Attorney General Lisa Madigan Seeks New Hearing On Gun Law

Illinois' attorney general on Tuesday asked the entire 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a lawsuit challenging the state's ban on concealed carry in an effort to salvage the only law in the nation that makes the practice entirely illegal.
Last month, a three-judge panel struck down the Illinois ban as unconstitutional and gave lawmakers 180 days to write a law legalizing it. But Attorney General Lisa Madigan is asking that all 10 judges on the court rehear the case, saying the previous decision "goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court has held" and conflicts with decisions by two other federal appellate courts.
The judges suggested in a 2-1 decision that legalizing concealed carry is long overdue. Judge Richard Posner, who wrote the majority opinion, said that there was nothing to suggest that criminal activity in Illinois was different enough from that in other states to justify taking a different approach to concealed carry.
Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said he was "OK" with Madigan's decision.
"That just puts (the issue) back in play," Pearson said. "If we get a favorable ruling, we'll be happy and if we get an unfavorable ruling, we'll be on to the Supreme Court."
Pearson and other gun-rights advocates have long argued that the prohibition violates the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment and what they see as Americans' right to carry guns for self-defense.
Madigan's request does not affect the court-ordered 180-day timeline to write a new law.
The appellate panel's ruling argued that Illinois had not made a strong case that a gun ban was vital to public safety. It also said the Supreme Court already decided that the Second Amendment "confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside."
The dissenting judge, Ann Claire Williams, said that firearms carried outside the home increased the risk of death or injury to a broader range of people.

Gun rights advocates had been threatening to make Illinois once again the center of the national gun-control debate over the issue. In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court made Chicago's 28-year-old handgun ban unenforceable, ruling that Americans have the right to have guns in their homes for protection. The city responded by approving alternative methods of restricting who can have guns.
Last month's ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by a former corrections officer, Michael Moore of Champaign; a farmer, Charles Hooks of Percy in southeastern Illinois and the Bellevue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation

Children are not safe even on Sesame Street

Sex Offender's on Sesame Street really. Mr. Rodger's would have been more believable but not Elmo.

 

 

The puppeteer who performs as Elmo on "Sesame Street" is taking a leave of absence from the popular kids' show in the wake of allegations that he had a relationship with a 16-year-old boy.

Sesame Workshop said puppeteer Kevin Clash denies the charges, which were first made in June by the alleged partner, who by then was 23.

"We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action," Sesame Workshop said in a statement issued Monday. "We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation

Read more: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/20073329/elmo-puppeteer-kevin-clash-sesame-street-accused-of-underage-relationship-16-year-old-boy#ixzz2C6tGzUGq

Spineless Animal shoots and kills man and his dog

 

 

 

 

 Gang banger shoots and wounds one on the corner of 71st Jeffery and one fataly shot along with his dog in the alley. Both victims are non gang related. Two men were wounded, one fatally, in a shooting in the South Shore neighborhood this evening, police said.

The shooting took place about 6:13 p.m. in the 2000 block of East 71st Street — near Jeffery Boulevard —said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

One man was shot and died on the scene, the other suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment, said Zala. A condition was not available.

News Affairs had no immediate information on any of the circumstances of the shooting.

 

Final update:

 

Four men were wounded, two fatally, in separate South Shore and Englewood neighborhood attacks Thursday night on the South Side.

The most recent shooting happened about 9:30 p.m. in the 6300 block of South Honore Street. One man died and another was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said, and he's expected to survive.
The Cook County medical examiner's office identified the dead man as Brian Cross. It's not clear where he lived before he died. The survivor was also 34, police said.
An earlier shooting took place about 6:13 p.m. in the 2000 block of East 71st Street — near Jeffery Boulevard —said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

A 39-year-old man was shot and died on the scene and the other, 49, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment, said Zala. A condition was not available.
Tyrone Soleberry, of the 7000 block of South Paxton Avenue, was pronounced dead at the morgue at 10:15 p.m.
Police said the shooting may have been narcotics related and that the shooter approached on foot.

Another person was shot in the 1200 block of South Jeffersron Street in the South Loop neighborhood about 7:30 p.m. That 34-year-old is in stable conditoin at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
About 1:30 a.m., a 31-year-old man was shot in the 4800 block of South Prairie Avenue. He drove himself to a relatives house in the 5400 block of South Indiana Avenue and was taken from there to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said.