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As reported, 5 people were shot in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood during a 24 hour period. All were shot with handguns, despite Chicago’s decades long, ineffective, and likely unconstitutional handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

I‘ve noticed an increasing number of people arriving at LearnAboutGuns.com after searching on Google for terms such as “NRA position on african american”, “black people NRA”, “racist NRA”, and similar terms.  I also had several visitors from a forum thread where one person asked “Did the NRA have a separate but equal session for [black people]?”  In that same forum thread, another member made the following racist comment: “Why would Blacks be there, they obviously already carry in DC.” [saying that D.C. area African Americans wouldn't attend an NRA sponsored newbie training event because they were already illegally carrying a gun].  Although I already wrote one article addressing the non-existence of racial problems at Chicago area gun stores, I guess it is time for this African American gun owner and NRA member to write another article addressing racism, the NRA, and gun owners in general: Read the rest of this article »

As reported, the armed robberies in Oak Park, Illinois are increasing, despite the more than 20-year-old handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

Some residents of Morton Grove, which recently repealed its handgun ban, are now calling for gun registration requirements.  I’ve also heard other people tout gun registration as some sort of cure to the actions of criminals.  Allow me to explain why gun registration bears no relationship to crime prevention, and is instead a wrongful infringement of the 2nd Amendment individual right to keep and bear arms for self defense: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reported, a boy in Oak Park was robbed of his shoes, gym bag, cash, and iPod by a bicycle riding criminal at 12 Madison St, Oak Park, Illinois.  The gunman rode up on a bicycle and displayed a black pistol, before relieving the teenager of his properly, valued at about $500. Read the rest of this article »

Those in northern Illinois and the surrounding area may wish to attend the upcoming DuPage and Will counties Friends of NRA 16th Annual Fundraiser Dinner: Read the rest of this article »

The bike by shootings reportedly happened about 11:30 p.m. at the intersection of North Avenue and Karlov Avenue, in the Humbolt Park neighborhood.  A male cyclist rode by, opening fire on two pedestrians, before peddling away. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, the armed robbers in Oak Park have continued for another week, in spite of the 23 plus years that Oak Park has banned handguns.  More information is below: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the city of Evanston, Illinois has repealed its handgun ban.  Evanston is now the 3rd suburb of Chicago to repeal its handgun ban, following Wilmette and Morton Grove.  Only Oak Park, IL and Chicago, IL still have handgun bans, and the NRA’s lawsuits will hopefully soon cause those unconstitutional bans to be struck down.

As the Chicago Tribune reports, Chicago’s murder rate is up 18% over the same time frame last year.  62 people were killed in the month of July alone, and there were several high profile shootings, such as the Taste of Chicago shootings or the murder of a cop with his own gun.  In the overwhelming majority of these murders, criminals used handguns, despite 20+ year long ban on handgun ownership in Chicago.  Clearly, the criminals are ignoring the handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, Oak Park, IL police are investigating a rape attempt. The woman was in the rear of her property on the 1000 block on North Austin Blvd., around 8:30 p.m., Aug. 5, 2008, when a man grabbed her by her arm and by her throat. The attacker then attempted to remove her pants.The woman fought back, kneeing her attacker and stomping on his foot, causing him to cease the attack and escape eastbound on Augusta Boulevard. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were 5 armed robberies in Oak Park during the last week.  3 of the armed robbers used firearms, while 2 used knives: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, a committee of the Chicago City Council is considering a proposal to create an online database of gun offenders, complete with photographs and interactive maps.  If approved, anyone convicted of a felony gun offense after the ordinance’s effective date would have to register with the city as a gun offender. Offenders would have to register within 48 hours of conviction or, if sent to jail or prison, their release from the institution. Conviction for failure to register could result in a 6-month jail sentence and $500 fine.  Allow me to explain the problems with this firearms offender registry plan: Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, Oak Park, IL is short on cash due to decreased revenue, which is blamed on the faltering economy.  Despite the $1,368,100 budgetary shortfall, Oak Park will still spend taxpayer money defending their (likely unconstitutional) handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, a highly intoxicated man who jumped out of a car on Austin Boulevard hurling racial slurs and swinging a bat was shot by one of his would-be victims.  This is particularly interesting because it happened right on the border of Oak Park and Chicago, which both ban handguns, and in the state of Illinois, which bans concealed carry: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the Morton Grove, Illinois handgun ban has been repealed by a 5-1 vote of the village board. Read the rest of this article »

