Anti-gun lawmaker asked to rethink gun control :: 12/29/2021

It’s rare that a politician rethinks a core part of their party’s platform. It’s especially true of anyone who has worked themselves up to any appreciable degree of power, be it at the state or federal level.

But for Illinois State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford, there may be a reason for that, at least on the topic of gun control. After all, the only thing that stopped her from being carjacked was her husband being there with a gun. Being saved by an armed citizen, even if it’s your husband, might just make you rethink your support for gun control.

Now, she’s being asked to do just that.

Burr Ridge business owner Margot Henshaw is asking Illinois state Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford to loosen gun regulation after the senator praised the state’s concealed carry law.

Lightford was carjacked on Dec. 21. She said her husband’s concealed carry license saved them as he fired on the attackers after the couple was separated and he gave her cover to run away.

Henshaw said she hopes the situation will make Lightford think again about the state’s concealed carry law.

“We are all so thankful that Sen. Lightford and her husband were physically unharmed during their ordeal!” Henshaw told Chicago City Wire. “We must pray that she has now been granted the insight that other law-abiding citizens have the right to protect themselves against the burgeoning number of brazen criminals emerging in our increasingly lawless society.”

Henshaw’s comments come in the aftermath of a record year of violent crime in Illinois.

“Everyone wonders what it will take to staunch the exploding violent crime statistics….well, it is not defunding the police and making them afraid to fire on a suspect for fear of legal reprisals. We have tried that and it is having the opposite effect,” Henshaw said.

Henshaw ain’t wrong.

But what are the odds of Lightford actually rethinking her position on gun control?

Frankly, I’d be shocked if she does. Let’s remember that most politicians who I term as anti-Second Amendment aren’t really anti-gun. What they’re really against is you having a gun. They have no problem with them and theirs being able to be armed, they just don’t trust you with that same right.

I mean, let’s remember that one of the most notorious anti-Second Amendment lawmakers out there, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, carried a revolver for years. A lot of other anti-Second Amendment types are as well, and not just so they can say, “I’m a gun owner but…”

The truth is that they know that they aren’t a threat and, as such, should be able to buy a gun.

Where we have a problem is that they don’t see you in the same way. To them, you’re nobody. Maybe they see you as someone who doesn’t face threats or maybe they think you’re probably dangerous. It doesn’t matter. For whatever reason, while they trust themselves with a gun, they don’t trust you with one.

Lightford is probably in that camp as well.

That said, I’d love to be wrong. I’d be delighted to see the Illinois Senate majority leader come out in support of our Second Amendment rights. It would be glorious to see lawmakers in one of the most anti-gun states in the nation back away from gun control and restore those rights to ordinary Americans.

I just wouldn’t recommend anyone to hold their breath.

https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2021/12/29/rethink-gun-control-n53909