Thursday, May 20, 2010
Chicagoland / Politics / Clout City / News Mayor Daley Threatens to Shoot the Messenger—Namely, Me
Posted by Mick Dumke on Thu, May 20, 2010 at 4:32 PM
But even I was a bit taken aback this morning when the mayor grabbed a rifle and threatened to shoot me.
The mayor was holding a press conference to discuss what the city was doing to prepare for the Supreme Court’s expected decision to overturn the city’s gun ban. The short answer: all sorts of things, but we’ll just have to wait until the court weighs in next month to find out the details. “We’re hoping for the best,” Daley said.
Guns are one of the mayor’s favorite soapbox topics—he regularly goes out of his way to point out that he despises gun manufacturers and “extremists” like the NRA. “It’s really amazing how powerful they are,” he said today, standing next to a table covered with handguns, rifles, and even a machine gun that police had seized. “They’re bigger than the oil industry, bigger than the gas industry, bigger than Google, bigger than President Obama and the rest of them."
Daley also likes to highlight what he considers to be flagrant hypocrisy on the part of the defenders of gun rights. “Now you can’t walk into the Supreme Court—you have to walk in the side way. They’re going to barricade the doors or something now. I mean, they’re barricading the doors but they’re saying everyone else should have guns. That’s the thing that bothers me in Washington. As you know in Washington all things are being barricaded, all federal buildings. But they’re saying everybody else should be able to carry guns.”
But even supporters of tough gun regulations—myself included—have to admit that it's not clear how much they reduce violence. Despite having some of the most restrictive laws in the country, Chicago is a national leader in shootings and murders, and the mayor himself noted that “we’ve seen far too many instances in the last few weeks” of firearm violence, including the shooting that left a cop dead last night.
So I asked: since guns are readily available in Chicago even with a ban in place, do you really think it’s been effective?
I’m hardly the only guy who asks the mayor things he doesn’t want to answer, and I’ve been responsible for at least one of his huffing, puffing, ranting tangents, which generally get the press corps laughing, thus enabling him to move on to the next question without giving a real answer to the one at hand.
But even by those standards, this was a masterful and surreal performance.
“Oh!” Daley said. “It’s been very effective!”
He grabbed a rifle, held it up, and looked right at me. He was chuckling but there was no smile.
“If I put this up your—ha!—your butt—ha ha!—you’ll find out how effective this is!”
For a moment the room was very, very quiet. I took a good look at the weapon. It had a long bayonet. (Was it seized during the Civil War?)
“If I put a round up your—ha ha!”
The photographers snapped away. Suddenly everybody started cracking up.
Daley went on. “This gun saved many lives—it could save your life,” he said—meaning, I think, that getting that gun off the street might have saved many lives, including mine.
And he went on some more. “We save all these guns that the police department seizes, you know how many lives we’ve saved? You don’t realize it. First of all, they’re taking these guns out of someone’s hands. They save their own life and they save someone else’s. You cannot count how many times this gun can be used. Thirty, forty times in shooting people and discharging a weapon. I think it’s very important.
“Next will be hand grenades, right? We’ll say that hand grenades are OK. I mean, how far can you go in regards to mass weapons? To me, any gun taken off saves thousands of lives in America. I really believe that, I don’t care what people tell me. You have to thank the police officers for seizing all these weapons. We lead the country in seizing weapons. This is unbelievable.”
I had to agree.
Comments (468)
Showing 1-50 of 468
I don't think we have a budget for security detail, but we'll pass the hat.
like
dislike
I find Daley to be highly entertaining, but why again is he the leader of our city?
The last thing I would do is hypothesize about ramming a bayonet up Mick Dumke's butt - or anyone else's for that matter!
The man is, quite literally, insane. Most of those comments make no sense at all; they are not grounded in any semblance of reality.
I am sorry to say this ... but I think that Margaret's illness has driven the man quite insane. He really needs to retire, and care for his wife. He's just not fit to rule anymore.
Perhaps what is most insane of all? Daley is rumored to own a very fine, historical collection of M1911 pistols, which he keeps at his Michigan home.
