The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today expressed astonishment that the City of Chicago would carry its anti-gun extremism to new heights by insulting every retired police officer in the country.
“We’ve long known that the Daley Administration hates law-abiding gun owners,” said SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb. “But now the city is fomenting hysteria over passage of a federal law that allows off-duty and retired police to legally carry concealed handguns anywhere in the country, provided they meet certain requirements.”
The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday that Chicago’s deputy corporation counsel Lawrence Rosenthal said there is a potential for the city to be named in lawsuits simply because its retired officers might take advantage of the new federal law, and subsequently use a firearm in self-defense or to stop a crime.
“Isn’t it odd,” Gottlieb observed, “that Chicago is worried about being sued if one of its former employees uses a firearm in an incident beyond their control, yet they wailed crocodile tears recently when their own lawsuit against gun makers and a local gun shop –which they had sued over the misuse of a firearm by a criminal beyond their control – was thrown out of court.
“Even stranger, though,” Gottlieb said, “is that the city, by protesting the new federal law, is telling its retired cops and law enforcement officers all over the country that they cannot be trusted with the same firearms they carry every day in their own communities, to protect and serve the citizens there. And the message to retired peace officers is just as clear: Your kind aren’t welcome in Chicago.
“What a slap in the face to men and women who daily put their lives on the line, and who have spent careers in public safety,” said Gottlieb, “whether they patrolled a beat in some big city, or wore a badge in some lonely western county, without backup, where courage sometimes is your only ally.
“Now, to tell these people they’re not good enough to be trusted with a firearm in Chicago is despicable,” Gottlieb said. “Mayor Daley and his cronies ought to be ashamed of themselves.”