“Common sense has prevailed over political correctness in Illinois,” said Joe Waldron, executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) as the Illinois House of Representatives voted to override Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s veto of an important self-defense measure today.
The House voted 85 to 30 Tuesday, overriding the anti-gun governor’s veto of SB 2165, which would protect citizens from local anti-gun ordinances if they use a firearm to defend themselves or their families. The legislation was inspired by the case of Wilmette resident Hale DeMar, who shot a burglar in his home with a handgun, despite the city’s handgun ban. Last week the Senate voted 40-18 to override, at which point CCRKBA urged a quick House vote.
“For the second time in a week,” Waldron observed, “Illinois lawmakers showed some backbone in voting to override the governor’s veto. This is a stunning victory for bipartisanship in the interest of community safety. Hopefully, the pendulum is swinging back from the realm of political correctness to public safety. Having laws in effect that penalize honest citizens for defending themselves, their families and their homes from criminals is not simply bad policy, it is insidious.
“Gov. Blagojevich and his liberal allies in the legislature need a reality check, and this was a good first step,” Waldron said. “The time for feel-good solutions to life-threatening situations is long gone. The good citizens of Illinois deserve to be secure in their homes, not only from predatory criminals, but from nitwit local ordinances that would punish them for doing what any normal person would do when faced with a threat.
“Hopefully,” Waldron observed, “Gov. Blagojevich will learn from this. And from this learning experience, perhaps the governor and some of his friends will step aside and allow the Illinois Legislature to pass a strong, sensible state concealed carry law that includes pre-emption against local ordinances that victimize people twice. There is no room on the law books for local ordinances that nullify the rights of citizens at their city limits.”