Friday, June 25, 2010
Politics / Clout City / News Park District Balks at Gun-Rights Group Meeting
Posted by Mick Dumke on 06.25.10 at 10:00 AM
Gerald Vernon says he did everything he should have to obtain a permit to hold a meeting at the Tuley Park field house on the south side. He told the park supervisor he expected 150 to 200 people to attend, filled out the paperwork she gave him, paid a $100 fee, and walked away thinking he'd reserved a meeting room for the evening of June 30. The group that would be convening was Illinois Carry, an organization advocating for the right to bear concealed firearms.
But on Wednesday, a week before the scheduled date of the event, he got a call telling him his permit had been revoked.
Vernon says a Tuley Park official informed him he has to submit a new permit application that will be reviewed before he gets approval for the meeting. But when I contacted the park and asked about it, I was told the event had been canceled altogether.
Says Vernon: "This just sounds a whole lot like Daley's bullshit."
Vernon has reasons for sounding impertinent. Mayor Daley's view of guns, gun manufacturers, gun-rights advocates, and people who ask questions about his views of same are well established: he doesn't like them, he doesn't want to hear from them, and he blames them for causing the violence in the streets. Other top city officials, including the police chief and leading aldermen, follow his lead.
In recent weeks the mayor has repeatedly dodged questions about the city's ban on handguns, which the Supreme Court is expected to strike down before the end of the month.
At the same time, Chicago has been in the throes of the annual surge in violence that arrives with warm weather. Some of the most highly publicized recent incidents, including the slaying of a police officer last month, occurred in the Chatham neighborhood near Tuley Park.
"People want the ability to defend themselves and Daley won't let them," Vernon says. "And last weekend we had more than 50 shootings!"
Vernon, a south-sider who teaches at Northeastern Illinois University's Center for Inner City Studies, says he's been in favor of conceal-and-carry laws for years but became more active in the issue after his girlfriend was robbed last year.
The organization has been holding public meetings across the state to discuss its support for gun ownership rights. "We worked our way into Cook County and held a meeting in Lansing with the whole intention of doing them in Chicago," says Valinda Rowe, a spokeswoman for the group. "Where we decide to go is based on feedback. We've been hearing from people in that neighborhood [Chatham], especially after the tragic death of the young police officer—people were saying, 'We need to have this conversation here. We need to be able to protect ourselves.'"
"We wanted to have the event in Chatham as a result of Officer Wortham being killed there and the publicity generated by it," Vernon says.
He says the group figured the best place to hold it would be in a meeting room in the Tuley Park field house, so three weeks ago he went there and told park supervisor Donna Jones what he wanted. "Miss Jones was very helpful," he says. He got a receipt for his payment and thought everything was good to go—until Jones called him on Wednesday to say his original permit had been "rescinded." He'd need to fill out another set of paperwork to apply for a special events permit.
"She said it could be another two weeks and then a committee would review it," Vernon says.
As luck and poor planning would have it, I went to the Tuley Park field house myself Wednesday night. I'd heard about the meeting at a City Council hearing last week, but I mistakenly thought it was scheduled for the 23rd instead of the 30th. Jones let me know that I was a week early—and more important, that the event had been scotched altogether. "It's not going to happen here," she told me.
I asked if she knew why and she said she wasn't sure. "I just recycled their flyers," she said. She walked over to the recycling bin and fished one out. The rest of them remained in the can.
When I reached Rowe she sounded surprised that I'd been told the event was off. She said all she knew was that there had been a "glitch" in the permitting process. "Threw flyers in the bin already! Sounds like she's pretty sure it's not going to happen at Tuley!" Rowe said her group was working on a "plan B" but asked if I had any suggestions. (I didn't.)
I got back in touch with Jones. She was certain there would be no gun-rights meeting at Tuley next week. She said Park District officials had decided that the Tuley Park meeting room couldn't accommodate Illinois Carry, but she wouldn't say who specifically had given her the orders. "You would have to call the marketing director," she said, meaning the Park District press flack downtown.
