Armed Aldermen

And women.

The latest example is Arenda Troutman.

“She just wanted to feel safe,” says the friend who gave it to her.

Now, if she had been smart enough to register it, she would have been legal.

That’s because Chicago aldermen have given themselves the right to carry guns.

If you an ordinary resident of Chicago, you cannot protect yourself.

But your alderman can.

So, don’t get too uppity.

I knew one alderman who got elected to the General Assembly who was armed in Springfield.

I don’t know if he took his gun with him to the chamber, but during the 1970’s another Chicago legislator most assuredly did.

Do you know which, if any, state representatives and senators are carrying guns today?

It’s a good thing that Alderwoman Troutman kept her gun at home. It’s difficult imagine where she would put it when she goes dancing. (Photo from her campaign web site.)

To provide a little balance, I’ll link to the story about the female Cook County Correctional Officer who left her gun—she had permission to have it because she had been sworn in as a deputy sheriff—in her unlocked glove box.

When I read the story yesterday, it was not clear that her 6-year old grandson had shot himself.

I thought of the bill I got to the House floor in the late 1990’s that would have allowed correctional officers and retired lawmen to carry guns. It failed after the NRA opposed it because it did not include everybody. The highlight of the after dinner debate was when one drunken Democrat spoke incoherently against it.

I introduced the bill because some prison guards at Stateville had been followed back to their Chicago and suburban home neighborhoods and attacked by gang members whose jailed friends apparently had not received enough "respect" in prison.

More of this kind of stuff at McHenry County Blog, where this was first posted.