Thursday, December 11, 2008

• Item by Erich Pratt

Americans were stunned. They sat riveted, watching a sitting governor being arrested and led away in handcuffs. Even the FBI agents involved were reportedly “shocked” by the brazen attitude that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) displayed in his quest to sell the vacant senate seat formerly held by President-elect Barack Obama.

As outrageous as the governor’s actions were, FBI tapes revealed
far more than just a senate seat that was for sale to the highest
bidder.

Apparently, Blagojevich was also threatening to block the sale of
Wrigley Field by the parent company of the Chicago Tribune if certain
editors who had criticized the governor were not fired.

This infringement of liberty rightfully shocked the media. In its
editorial of December 10, the editors at The Washington Post said
that Blagojevich’s squeezing the Tribune to fire its editors
“alarms us.” And an editorialist at the Chicago newspaper labeled
those same charges to be “shocking.”

Yes, these revelations are shocking. And it’s refreshing to see the
media so “alarmed” by this disregard of constitutional liberty.

But gun owners are left to wonder about the media: “Hey, where have
you been?”

This type of abuse may be uncommon when it comes to First Amendment
freedoms, but the restrictions placed upon the Second Amendment are
commonplace. And when it happens, there is hardly ever a peep heard
from the news media.

For example, during his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives,
Blagojevich was rated an F- by the Gun Owners of America, and his
record as governor in the state of Illinois was not any better.

But where was the outrage against Blagojevich who, even though he
owned a state issued Firearm Owners ID card, did everything he could
to restrict the ability of average citizens to own guns?

Where was the outrage when Shaun Kranish, an Illinois resident, was
arrested for carrying a firearm in 2005 while Blagojevich was
governor? Kranish was charged with carrying the gun in his fanny
pack, even though he was legally carrying the pistol with the
magazine outside the gun. The charges against this college student
were eventually dropped, but not before he had spent almost $10,000
in legal fees.

Where was the outrage when another Illinois resident, John Horstman,
was illegitimately prosecuted for similar allegations? The charges
were subsequently dropped as well, but there was nary an outcry from
the media.

These violations of our Second Amendment freedoms are not limited to
Illinois. In recent years, gun owners have been forced to endure
countless infringements of their liberties, but the media has been
virtually silent. Consider the following:

* A Delaware woman was recently denied the right to purchase a
handgun because she was too old and—please be sitting down for
this—because she was a woman! A subsequent investigation found
that the state police were using the Brady check system to register
and record gun buyers, something which is explicitly against the law.

* In California, newly-appointed sheriff Sandra Hutchens has tried to
revoke concealed carry permits in Orange County. In a letter to
hundreds of permit holders, Hutchens warns that they could lose their
licenses unless they can prove to her satisfaction that they have a
valid reason for carrying the firearms. Can you imagine such a
similar request being made to the editors of a newspaper—demanding
that they justify the reasons for printing a story?

* It gets worse. Across the nation, the Clinton and Bush
administrations have used the Brady Law to revoke the gun rights of
almost 150,000 military veterans who are suffering from things like
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The message to the veterans is,
“Thank you for your military service … sorry the rigors of combat
have stressed you out … now give up your guns.”

Where has been the outrage?

The recent arrest of Gov. Blagojevich is yet another reminder that
politicians will frequently claim to be acting in the public
interest, when really, they are thinking about no one but themselves.

Truth be told, the media’s yelping about the infringements against
their liberties reveals a similar myopic attitude. And now that their
ox is being gored, they can (almost) understand what us gun owners
live with on a daily basis.

Erich Pratt

Erich Pratt is the Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America. http://www.gunowners.org/

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