I got Park District spokeswoman Jessica Maxey-Faulkner on the phone. She said she didn't know anything about the situation but would look into it and get back to me. So far she hasn't.
UPDATE: I first heard about the planned town hall meeting when Sixth Ward alderman Freddrenna Lyle groaned about it during a City Council hearing. But when I followed up with her Friday, she said she had nothing to do with the decision to yank the permit. "I have never spoken to anyone about this," she says.
Tuley Park is in Lyle's ward. Lyle is a strong backer of gun control but said Illinois Carry should be allowed to hold its meeting. "They want to go into a community touched by the violence because it's an easier sell," she says. "But those people have a right to meet and it's up to us who disagree with them to show up and make another argument."
Comments (23)
Showing 1-23 of 23
How sad. Rather than devote energy and brain power to a solution to Chicago's violence problems our esteemed leaders run around trying to squelch what they see as their opposition.
The gun ban is contrary to the Constitution according to the SCOTUS, it has utterly failed to decrease violence in Chicago and, while I am very uncomfortable with the idea of people carrying guns around with them, I need to understand that IT IS ALREADY HAPPENING. Where do you think all these illegal guns are being stored currently..in lock boxes on the top shelf of the closet? No...on people. Around us.
I don't know if it's the solution or not, concealed carry, but the gun ban is not the solution and denying legitimate groups a license to meet just because you disagree with them is almost more disgusting.
like
dislike
They should sue the park district. I'm guessing Daley has forgotten about National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, but the courts haven't. The government can't deny just because they don't like someone's message.
I guess Daley hates our First Amendment rights just as much as he hates our Second Amendment rights.
I may be showing my age here, but please bear with me. I think my logic is sound.
The Heller decision tells us that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual's civil right.
Therefore, anyone who acts to deny anyone his or her second amendment rights is guilty of attempting to deny that person their civil rights.
Didn't Mayor Daley swear to uphold and defend the Constitution when he took his oath of office?
Am I the only one who sees George Wallace in the school house door when I see and hear Mayor Daley rant against our civil rights in clear violation of his oath of office? Why aren't more people making this connection?
"Am I the only one who sees George Wallace in the school house door when I see and hear Mayor Daley rant against our civil rights in clear violation of his oath of office? Why aren't more people making this connection?"
Not everyone is a Glenn Beck fan.
Just wait until Monday when McDonald comes out. All of Daley's whining and lying will be exposed, and he'll have more armed, law-abiding citizens in Chicago than he'll know how to deal with. Daley will start to lose his constituents as they get picked off breaking into homes and trying to rob little old ladies.
Hello to all. I am Gerald vernon, the person who put in the application at Tuley park to begin with. In all fairness, Alonzo Williams who is the head of Special Events at the Park district says he just heard about this whole fiasco on Thursday morning. He has been very helpful in trying to sort this whole mess out. The real culprit, I suspect, is the 6 ward Alderman Freddrenna Lyle who lambasted the whole idea of us having a conversation "on her turf" at the city council meeting last Friday. Most Daley appointees seem to forget that the "turf" belongs to the people who live in that ward, not the Alderman or the Mayor. They have already taken away our Second Amendment rights, now these tyrants want to take away our first amendment rights as well.
40 states have adopted concealed carry laws in the past 23 years. Not a single state has turned into "Dodge City". On the contrary, the violent crime rates drops on average by 20-25% because now the thugs don't know who is armed, and who is not. Now all of a sudden the little old lady, the fat guy on a cane, or the single mother with a kid in one arm and a bag of groceries in the other doesn't look like such a juicy victim anymore! While the other 49 states in the country have some type of carry provision, the same thing that is legal everywhere else, is a felony in Illinois! We don't feel like anyone should have to choose between being a potential victim or a potential criminal just because they don't want to get their head bashed in!!! Let me end this by quoting Fredrick Douglass who says, "The limits of tyrants are proscribed by the endurence of those whom they oppress".
