Rev. Jesse Jackson Arrested During Anti-Gun Protest

[babylonsister]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/24/2066/

Rev. Jesse Jackson Arrested During Anti-Gun Protest
By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons / Azam Ahmed

snip//

It was the third consecutive Saturday that Jackson and his supporters rallied in front of the gun shop at 14310 Indiana Ave. Gun sales are banned in Chicago, but Jackson said suburban stores offer city dwellers easy access to firearms.

“The suburbs have surrounded the city with these gun shops,” he said. “Jobs are going out, guns are coming in.” “Chuck’s becomes the poster boy for this issue,” Pfleger added. “We need tougher gun laws so the kids are not dying in the streets.”

The protest drew activists from both sides of the divide: Three school buses filled with anti-gun activists joined forces with Jackson and Pfleger, while nearly 30 pro-gun activists packed into the gun store, where rows of new and used handguns and rifles line glass display cases.

Police said Jackson was arrested after he and his supporters crowded the entrance and refused to leave. Owner John Riggio said he told Jackson and Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church, that they could enter the store but that he would only let the two in.

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1. I wonder if Jackson...

supports stiffer penalties (say... 5 years minimum for a prohibited person
in possession of a firearm... 10 years minimum for possessing/brandishing/using a firearm during the commission of a crime)?

Nahhhh.... how foolish of me to even think that Jackson would take that into consideration.

[madrchsod]

4. there`s not enough prison beds in illinois

for 5-10 year minimum.

[aikoaiko]

2. Unless the gun dealer was doing something illegal, I see no point in protesting this store

Unless this particular store was just the anointed sacrificial lamb for a greater anti-gun agenda.

[Solo_in_MD]

6. It was indeed a sacrificial lamb for Jesse to get on camera

[senseandsensibility]

3. I am happy that Jesse is standing up

for what he believes in. I don't know much about this particular issue, but I admire people like him who speak out. I remember years ago he came to our community to protest a "Super K-Mart" that was opening and not hiring union workers. Seems quaint by today's standards, doesn't it? This was even before outsourcing and Super Wal-Marts with the taxpayers footing the bill for THEIR non-unionized employees health care. Jesse tried to nip this kind of thing in the bud back then, and I wish more had listened to him.

[bigdarryl]

5. Come on Jesse your getting to old for this shit

[FredScuttle]

7. Yeah, so was this guy

[derby378]

8. I wonder if Pfleger's ever going to be charged for threatening to kill the owner of Check's?

He also allegedly broadened the threat to anyone in Congress who opposed gun-grabbing.

[Wcross]

9. Jesse is confused.

Why is it when a drunk driver kills someone we don't blame the vehicle. We don't blame the alcohol. We blame to drunk driver.
When it comes to criminal misuse of firearms the firearm is blamed? Why not support enhanced penalties for illegal possession of a handgun in Chicago? If caught with an illegal handgun you go to prison for 10 years. Use an illegal handgun in the commission of a crime and go to prison for 20 years. Harsh? Yes it is. There is no reason to excuse the criminals for their actions.

[benEzra]

10. Somebody is murdered with an illegal pistol, so he calls for a rifle ban...

go figure.

FWIW, in 2005, Illinois had 448 murders; all rifles COMBINED accounted for only 4 of them.

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_20.html

Mr. Jackson also said that we need to "make AK-47's and Uzi's illegal again," never mind the fact that their legal status hasn't changed. Real AK-47's and Uzi's are still as restricted as they've ever been, and non-automatic civilian lookalikes are no less restricted now than 1994-2004.