ANTI-GUN BIGOTRY ALIVE AND WELL IN GLENVIEW, IL SAYS CITIZENS COMMITTEE

BELLEVUE, WA – Bigotry is alive and well in Glenview, IL, but in this case, it is the politically-correct type: prejudice against firearms and those who would buy them, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said today

“Glenview Trustee Mike Guinane’s suggestion that firearm sales be permanently banned from the village, in order to ‘make a statement about Glenview’s disdain for guns,’ reflects an incredibly sneering attitude toward millions of American citizens who own firearms,” said CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. “Some of those citizens live and work in Glenview, and they no doubt take grave exception to Mr. Guinane’s narrow social views.”

Likewise, Waldron said, statements attributed to Village President Larry Carlson by the St. Paul Pioneer Press suggest that the level of anti-gun social bigotry under his leadership has reached the point where a business has suffered by not being able to sell a perfectly legal and highly regulated line of products.

“Instead of acting like village leaders, the trustees are acting like village louts,” Waldron observed. “Were this kind of social bigotry practiced against any group other than gun owners and a prospective gun retailer, it would be considered scurrilous behavior worthy of public scorn. Not only is this conduct reprehensible from a social viewpoint, it might also constitute restraint of trade.

“Only Village attorney Jeff Randall appears to understand the ramifications,” Waldron added. “He reportedly reminded the trustees that the U.S. Constitution might prohibit an outright ban on all gun sales, and of their obligation to at least give consideration to all permit or license applications. Such a ban might concievably violate Article 1, Section 22 of the Illinois State Constitution as well.

“Village President Carlson, like Mr. Guinane, wanted to send a message,” Waldron concluded. “But what kind of message are they sending, that it’s alright to hate a particular social group and the legitimate businesses that cater to them? Gun owners and dealers appear to be the only group against which it is still permissible to practice social bigotry. Maybe they should post that message on signs at the edge of town: ‘Entering Glenview, Not Everyone Welcome’.”