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke
Mr. Vernon, I am glad you have chosen not to do anything. The archaic arguments of law abiding citizens possessing and carrying firearms increases violence has never been farther from the truth. Recently released FBI crime statistcs show a major decease in violent crime and a direct correlation with the rising sale of firearms.
Saying guns cause violence is like saying silverware leads to obesity.
Keep up the good fight and God Bless the Illinois Carry movement.
Concealed carry is a good idea, because you know that for every lowlife with a pistol in his pants, there's a responsible citizen with a piece in his holster. And there will suddenly be a whole lot less lowlifes with guns when they realize that ANYBODY ANYWHERE can, and WILL, shoot back.
Look at Texas. Go online, look for 'Texas failed liquor robbery', and you'll see plenty of evidence as to why concealed carry laws work. Who in their right mind, even if they're drug addicts, would try to rob a liquor store knowing that half of the men inside the store are armed and trained with their weapons?
Guest
Yes , what Mr. Vernon said !
So......................................When are you sheep in Illinois going to stop enduring being oppressed ? Next monday ? Ha ! I think not . Your pompous little mayor isn't going to just lie down and roll over like you sheep do .
Some of us watching Illinois and New York and California have noticed something those states gun laws all suck and only promote more crime , oh and there is one more factor...............You sheep ( as Obama says ) keep banging your heads against a wall and keep electing gun hating Democrats to office as your shepherds .
Your Mayor is only one man , Your Governor is only one man but thousands of sheep keep electing them .
There is a definite pattern here and its time to change the pattern or stop complaining about what you have all done to yourselves .
If your elected officials won't uphold your laws , your constitution, then boot them out at the polls .
America is going to boot Obama's butt right out of the white house in 2012 and a lot of his minion in Washington DC along with him.
We all need to hold meetings now on how to convince the people that keep saying ( " Ya , I know but he's a really 'NICE' guy thats why I keep voting for him " ) to stop that madness and elect someone new thats willing to do the job, the job of 'WE THE PEOPLE ' instead of ' ME ,MYSELF AND I '
The root of the pro-concealed carry crowd's frustration is that they just don't understand, and purposefully refuse to consider, the point of view of President Obama, Mayor Daley, and other government officials.
The pro-gun types cling to the notion that they are some how "free" men and women who are laboring under the burden of an oppressive government that must be slain like some sort of mythical dragon. Indeed, there was a time in this country when citizens were free to pursue individual interests under the rights guaranteed by our Constitution. However, in 2010, that is no longer the case.
A baby born today comes into the world as a ward of the state. His or her parents are essentially nothing more than foster parents who are under the supervision of the Department of Children and Family Services. For their efforts in feeding and clothing the child, the biological parents receive a tax rebate. At age 6, the public school system assumes the duties of inculcating the child with a centrally-developed set of cultural values that is long on self hatred for the majority and short on instilling the virtues of ambition and self-reliance.
Upon reaching the age of majority, the child is nudged out on to a playing field where ambition is penalized and mediocrity is praised. Rise to the level of stardom and you'll be sanctioned until you bow - but if you sit on the sidelines, you'll get 6 votes in the next election.
As the child slides into the melancholy winter of his life, the state is there once again - offering a bed in the institution and a death panel to set the date of the final disappointment.
It would follow then that the keepers of order would be opposed to concealed carry. After all, the state cannot allow the ultimate exercise of individualism that concealed carry would provide. The state cannot have individuals decide who shall live, and who shall die - that is the obligation of the state. What if the wrong person dies? Is the state better off with a 20 year old man dying at the hands of a 70 year old who is supposedly "defending" himself? In the state's eyes, the answer is a resounding "NO." The 20 year old has a lot more to offer the state, literally and figuratively, than does the 70 year old.