While discussing the lawsuit which seeks to strike down Chicago’s ineffective and likely unconstitutional handgun ban, Mayor Richard Daley made a series of anti-gun arguments.  These arguments appear to be based upon faulty or non-existent reasoning, and make the utterly untrue assumption that law abiding citizens will generally misuse guns for no reason at all.  This article analyzes and rebuts Daley’s rather weak anti-gun arguments one by one: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, a woman was robbed by a man who threatened to shoot her on the platform of the Austin Blue Line stop, Oak Park police reports indicated. The woman was standing on the platform when she was approached by a man who asked her for spare change. When she declined, the man stuck a hand under his shirt and threatened to shoot her with a gun. The criminal then grabbed her by the wrist, and took her cell phone and wallet valued at $350. This robbery, like the countless others in Oak Park, IL, occurred despite the decades long handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were an additional 3 armed robberies in Oak Park, IL this week.  This follows on the heels of many other armed robberies in Oak Park, which have continued unabated despite the more than 20-year-long ban on handguns.   Read the rest of this article »

Various cities across the country, most notably Chicago, have run gun buy back programs. These programs offer citizens money in exchange for turning in guns. Such programs allow politicians to claim that they have “taken hundreds of guns off the street” that would have otherwise been used in crimes. In reality, these programs don’t do much (if anything) to stop crime, but do consume large sums of money that would be better spent actually fighting crime: Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, a 39 year old man was shot in the pelvis after an argument with his step-son.  The shooting took place on the 600 block of Lake Street, in Oak Park, IL.  The victim was transported to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, IL and underwent exploratory surgery to ascertain the extent of his injury.  This is yet another shooting in Oak Park, in spite of the (likely unconstitutional) handgun ban. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, on Monday morning, an Oak Park woman was preparing to take her baby to the doctor when a masked intruder burst into her apartment. The home invader then began beating the Oak Park woman with a baseball bat. During the beating, the woman dropped her 6-week-old baby. As the man continued to beat the woman about her upper body, a witness ran outside and waved down a passing police officer. The mother and infant were taken to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, IL for treatment of fractures and lacerations. The Wednesday Journal also reports that Oak Park police have a suspect, Anthony K. Murdix, 42, of Aurora, IL in custody. Read the rest of this article »

As WRCB reports, a new survey shows that approximately two thirds of Alabama residents own a gun, and about half of them have permits to carry concealed weapons. This is one of the highest gun ownership and concealed carry permit rates in the country, and corresponds with a relatively low crime rate - considerably lower than localities such as Chicago which have handgun bans. Read the rest of this article »

As the Sun Times reports, a woman was shot in the leg after she struggled with two male attackers who stole her property in the West Loop, near the intersection of Randolph St and Halsted St early Friday. The men succeeded at taking her property after a struggle and as they were fleeing, fired shots at the woman, striking her in the leg. Read the rest of this article »

As the Sum Times reports, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has blamed the news media for Chicago’s recent sharp increase in violent crime. So far, Mayor Daley has blamed guns, the Supreme Court, and now the news media. Perhaps instead of assigning blame to blameless parties, the Mayor should take steps to address the real causes of crime: Read the rest of this article »

As the Sun Times reports, after stating that violent crime in Chicago is “out of control,” Governor Rod Blagojevich offered to loan Illinois state troopers and National Guard equipment to Chicago to help augment the Chicago Police officers. Read the rest of this article »

