite concise manner. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, a University of Arizona student was in his off-campus guest house apartment around midnight, when there was a knock at the door.  One of the two men at the door asked for someone who did not live there, an the other had a gun. Read the rest of this article »

Below is an open letter from Richard A. Pearson, Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.  In the letter he discusses his first hand experience in dealing with then-state-senator Barack Obama, who was the most anti gun rights politicians that Pearson ever met: Read the rest of this article »

This is my review of the Mossberg 500, a pump action shotgun known for its low price but high quality: Read the rest of this article »

The Brady Campaign, which is the leading anti gun group in the United States, has endorsed Obama and Biden, who are the most anti gun candidates in US presidential history.  If anyone is still confused as to whether Obama and Biden are anti gun, this should clear things up. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signed House Bill 1845 into law.  This pro gun bill includes the following components: Read the rest of this article »

A recent home invasion in Chicago ended with a mother and her young daughter landing face first on the pavement, with the kind of injuries one would expect from such a fall. They jumped from a second floor window to escape an armed and masked home invader who was about to kill them.  This is yet another reason why I oppose handgun bans. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, Juan Johnson claimed to be a reformed gang member, and worked on behalf of the anti gun rights group CeaseFire in Chicago.  He was widely quoted in the media and won awards for his work as a so-called “violence interrupter”. But Johnson, also known as “Big Juan,” allegedly remained a crack cocaine selling gang leader, according to federal charges filed against him. Harold Martinez, another key member of CeaseFire, was also arrested along with Johnson. Read the rest of this article »

After a citizen rightfully defends themselves against an armed and violent criminal, the family of that criminal or members of the media sometimes blame that citizen for shooting the criminal.  They argue that the crime victim didn’t need to use force to defend themselves, or used too much force. In almost every such situation, it is ridiculous to second guess the victim who defends themselves from a criminal, for the reasons discussed below. Read the rest of this article »

As reported, the legal system in Cook County, Illinois is doing a poor job prosecuting domestic abusers and protecting their victims.  Fewer than 1 in 5 domestic violence defendants are convicted, and Read the rest of this article »

The Sun Times recently carried one of the more depressing editorials that I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading, written by Mary Mitchell. In that article, she applauds the cement barricades, random searches, and other unconstitutional police actions that are being done on the public roads near Obama’s Chicago residence, in the name of Obama’s security, then suggests that such practices be expanded to Chicago’s other neighborhoods.  My response to her statements is below: Read the rest of this article »

This video clip shows the process through which a gun control ordinance was passed in California, despite the city council’s recognition that identical ordinances have not reduced violence in other cities.  Instead, the end goals were to advance political careers and whittle away at gun ownership rights: Read the rest of this article »

Kiyanna Salter was a 17 year old girl who was taking the bus near 71st and Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago. Two other passengers accidentally bumped into each other somehow, and an argument ensued. Each of those two passengers brandished handguns that they were illegally carrying. One of the two passengers, who police allege was Milton Wardlaw, got off the bus, turned around, and fired one shot into the bus.  This bullet struck and killed Kiyanna Salter - and gave Rev. Michael Pfleger another supposed excuse to hop on his anti gun soapox at her funeral: Read the rest of this article »

I read an interesting post which pointed out that more Chicago residents have been killed than US soldiers in Iraq this summer - by a factor of 2!  This is despite Chicago’s longstanding handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

The Illinois State Rifle Association has released their 2008 election candidate endorsements, which can be seen here.

I advocate self defense with firearms for the simple reason that they are the best tools yet invented to stop a home invader or other criminal from committing a horrible crime.  Complementing gun ownership for self defense are home security considerations, as discussed below.

