The price of the failure to compromise

The price of failing to compromise

The opposite of compromise is fanaticism and death. – Amos Oz

Now that we’ve established basic economic realities mean no sheriff can enforce every law, particularly the new Illinois assault gun ban’s re-registry requirement, it’s time to delve into the efficacy of the statute itself. As previously indicated, I’m fully behind this effort to eliminate these utterly unnecessary weapons for reasons I’ll explain shortly.

But speaking of that registration mandate, one of my favorite attorneys called me to ask, “Why can’t Illinois Democrats write a law that will withstand the mildest of legal challenges?” I have to say I was equally baffled by it. My initial thought was, “Aren’t those weapons already registered?”

That section of statute may not make it, but some form of this new Illinois law will stand just as Cook County’s assault weapon ban has survived every legal challenge since 1993. To make matters worse for those NRA fanatics, the District of Columbia and eight other states have successfully implemented similar restrictions that’ve also held up in court.

In an effort to stave off the easy columnist condemnations, please let me repeat that I’m a classic Evanston liberal, formerly known as a Blue Dog Democrat, who owns a gun. And my Korean War UDT* father taught me how to shoot, too. So, even though I sit firmly on the side of handgun/rifle ownership, that prospect always makes me nervous because, when faced with the mildest of pressure, most of you couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with buckshot. It astounds me that it takes a six-hour course to get your learner’s permit, but you can purchase a gun with no such stipulation.

The Second Amendment opens with the clear caveat that “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…,” is their ONLY logic for gun ownership. Emphasis on WELL-REGULATED, which doesn’t begin to describe the average assault gun owner as distinctly demonstrated by the father of the Highland Park mass shooter.

Aside from that blitheringly obvious constraint, here’s why I support the ban.

NO ONE NEEDS AN ASSAULT RIFLE! Even the weapon’s name details its singular purpose which is to kill as many human beings in the shortest possible amount of time. Furthermore, anyone who “hunts” with an assault rifle is a dick who clearly has a tiny one. Hunting is supposed to be sport, not slaughter.

Then there’s this.

After every mass shooting – a daily occurrence in the post-COVID era – there’s a race to the press conference podium to be the first Republican to say, “We don’t have a gun problem, we have a mental health problem.” But whenever a well-meaning social service agency puts a mental health initiative on the ballot, conservatives shoot it down faster than an Iranian drone flying over Kyiv.

A 2017 Kane County citizen’s initiative with 33,000 signatures put a 0.03 percent property tax increase on the ballot that would’ve provided the resources to better serve our brothers and sisters with developmental disabilities. That’s a no-brainer right? Nope! Even though he shared my disdain for the lack of a real safety net, my then radio co-host and soon-to-be state rep Allen Skillcorn vociferously opposed the referendum because it got his name in the newspapers.

Then the predominantly Republican Kane County voters shot it down.

My theory is, if you’re going to rail against a lack of mental health care as the greater issue, but consistently refuse to fund a solution, then those of us who actually have a soul will take your toys away s because we’re tired of the incessant assassinations.

It’s really that simple.

Along those same no-brainer lines, through 90 percent of Americans want universal background checks, Republicans, hypnotized by all that NRA cash, refuse to even consider the possibility. And as long as unlicensed firearms sellers are exempt from that requirement, guns will continue to fall into the wrong hands and the number of mass shootings will continue to increase.

In the same vein, agreeing to a prohibition against utterly unnecessary high-capacity magazines would be the kind of compromise that would make the NRA look politically reasonable. But those zealots won’t even consider it. And now their failure to compromise on any level is coming back to bit them in their ample butts because the majority of Americans are tired of their bullshit and even more fatigued by mass shootings.

So, now we’re not going to compromise, either.

Though the ban is on hold, that smarmy grin on former attorney general candidate Tom DeVore’s face will last just about as long as his injunction will. As it’s been with the other eight states, this law will be upheld, and just like it is with marijuana legalization, the dominoes will begin to fall.

Put more simply, this Republican and NRA intransigence will soon be their undoing, and all I can say is, it’s about time.

*UDTs, or Underwater Demolition Teams, were the precursor to the Navy Seals.