As the Wednesday Journal reports, there were 5 people victimized in 3 Oak Park, IL armed robberies.  All of the criminals used handguns, despite Oak Park’s longstanding (and likely unconstitutional) handgun ban: Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, two people were shot by a gunman on a bicycle in Chicago. Read the rest of this article »

Rather than focus on the problem of crime, many gun control advocates cling to the abject failure that is gun control. This trend continues in the wake of the D.C. v. Heller case, where the Supreme Court found gun ownership to be an individual right. Rather than abandon the failed gun control laws that only serve to deprive law abiding citizens of the ability to defend themselves, some cities with handgun bans will now spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a likely pointless effort to keep their unconstitutional handgun bans. Just imagine if that money were spent on “criminal control” instead of pointless gun control: Read the rest of this article »

Rather than deterring criminals, who will manage to have a gun in violation of the law, handgun bans will result in the unjust prosecution citizens who are defending themselves against criminals.   Such an outcome is plainly contrary to the (misguided) intent of such bans, which is to protect law abiding citizens from criminals.  A couple of example from the state of Illinois help illustrate the point: Read the rest of this article »

Reverend Michael Pfleger  stated “Obviously, the Supreme Court in their ivory tower is really disconnected . . . They’re so disconnected that they cannot hear the cries of parents who are burying their children.” Read the rest of this article »

As the Chicago Tribune reports, a 22 year old man was shot in Chicago’s downtown area, near the intersection of Randolph st and Michigan ave, at about 12:45am - despite the more than 20 year old ban on handgun possession. Read the rest of this article »

As the Tribune reports, 4 people were shot in the Chicago loop area after the Taste of Chicago and fireworks let out.  One of the shootings was fatal.  Over 1 million people had attended the Taste and fireworks that day.  This series of shooting occurred despite the Chicago handgun ban, which has been in effect for decades. Read the rest of this article »

The Wednesday Journal, Oak Park’s local newspaper, ran an article discussing the history of Oak Park’s handgun ban. The facts: Oak Park’s handgun ban was the knee jerk reaction to a murder that was committed not in Oak Park, but Chicago. Two decades later, criminals in Oak Park commit shootings, robberies, and pistol whipping, while only Oak Park’s law abiding citizens obey the ban and are left vulnerable. Read the rest of this article »

After the Supreme Court’s decision in D.C. v. Heller, upholding the right of law abiding citizens to have a handgun in their home for self defense, the NRA sued Oak Park and other cities with handgun bans.  For those who are interested in seeing the actual complaint against Oak Park, IL, which was filed in federal court, it can be downloaded here.

The Tribune ran an article about Glen Soustek, a Roselle, IL man whose life was saved by his handgun.  This excellent article is an especially good read, given the recent lawsuits filed against Chicago, Oak Park, and other Illinois cities that violate the individual right to gun ownership for self defense. Read the rest of this article »

As the Sun Times reports, Jessie Jackson called the Supreme Court’s ruling that gun ownership is an individual right “a ‘reckless interpretation of the Second Amendment’ — and one that Chicago doesn’t have to accept.”
Jessie Jackson’s statement, aside from being untrue, endangers the very civil rights that he has supported.  As an African American, a law student, and an American citizen, I am thoroughly disappointed.  Allow me to elaborate: Read the rest of this article »

Within hours of the Supreme Court declaring that handgun ownership is a basic right, the city of Chicago was sued over their handgun ban. I’ve previously discussed why such handgun bans won’t work, and how criminals will just ignore the gun control laws. I’ve also discussed how rights such as gun ownership, free speech, and the right to a lawyer cannot be legislated away by a city, state, or federal government. That same reasoning applies here, and is not included in this article to avoid redundancy. Instead, I’ll address the comments by Mayor Daley and Chicago’s chief of police Jody Weis: Read the rest of this article »