Daley's always been an arrogant zero with a sense of entitlement, really nothing new here. He never should have been allowed to rise above the level of State Representative.
FGFM -
I think you mean that Richard Daley should have not risen about the level of State Senator. Richard's brother, John, was a State Rep.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other. He has no business being in any responsible position, but as he famously said "You want a white mayor" and that's what we got. William actually pulls all the strings, right?
Wow...just shows how idiotic he is. FBI statistics prove that gun bans only give the criminals the upper hand and don't allow law biding citizens the right to defend themselves and in cities, like Chicago, where gun bans are in place crime rates soar. DUH...FBI even says so and I think they are a little more qualified to make statements about guns than this idiot.
And the idiot points a gun at a reporter....he has no clue about safety either. And he's an elected official...what an idiot.
"I really believe that, I don’t care what people tell me"
Why bother with data, facts, science whan you have stubborn stupidity? Daley should be riding a garbage truck and fixing tickets, not "running" the city.
Daley is not only insane but he's a moron. It would have been great to see another attendee pull out a concealed carry prop gun, pull the trigger and say, "BANG, you're dead Mr. Daley and your criminal gun spree has come to an end. The rest of you can thank me for saving your lives!"
Hankmeister
The proper answer to Mr. Daley would have been "And if I had MY gun...I could shoot YOU before you had a chance to shoot ME! In fact, chances are you wouldn't be threatening me with YOUR gun if you thought I was carrying MINE..."
The level of violence in Chicago has nothing to do with guns. It has to do with politicians that are so corrupt they look the other way as long as it's only blacks getting killed.
NY City has very strong gun laws but much less crime than Chicago. As bad as NY politicians are at least they don't place less value on the death of a particular race like Chicago seems to do every day.
There's a lot of talk about how unstable and/or stupid this man is. What's that say about the voters of Chicago. We certainly can see that voter ignorance is a rapidly spreading disease though...look at who America elected as their President.
Daley's logic in banning firearms is flawed. If you ban guns, only the people who obey the law will not have protection. Criminals however couldn't care less about what rules the city has, which is why criminals are the only ones with firearms and Chicago is one of the leading cities in violent murders in the nation!!
Most of my friends are Chicago Police and the WANT citizens to be able to protect themselves and have guns. I don't care what side of the political spectrum you are on, but banning guns doesnt make sense. Guns don't kill people, PEOPLE kill PEOPLE.
Gun bans are a bane to the law-abiding, and a boon to the those with criminal intent - including politicians like Mayor Daley. Police do not protect citizens, they react to crimes after the fact. An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man is a subject.
Maybe he should ask if Chicago leads in gun confiscation, why does the city also lead in shootings and murder? Maybe he should be concentrating on making sure those who are arrested for using a gun in the commission of a crime get the maximum penalties. They say people get the government they deserve. Chicago must be a really bad place.
We must be the only major city in the civilized world that has a complete buffoon for a mayor. The guy cannot even string together a coherent thought in order to make a point. Everything he says in press conferences make absolutely no sense whatsoever and comes out sounding like the rantings of a rambling fool. He tries to use analogies and parallels to illustrate the points he's wanting to make, but unfortunately, he fails terribly and appears to be grasping at straws, looking at the audience like "What, are you all too stupid to understand my insanity? Chicago, can we someday please get somebody in the mayoral office who at least sounds educated when he speaks and is actually qualified to hold the position instead of someone who is merely genetically linked to the office? Is that too much to ask for?
@ wdhowellsr: NYC allows guns
@ carl: That's your problem, you think that there IS somebody "fit to rule". This isn't a kingdom, nobody should rule over you.
Amazing how a rabid anti-gunner violates the most basic rules of handling a firearm. Such vapid ignorance should not reside in the office of mayor in one of America's finest cities.
Went to school with Trick Dick, Junior. He was never very bright. Even got his JD - Junior Daley - degree from DePaul.
Ok, you have the strictest gun laws, yet the highest violence rate. What's wrong with that picture. Gun laws must be doing their job.
