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Wilmette, Illinois: Trouble In Paradise.

 By Thomas Crane

In response to a proposal made by Rep. John Bradley, D.-Marion, Illinois, that would override such bans when the guns are used in self-defense, Mr. Chris Boyster of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence was quoted as saying in the January 29, 2004 edition of the Illinois Times that Mr. DeMar, the man who shot the perpetrator who broke into his Wilmette home for the second time within 24 hours, "Did not have the right under the ordinance to keep a handgun in his house."  "He (Mr. DeMar) was not a law-abiding citizen," he said.  Mr. Boyster went on to say, "He had a handgun, there was a handgun ban, he broke the law."

As I read this statement on the part of Mr. Boyster, I could not help but recall the words of John Donne, an English poet of centuries past when he wrote, "No man is an island, entire of itself: every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main...."  At the same time, I began to realize the wisdom of the Founding Fathers when they wrote into our Constitution the 2nd Amendment which guarantees the right of the individual to keep and bear arms.  Knowing the corrupt nature of humankind, as it has been demonstrated since the beginning of recorded history, those good men, who wrote the Constitution, built in certain safeguards to protect the American Citizen from evil doers no matter if they come from within our own Country or from some foreign land.

Having pondered the situation regarding the incident that took place regarding Mr. DeMar and the Village of Wilmette, as reflected by the action of the Board of Trustees who created the handgun ban, they might, in fact, hold themselves to be above and beyond the provisions that were written in the Constitution and adopted by both the Federal Government and State Government of Illinois that gave the citizens the right to keep and bear arms.  That being the case, I began to wonder if the Wilmette Board of Trustees might, in fact, be trying to establish some sort of Utopian existence within these very United States.  If that be the case, then the words of John Dunne become even more profound as it is obvious that it is the Village's intent to become an island unto themselves.  Based upon past experience, we all know from recorded history that Utopian societies have come and gone as the populace were either overcome by the forces that were brought upon them from outsiders or the corruption that came from within.  While the establishment of a Utopia might be a noble idea, it pales against the realities that exist within our society.  These realities come in the form of those who are either envious or desirous of  whatever is of value within the Utopian society.  Since the inhabitants of a utopian society generally hold themselves to be of a higher mind or standard then those on the outside, they become easy victims to those who would seek to plunder or to pillage because, by and large, they are usually pacifist in nature. Consequently, the Utopian citizens are easily run over by the vandals who would seek the spoils of conquest. 

Since handguns have become the target of so many "Do-Gooders" in our present day society, I am forced to look back upon an incident that took place in the past and only wonder what the reaction might be on the part of our modern day Utopians at a time when handguns were not available to the citizenry.  Would they not gasp at the thought that such utilitarian instruments could be used to commit mayhem rather than meeting the needs of the common good such as tilling the soil or reaping the harvest of the inhabitants therein.

Since my heritage is part Irish, I feel quite comfortable in quoting from an article that was recently forwarded to me that relates to an incident that took place in Ireland before the turn of the 20th Century.  The story was printed in the Washington Post Newspaper and dated 1894.  It is based upon events that were recorded in Dublin, Ireland on June 10, 1894.  The title reads, "Quarreled Over A Corpse- And In The Fight Two Others Were Added To The Wake."

"An old woman who owned half an acre of ground at Nenagh, County Tipperary, died Friday without leaving a relative or specifying an heir.  Her neighbors quarreled over the possession of her land yesterday.  Some thirty men fought with scythes and pitchforks round the house.  Eventually they broke down the doors and beat each other with the candlesticks which had stood around the body.  When the fight ended two men lay dead at the doorstep, and five others were too severely wounded to walk from the scene."

So much for gun control in that "Dear Old Land."

Best wishes,  Thomas Crane

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