The Illinois State Rifle Assoc. on the recent Chicago Public Schools statement
Please see ISRA's website for additional information.
On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, Chicago Schools
CEO Arne Duncan stood at a lectern in the Thompson Center Plaza and
essentially blamed the state's hunters and sportsmen for the murders of
20 Chicago school children. Duncan made his appearance during a gun
control rally sponsored by Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina's
Catholic Church. Pfleger is best remembered for his speech at an
earlier gun control rally during which he called for the murder of gun
shop owners and state legislators who oppose gun control laws.
Interestingly enough, at about the same time that Duncan was delivering
his rant against the state's law abiding firearm owners, a report was
released in "Catalyst Magazine" that indicates that just 51% of
freshmen enrolled in Chicago public high schools stick it out to
graduate.
"Studies by the Chicago Police Department indicate
that 88% of murders are committed by people with previous criminal
records," commented ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. "Likewise,
those same reports show that about 76% of murder victims had records as
well. Nonetheless, opportunists like Pfleger and Duncan persist in
shifting the blame away from failed public policies and towards
law-abiding hunters and sportsmen. The gun control measures these
people advocate will never succeed in thwarting crime because they
totally ignore the criminal element."
"It's ironic that the
truth about Duncan's administration was being released just as he was
damning the state's law-abiding gun owners," continued Pearson. "Maybe
if Duncan did a better job keeping his charges in school, they wouldn't
be out on the streets beating, knifing and shooting one another to
death. If Duncan had any sense of responsibility at all, he would have
been at the microphone apologizing to the people of Illinois for
wasting their time and tax dollars. By all rights, Arne Duncan should
be returning 49% of his $200,000 annual salary to the Chicago treasury.
He's doing half a job -- so he deserves half his pay."
The
ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible
firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests
of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.
Posted 05:54PM Apr 07, 2008 by MCSA