Criminals by definition, don't obey the law. Gun laws just restrict law abiding citizens. D.C. and Chicago are prime examples of how it doesn't work. Every state that has passed conceal-carry has seen violent crime plummet.
Isn't it nice to know, if the mayor gets his way the only people that will have guns are the police and the criminals. Gives both of them a feeling of confidence when doing their jobs.
"To me, any gun taken off saves thousands of lives in America. I really believe that, I don’t care what people tell me."
Wow Daley, could you be any more ignorant? You are not smarter, wiser, nor more consistent than statistics. Get off your father's soap box you worthless bum. You and your cronies are feeding people a load of bull and you know it. Guns on the street are street guns and are held by street thugs. I live in Indiana and am a proud gun owner/carrier. Defensive weapons are 100% acceptable and should not be taken away. You are no the constitution punk. Quit acting like it. PEOPLE OF CHICAGO... FREE YOURSELF FROM THIS LEECH THAT IS SUCKING YOUR FREEDOMS AWAY!!!
Gun bans make perfect sense. If you take the guns out of the hands of the elderly and the honest than the criminals won't have to think about shooting the person when they hold them up with their illegal guns. No more deaths. Sure the ultimate equalizer between a 70 year old woman and a 22 year old criminal is a gun (nothing else does that), but let's stack the deck even more in the favor of criminals so they don't even have to get nervous about stealing.
I am sure out of control crime has nothing to do with the lack of victim's rights, a 10% conviction rate, or a completely apathetic police force. It has to be the guns.
In New Hampshire, we have all sorts of guns and one of the lowest crime rates in the nation. People are rather loathe to break into a home to rob, rape or murder when they know there's a good chance they'll get a fast ride to Hell.
You people in Chicago are deluded if you think taking a gun off the street makes you safer. All you have done is created a black market for guns that ensures the bad guys have the tools to come hurt you and that you cannot defend yourselves.
Daley is a sad and pathetic man...what gets me is that he is elected at all, what is wrong with Chicagoans. Is that the leadership you really want? He could not debate a five year old child effectively.
None of my guns has ever unlocked the gun safe, loaded itself and then bounced down the street in front of my house killing the folks and their dogs that it found along the way.
Does this mean that they are defective?
Just goes to show that intelligence nor common sense is needed to be an ignorant, biased pseudo politician! As a Mayor, his job is to do what he is told by the people, he acts more like the politicians at the federal level. As a well known comedian has stated, "there ain't no fix for stupid", truer words were never spoken!
CHICAGO AND NYC WILL DIE JUST LIKE DETROIT AND CLEVELAND, STUPID PEOPLE CONTROLLED BY UNION GANGSTERS, THEY ALREADY ARE ON LIFE SUPPORT. LEAVE FAST !
GOD HELP THE OTHER STATES AS THE DUMMIES MOVE TO THEM... RIGHT TO WORK STATES ARE SAFE HAVENS FOR BUSINESS. JUST LOOK AT THE NUMBERS.
Tell the mayor if there are armed concealed to carry people around, he won't get far!
Wouldn't the Mayor threatening to shoot an unarmed reporter just prove the point that, when guns are banned, only the criminals have them at their disposal?
A Jet Blue pilot gets accused today of sending an email to a "girlfriend" saying he would end his life in a "spectacular" way...evidently he did NOT say directly he was going to crash a plane..but the guy gets taken down immediately by his "girlfriend", by his employer, by the police, and is made to go for a psychological investigation. Drugereport headlines the incident with "...pilot threatens to crash plane." Idiots. NOW....Mayor Dilly Daley holds a weapon up to a reporter and indicates how he could use it on him (he did NOT point the thing at Dummy as far as his article is written) and no one does one damned thing about it. How about he gets arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. This was no frigging JOKE!!!!! It was not even humorous!!! It seems no one in Chicago really gives a rat's A. Maybe that's whey everyone is shooting it up out there. When I'm elected King...things will change!