The state is infinitely arrogant and opposition is the ultimate expression of that arrogance. The pro-concealed carry guys have to learn to be more tolerant of the arrogance of the statists.
The root of the pro-concealed carry crowd's frustration is that they just don't understand, and purposefully refuse to consider, the point of view of President Obama, Mayor Daley, and other government officials.
The pro-gun types cling to the notion that they are some how "free" men and women who are laboring under the burden of an oppressive government that must be slain like some sort of mythical dragon. Indeed, there was a time in this country when citizens were free to pursue individual interests under the rights guaranteed by our Constitution. However, in 2010, that is no longer the case.
A baby born today comes into the world as a ward of the state. His or her parents are essentially nothing more than foster parents who are under the supervision of the Department of Children and Family Services. For their efforts in feeding and clothing the child, the biological parents receive a tax rebate. At age 6, the public school system assumes the duties of inculcating the child with a centrally-developed set of cultural values that is long on self hatred for the majority and short on instilling the virtues of ambition and self-reliance.
Upon reaching the age of majority, the child is nudged out on to a playing field where ambition is penalized and mediocrity is praised. Rise to the level of stardom and you'll be sanctioned until you bow - but if you sit on the sidelines, you'll get 6 votes in the next election.
As the child slides into the melancholy winter of his life, the state is there once again - offering a bed in the institution and a death panel to set the date of the final disappointment.
It would follow then that the keepers of order would be opposed to concealed carry. After all, the state cannot allow the ultimate exercise of individualism that concealed carry would provide. The state cannot have individuals decide who shall live, and who shall die - that is the obligation of the state. What if the wrong person dies? Is the state better off with a 20 year old man dying at the hands of a 70 year old who is supposedly "defending" himself? In the state's eyes, the answer is a resounding "NO." The 20 year old has a lot more to offer the state, literally and figuratively, than does the 70 year old.
The state is infinitely arrogant and opposition to concealed carry is the ultimate expression of that arrogance. The pro-concealed carry guys have to learn to be more tolerant of the arrogance of the statists.
Gerald: I spoke with Alderman Lyle and she insists that she had nothing to do with your permit being rescinded. I posted her comments above.
You right wingers are sick puppies all of you from Sarah Palin to Glen Beck and all the
bed wetters-turned-voters that call themselves republicans or "conservatives"for fear of having to say they have only air in their heads instead of brains. Why don't you practice your christianity instead of beating us all over the head with it day in and dayout on all the Rupert Murdoch contolled media outlets? Where do the "love thy neighbor" and the "you shall not kill" slogans fit into wanting to shoot people? Who said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel?
Gerald has anyone at the district willingly admitted that they are the individual responsible for revoking the permit or are you getting a royal run around on the matter?
I wonder why Alderperson Lyle can't get to the truth of the matter as to why and who canceled a permit of a group of people that are trying to peacefully assemble within Chicago's city limits in a legal manner. Surly an alderman should have the authority to get to the truth of this matter in their own district.
I still remember City of Chicago v. Jesus Morales in 1998.
In 1992, just prior to the dramatic decline in national crime rates, the City of Chicago enacted a loitering ordinance supposedly targeted at street gangs. The law's purpose is prophylactic – to prevent crime before it occurs by banishing certain people from public places. It gives police wide powers to disperse any group of two or more persons who are in a public place "with no apparent purpose" if one of the persons is "reasonably suspected" of being a gang member. Failure to disperse results in arrest.
Which the Aclu defeated in court.
Odd that the park district won't allow a group to talk about citizens rights and self defense at law abiding public forum.
Does Illinois have a "Sunshine" or "Freedom of Information" law? That permit's revocation has to have been signed or directed by someone. File an FOIA request for all paperwork and/or emails dealing with that permit.
