Jun 10, 2009 10:47 pm US/Central
Many Chicagoans Carry Handguns Illegally
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Gun rights versus gun control; both sides are bringing their message front and center. Hundreds sang and prayed for peace Wednesday night at an anti-gun rally in Rogers Park. The Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. read the names of 36 Chicago Public School students killed just this year. And in a powerful symbol of the lives lost, youngsters laid down on the sidewalk.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports that now the battle over guns moves to Washington.
Mayor Daley and the National Rifle Association are headed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a showdown over Chicago's ban on handguns. There are powerful, compelling arguments on both sides. CBS 2 talked to a shop owner who said that if he had obeyed the city's ban, he'd be dead.
"We were actually broken into, you know, during the day," he said.
He owns a small business on the South Side. He doesn't want us to reveal his identity. Although it's illegal in Chicago, he often packs a .25 caliber pistol. He claims it saved his life twice, most notably when a robber hit him from behind with a hammer.
"As he reached to hit me again, I drew my pistol," he said. "He saw the pistol, and I shot and missed him totally 'cause I was half-knocked. He took off running."
Chicago police who responded did what officers often do in the city's toughest neighborhoods. They pretended that the victim had not broken the law by defending himself with an illegal handgun.
"Nothing was said about the gun going off," he said. "The police come over to make a report. The guy said to me, 'Well, you're lucky you weren't killed. You should've had a gun with you. If you had killed the guy, then you would have had to say you took the gun off him.'"
Gun experts say that the .25 caliber is, in fact, very easy to conceal. That's the reason that it is the weapon of choice for many Chicagoans who want to carry an illegal handgun to defend themselves.
Gun instructor John Matuska says a majority of his students are women. He estimates that 150,000 otherwise law-abiding Chicagoans are packing pistols illegally.
"It's their way of immediate protection," Matuska said. "They would rather take a chance with a judge or a jury than take a chance with the bad guy and not have one."
Some report that night-shift nurses and other staff at several well-known local hospitals pack pistols in their purses as they commute.
The gun owner we interviewed said he hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually overturn Chicago's handgun ban.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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