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Blagojevich proposes useless assault weapons ban

Friday, March 24th, 2006, by Fred (, No Comments »
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It’s been all of three days since he rolled through a virtually-uncontested primary, and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is already 0-2 in Big Proposals. First, he proposed raising Illinois’ already high minimum wage by another dollar, threatening the jobs of the very entry-level and low-wage workers he ostensibly was trying to help. Now he proposes an ineffectual ban on “assault” weapons

Blagojevich appeared at a rally here Thursday with anti-gun groups galvanized by the killings this month of 10-year-old Siretha White and 14-year-old Starkesia Reed. The girls both died in their Chicago homes after being hit by stray bullets fired from the street outside.

The governor called for legislators to have some “political courage” and stand up to the gun lobby, which he said “put fear into their hearts and minds.”

“This really comes down to what you stand for and whether you’re willing to stand up to some powerful people,” Blagojevich said.

So-called assault weapons are already subject, along with all other firearms, to myriad laws and regulations restricting their purchase, possession and use. Had the Chicago police done a better job enforcing existing gun laws, the tragedy the Governor decries would have been prevented, and without restricting the rights of legitimate owners of such weapons.

Further, the federal “assault weapons” ban had virtually no impact on violent crime while it was in effect from 1994-2004, and enacting a state ban would have virtually no impact now. Prior to 1994, “assault weapons” were used in 1.4% of crimes involving firearms and 0.25% of all violent crime before the enactment of any national or state “assault weapons” ban. After a decade of federal enforcement, fewer than 1.1% of violent crimes were committed with any type of firearm besides a handgun. Only 1.4% of recovered crime weapons are models covered under the 1994 assault weapons ban.

The statistics are remarkably consistent - criminals generally (the ones in the Chicago incident notwithstanding) don’t prefer “assault weapons”, which are unwieldy and harder to hide than a handgun. And the ones that are prone to using such weapons aren’t deterred by a ban. About the only effect the federal ban did have was to increase the black market value of stolen weapons.

Luckily, it doesn’t look like there is support in either the House or the Senate for the proposal.

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Topinka declared winner of Illinois primary

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006, by Fred (, No Comments »
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Judy Baar Topinka declared winner of Illinois GOP primary

It appeared late Tuesday that Judy Baar Topinka had survived a blizzard - and four aggressive fellow Republicans - to become the second woman in Illinois history to win a major party nomination for governor.

Although statewide results were incomplete because of voting-machine snafus in Chicago, The Associated press declared Topinka a winner shortly after midnight. Throughout the evening, she had been narrowly but consistently beating dairy magnate Jim Oberweis in a GOP primary that was much closer than polls had predicted.

Topinka, a Chicagoan and social moderate, had enjoyed a sizable lead in pre-election polls over conservative dairy magnate Oberweis, but it appeared that conservative Metro East Republicans were more willing to fight bad weather to get to the polls than were their more moderate Chicago counterparts. In the end, Topinka had enough support upstate to overcome the 2-1 margin Oberweis had in Metro East.

The news appears similar for Topinka’s preferred running mate, DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, who defeated state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, R-Elgin. Rauschenberger, who aligned himself with gubernatorial hopeful Ron Gidwitz, had sharply criticized Topinka during the campaign. A Topinka/Rauschenberger ticket would have been entertaining but ineffective.

This sets up what is sure to be a hotly contested race for the fall between beleaguered governor Rod Blagojevich and Topinka. Election polls show Blago faring worse against Topinka than against either Oberweis or Gidwitz. The February Rasmussen poll shows the Democrat leading Topinka 42% to 36%, Oberweis 49% to 37%, Gidwitz 47% to 33%, and State Senator Bill Brady 47% to 29%. This is substantially better than in January, when Blago actually trailed Topinka 48% to 37%.

The change from January to February reflects more on Topinka’s tough primary battle than on an improvement by the governor, as more people now view Blagojevich unfavorably (53%) than did in January (49%). Now that Republicans will unite behind Topinka, it is likely that the race is either a dead heat or a slight lead for Topinka.

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