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision that handgun ownership is a right, the Oak Park, Illinois handgun ban will soon be challenged in court by the NRA. Rather than acknowledging that that the handgun ban doesn’t stop crime, only leaves law abiding citizens vulnerable, Oak Park Village President David Pope reportedly argued that the Supreme Court’s decision was “squarely on the side of the gang-bangers”: Read the rest of this article »

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has declared the Second Amendment protects the right of an individual to keep and bear arms, striking down the (failed) District of Columbia handgun ban. This article discusses what exactly the court held, and what that means for American gun owners: Read the rest of this article »

The ISRA and IllinoisCarry are cosponsoring a Second Amendment freedom rally at the Thompson Center on Friday, July 11th 2008. Read the rest of this article »

Unfortunately, some of the most ardent supporters of rights such as abortion, free speech, and other civil rights are also some of the same people who try to take away the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. To those people I would say that trying to take away gun rights will result in the loss of our other civil rights, such as abortion, free speech, etc. This is part 1 of the 3 part series. Read the rest of this article »

Despite Chicago’s longstanding handgun ban, Dominice Hallom has been shot 3 separate times this year.  Upon being shot for what is the third time, Dominice Hallom is reported to have remarked “Oh my God. I’m shot again . . . I’m tired of this.” Read the rest of this article »

The NRA is planning to bring Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms lawsuits against cities in Cook County, Illinois, that have handgun bans. These are Chicago, Evanston, Morton Grove, Oak Park, and Wilmette. If you live in one of these cities and might be willing to serve as a potential plaintiff in the lawsuit, the NRA would like to hear from you. Please call (703) 267-1162 as soon as possible.

It is vital that we get these handgun bans repealed, since one need only turn on the news to see how criminals ignore the handgun bans, while law abiding citizens are left defenseless.

Over 30 guns were seized when the gun smuggling ring was raided, including machine pistols that police say were destined for Canada. I applaud the law enforcement agencies for their excellent work in stopping these criminals. Now if only the politicians would recognize that passing gun control laws will only harm law abiding citizens, since smuggling guns in illegally is how criminals get their weapons. Read the rest of this article »

Throughout this site I have pointed out the many problems with gun control. Those problems include the fact that criminals don’t obey laws (including gun control laws), and that failure to obey laws is what makes them criminals. Given the number of people still reaching this site after searching for “reasons to support gun control”, I thought I would further explain why gun control laws won’t prevent crime any better than the laws against murder and other crimes. Read the rest of this article »

In cities such as Chicago and London, which already have strict gun control laws, there have been “gun violence” protests organized by anti gun groups.  These usually take place after a criminal violates the gun ban laws and commits a crime.  Unlike protests designed to focus the attention of political leaders on a governmental policy (such as involvement in wars or civil rights), these protests seem to be without purpose.  Allow me to explain: Read the rest of this article »

Gun Ownership Helps Protect Everyone - even those who don’t own a gun themselves, as explained below: Read the rest of this article »

I’ve noticed that a fair number of people who visit this website search on Google for “reasons to support gun control”, despite the pro-gun-rights nature of this website. I’ve decided to write this article listing reasons to support gun control, for those visitors. Read the rest of this article »

Joining the NRA is a great way to help protect our 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms. Normally, a 1 year membership is $35, but you can join here for $25 - That is a $10 discount. Read the rest of this article »

Gun control laws, especially the bans on so called “assault weapons“, tend to be highly technical in nature.  Such laws include arbitrary limitations on the length of barrels, the number of round a magazine can store, cosmetic features of the gun, etc.  This leaves the average law abiding citizen unaware that they might be violating the law, until they are  arrested.  Worse yet, some laws are rather vague, leaving even the most diligent and well educated citizen unable to determine if they are in violation.  Given the severe penalties in place for having a handgun magazine that holds one round to many, or a rifle barrel that is a half an inch too short, these laws are some of the most unjust currently on the books.  Below are some examples: Read the rest of this article »

In what is a departure from tradition, almost 20 Indian women in a rural village area have been granted gun permits in order to keep the numerous armed robbers at bay. Read the rest of this article »