It is no surprise that a tyrant who opposes firearms rights is also opposed to free speech and freedom of assembly. These rights are all tied together. Heck, my second-grade teacher back in 1958 taught us that the second amendment was the guarantee of the rest of the Bill of Rights. Every dictator, would-be dictator, or tyrant knows that the first rule of tyranny is to disarm and silence those who might resist. As the rest of the nation gains, or rather regains, firearms freedoms Daley's intransigence just makes his own tyranny more and more evident.
FGM
Well we're a right silly little twit aren't we? How did you ever got from Daley killing people in Chicago to Glenn Beck? That's not a leap that's a trip to the edge of the known universe. If you want to call me on Daley killing people in Chicago that will just make you a right silly little lying twit. I know this is going to be exceedingly difficult for you but get your hand out of your pants and listen. George Wallace and Lester Maddox were both Democrats which would go a long way to explaining why Wallace and Daley are in the same sentence. God you guys are dense.
CLUTCH
Oh clutchie, clutchie why so butt hurt buddy? Lemme make your head asplode. I am a conservative who hasen't seen the inside of a church in 48 some odd years. As for "love thy neighbor" and the "you shall not kill" you can put those where the tapeworms live. I like my neighbor I don't love him. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone with a firearm. UNLESS he wants to kill me or mine. Then I most certainly want to kill him. As quickly and as violently as I possibly can. Just like the cops. I will then proceed to light up, pop a beer and ask the old lady what movie she wants to see tonight while relieving myself on the pos I just put down and wait on the garbage man. To date Rick Sanchez has killed more people than any of the dozens of firearms I've owned over the last 45 years or so. Look it up. Oh the airhead part? Airline Transport Pilot here. Chose your next flight wisely.
I am waiting for you and your girl friend FGM to post pictures of those signs you have on the front door of your place. You know the ones I'm talking about. Those visible to the street from thirty feet that say "No guns here".
Both of shoot your mouth off knowing you'll squeal like a fifth grader when someone mugs your deserving butt. Don't look to me to pull your chestnuts outa the fire. Man up and live your convictions. It'll only hurt for a little while. Don't try to call the cops. They might shoot someone. Chicago cops? It'll probably the little old lady in the wheelchair two blocks away.
Man, twin twits in the same post. Maybe I'll hang around for the trifecta.
Next time, apply for a civil rights demonstration, say nothing of which rights. After all, it is our right!
"Well we're a right silly little twit aren't we?"
I'd like to welcome John Cleese to the forum.
"George Wallace and Lester Maddox were both Democrats which would go a long way to explaining why Wallace and Daley are in the same sentence."
Funny how both Wallace and Maddox ran for President on the American Independent ticket given that they were such good Democrats.
*I am waiting for you and your girl friend FGM to post pictures of those signs you have on the front door of your place. You know the ones I'm talking about. Those visible to the street from thirty feet that say "No guns here". *
I don't know why you people suffer from the delusion that you can't own guns in Chicago.
"Upon reaching the age of majority, the child is nudged out on to a playing field where ambition is penalized and mediocrity is praised. Rise to the level of stardom and you'll be sanctioned until you bow - but if you sit on the sidelines, you'll get 6 votes in the next election."
Another Glenn Beck fan seems to be a little confused about cumulative voting.
peteypal's post is brilliant!
L382guy's is almost as good.
FGFM, well, he tried.
The Clutch character is clearly just an idiot.
W. Richards... No one will admit to anything. Donna Jones was the person I initally talked to at Tuley Park, she is also the person who called to tell me that the approval had been reciended. When I asked why, I was told "there will be too many people". When I asked "according to who, based on what"? I was told to contact Alonzo Williams the director of special events. When I spoke to him, he claimed it was the first he heard of it. In other words I got the royal run-a-round. Nobody noes nothing, about nothing, except that I can't have the meeting at Tuley Park. They always have convenient excuses why my rights are being denyed, while pretending that they are not doing what they are doing, and I'm supposed to believe them because they said so.
