Oops They Did It Again
By Michael P. Tremoglie (01/26/04)
Local Government in Illinois favors jailing citizens instead of criminals.
Just as they did in New York City, just as they did in Britain, the government of Wilmette, IL filed criminal charges against a homeowner defending his family. Hale DeMar shot a burglar and is being charged with violating a local ordinance banning handguns, and for violating state law by not having an Illinois Firearms Owners Identification Card (FOID) for the banned handgun.
Wilmette Police Chief George Carpenter rationalized Demar’s arrest by saying, "… a resident who finds himself in this situation, immediately lock the door of the room he's in and dial 911." Maybe Chief Carpenter should have said that the burglar, Morio Billings, should have been locked in a room instead.
However, inadvertently Chief Carpenter’s comments are a metaphor for this whole situation. He believes the law-abiding need to lock themselves in rooms rather than the criminals.
The similarities between this case, and that of Ronald Dixon a New Yorker, who shot a burglar rifling the bureau in his son’s room, and Tony Martin, a Englishman convicted and imprisoned for shooting and killing a burglar are many.
Only adverse publicity about the case saved Dixon from a long prison term. Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes was inexplicably more outraged by this honest citizen trying to protect his family than he was about the burglary. He implemented a jihad to imprison Dixon.
Dixon shot the burglar, who had nineteen prior arrests, with a legally purchased a handgun. However, that firearm was legally purchased in Florida. Dixon was in the process of having it registered in New York when the incident occurred. Because it was not yet registered in New York State, technically Dixon possessed the gun illegally.
The public outrage caused by Dixon’s appearances on the Fox News Channel Hannity and Colmes Show, among others, resulted in the DA changing his mind and arranging a plea bargain of a few days in jail for Dixon – who will have a criminal record nonetheless.
Unfortunately, Britain's Tony Martin was not as fortunate. In August 1999, two thieves broke into Martin’s home while he slept. Martin shot both of them wounding one and killing the other. Martin then called an ambulance and police.
Martin was convicted of murder. The public demanded leniency and his conviction was changed to manslaughter and sentenced to five years. After two and a half years he was eligible for parole. He was initially refused because he represented "a threat to burglars," and he showed no remorse - which obviously means he is a threat to burglars everywhere.
In Wilmette, the Chief Carpenter met with residents at a meeting of the Wilmette Village Board. He explained that guns are more likely to be used for suicides and that they are a hazard in the home (not explaining why they are not a hazard in his home).
Typical of the gun abolitionists attitude is Village Board President Nancy Canafax who said, “It's not an easy question… But all I can say is that this community has felt secure for the past 15 years with gun control. The residents agree with the police chief that this ban has provided more safety than harm.''
She did not explain why it is Demar obviously did not feel as safe as she does and that is why he owned one.
Village Trustee Bernard Michna said he was a victim of a break-in when he lived in Chicago, but said he believed the board was "unanimous in that there will be no change in the handgun ordinance." Is Michna’s experience and attitude is a model for all the residents?
In 2001, John Caile, spokesman for Concealed Carry Reform NOW, which advocates making handgun permits more widely available said, "We applaud efforts at community involvement; those kinds of things are good." However, he also said guns are effectively used for self-defense at least 800,000 times a year in the United States, most often without a shot being fired.
This is why the Village Board of Wilmett, Illinois, the Brooklyn NY DA, and London are committing an egregious error. They are preventing people from enforcing the first law – that of self-preservation.
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