I'd file an attempted assault against this idiot mayor. How about banning fools from public office, especially mayor of what once WAS a proud city. I grew up there. Now it is a village of idiots running the place. A place that produces lunatics like the current president and his cronies
they seize all those weapons, yet how many people are still killed with other weapons? only cops and criminals are allowed to own guns in chicago, and it seems like the criminals are winning. if every house in chicago could be possibly armed, how many less burglaries would there be. if a criminal breaks into your house, and you shoot him, he will file a suit against you. daley even suggested they get rid of guns to prevent that shooting at fort hood, does he know guns are what they do for a living, should we arm soldiers with slingshots, or spitballs? this man s nuts, that is why i fled the city years ago, early on during his rein as head nut in charge,
Daley needs to be jailed. He is a corrupt high criminal and if he pointed a firearm at someone he should be arrested and jailed for attempted murder.
Daley is the lowest form of political life, and when he is judged he will ROT IN HELL, he is an evil vile man.
As a matter of fact, does Dilly Daley even have a firearms permit?!? If he does NOT, he should not even have a firearm in his hands. TWO violations! He's such a hypocrite; I'll bet his security people have weapons. Someone ought to find out if Daley has a firearms permit. Do it up Chicagoites!!!!
Remember how much gun violence there was in Florida 20 years ago? They made it easier for law abiding citizens to buy and carry firearms (including concealed) and gun violence dropped. Same thing happened with other states that added concealed carry. Chicago has a very high gun violence rate and Daley's answer is to confiscate guns and point them at reporters.
You get whatever you elect.
If I had said that to the mayor with a gun in hand,I would be arrested for making a deadly threat.Funny how we let a public figure thats a democrat/liberal/progresive get away with it.
News flash. Draw down on me and die. This man is a fool. Of course a mayor really serves little purpose. I see that disarming law abiding citizens is running smoothly. How can you shoot the ciminals like him (politicians=actors=news anchors/journlaists=liars) as well as the honest kind (robbers, murderers, etc) if you have no firearms? The good old fashioned way is with a blade. I am a good hand with a throwing knife or axe. How is the market for blades in Chicago?
The sane or insane debate continues with this guy. The fact that he used a gun to show the gun ban is working shows his insanity and his sanity. He's insane for even attempting this stunt. But, like 99.9% of gun owners, he shows his sanity by not using it on another human being. Take the Constitution of The United states and twist it to score political points, insane. Showing that a law abiding citizen can hold a gun and not kill anyone, sane.
Should we take cars off the streets?
Or cigarettes off the shelves?
Maybe a ban on Big Macs?
Cars kill more people than guns. And people die because of wreckless decisions like driving while drunk, ect. Smoking has been linked to heart disease and cancer. Smoking is a conscience decision. Fat people put a burden on our Health Care system and fat food is the cause. Again, what you eat is your decision.
Where does the banning of products and lifestyles going to stop? How about trying a novel approach, personal responsibility. I'll keep my guns, thank you very much. I'll use them to protect my home from Big Mac peddling, 2-pack a day politicians that just don't get it.
This comment has been sponsored by the good folks at McDonalds, Marlboro Lights and Winchester Firearms. No animal was harmed during the writing of this comment.
Daley picked up a rifle!! Does he have a FOID Card? If not he should be arrested under Illinois law that requires one to handle a firearm.
Where are the State Police?
Latest in Bleader
-
More Chi Sounds from Face Melt
A compilation showcasing local experimental beat makers
- Feb 6, 2012
-
Movie life in Chicago: managing the New 400
An interview with some of the staff of Rogers Park's New 400 movie theater
- Feb 6, 2012
-
Jerked: Heron Valley Jerk Chicken
A Roseland jerk shack does chicken right
- Feb 6, 2012
- More »
Author Archives
-
Rahm's latest verdict: we're stuck with the meter deal
Even Emanuel has to acknowledge that the city's street parking system was sold.
- Dec 14, 2011
-
The parking meter deal: still more hosing to come
The street parking sell off continues to eat at Chicagoans' wallets.
- Dec 13, 2011
-
Cannabis crusader
Two decades later, James Gierach is still campaigning against pot prohibition
- Dec 1, 2011
- More »
People who saved…