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Before each of the major hurricanes this year, I’ve seen people arrive at this site after searching for “hurricane gun”, and similar terms.  At first I attributed this to people worried about the wrongful gun confiscation after Hurricane Katrina, but upon further review it seems that was not what people were looking for: Read the rest of this article »

As reported, a Madison, WI boy used a BB gun to shoot one of the two men who broke into his house on Thursday night, police said. Both suspects then fled the area on foot. Read the rest of this article »

It is no secret that Oak Park’s armed robberies are up a staggering 250% this year, in spite of the handgun ban.  This week’s armed robberies continued that trend, and included a brazen armed robbery that took place right across the street from the Oak Park police station. Read the rest of this article »

I’ve previously discussed the abject failure that is British gun control, and how some of that county’s law abiding citizens are trying to regain their gun rights. A recent conviction in a murder that was committed by a gun-ban-ignoring criminal further highlights the pointlessness of such anti gun rights laws: Read the rest of this article »

I’ve noticed that many people seem to (incorrectly) believe that the NRA is a wing of the Republican party, rather than an entirely independent organization that focus only on gun rights. The fact of the matter is that the NRA endorses candidates from any political party that support our Second Amendment rights, and recently endorsed Democratic Senator Rosalind Kurita. Read the rest of this article »

Anti gun groups like to argue that gun shows and the private sale of gun is a “loophole” that leads to crime or suicide.  A recent study compared homicides and suicides in areas that restrict gun shows and areas which do not.  The result was that tighter regulation of gun shows does not reduce the number of firearm-related deaths: Read the rest of this article »

I believe in the value of gun ownership for self defense.  This is due primarily the fact that the police almost certainly can’t get there in time to stop a criminal.  However it is also worth noting that the police owe individual citizens no duty of protection - meaning that if you call the police and they fail to arrive for hour and hours, you have no recourse: Read the rest of this article »

It seems that many people fail to grasp the difference between law abiding gun owners and criminals, and lump both groups together.  The fact is that law abiding gun owners are the polar opposite of criminals - and are a criminal’s worst nightmare. The comparison chart below highlights the profound differences between law abiding gun owners (such as this author) and criminals. Read the rest of this article »

Carjackers advocate gun control legislation to foster a safer work environment. Read the rest of this article »

In the historic D.C. v. Heller case, the Supreme Court made clear that the federal government cannot infringe the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self defense and other traditional lawful purposes.  One of the issues not addressed, however, was the incorporation of the 2nd Amendment into the 14th Amendment. Information about what “incorporation” means,why it is important, and what the Nordyke v. Alamenda case is about can be seen below: Read the rest of this article »

Violent criminals advocate stronger gun control laws: Read the rest of this article »

The Beretta CX4 Storm is a pistol caliber carbine that I’ve come to like quite a bit.  My review of this rifle is below: Read the rest of this article »

The NRA has produced the Obama gun rights compatibility quiz shown below, for those that still don’t believe that Obama and Biden are two of the most anti gun rights politicians in US history. Read the rest of this article »

I noticed a link to LearnAboutGuns.com coming from this site, whose author states that she would rather “hold the burning end of a lit cigarette than a gun.” She describes herself as a Pacifist, and believes that it is wrong to use a gun in self defense, even to stop a would-be rapist and murder that breaks in during the night.  While I understand and share the respect for human life that underlies the Pacifist philosophy she embraces, I cannot join in the naive and dangerous belief that a person should allow a violent criminal to kill them or another innocent person: Read the rest of this article »

It seems that armed robbery in Oak Park, Illinois is becoming a weekly topic for me to write about, and since armed robbery is up 250% this year, I have had plenty of material.  This week is no different, with multiple armed robberies reported - despite the longstanding handgun ban which only serves to leave Oak Park’s law abiding citizens without a means of self defense: Read the rest of this article »

Since 2001, all pistols and revolvers in New York state have been ballistically fingerprinted before sale, and this information has been recorded in a database.  The (faulty) idea was that this database, which costs $1 Million each year, would help the police to solve gun related crimes.  However there have been exactly 0 prosecutions that can be attributed to this database. Read the rest of this article »

The primary (and untrue) argument used by the anti gun crowd is that banning guns will make all safer. This has proven untrue in countless US cities and other countries, but the fact that such an argument is tried shows that the Second Amendment right to own a gun for self defense is mistreated in a manner that few would mistreat our other constitutional rights:

Read the rest of this article »