Steven Mace
01-15-2002, 05:10 AM
Gun in fanny pack issue remains up in air
Sunday, January 13, 2002
By Alice Hohl
Staff writer
A downstate court case against a 41-year-old woman could have set a precedent for judges trying to interpret a controversial loophole in state gun laws, but the weapons charge was dropped as the trial began Thursday.
Area gun-rights activists attended the trial, which they hoped would elicit a ruling on the practice of carrying unloaded guns on the hip in a fanny pack with the clip resting next to it.
Illinois law does not allow civilians to carry concealed weapons, but a DuPage County-based group has been spreading the word that fanny packs allow gun owners to assemble their pistols quickly and falls within a law requiring guns to be transported unloaded in a case.
"Whenever they arrest a law-abiding citizen with a gun permit with an unloaded firearm, we're going to be there, standing up for each other," said Chris Morley, a Park Forest man who advocates using fanny packs to carry guns.
Area prosecutors, including Cook County state's attorney Dick Devine and DuPage County state's attorney Joseph Birckett, have vowed to prosecute fanny-pack gun carriers for unlawful use of a weapon.
Birckett said previous attempts to pass laws allowing residents to carry concealed weapons have failed, and current state leaders agree fanny packs are not what lawmakers meant when they said guns have to be carried in a case or container.
A gun owner in DuPage County was charged with unlawful use of a weapon last year when he was caught carrying his gun in a fanny pack, but Birckett later dropped the charges.
Morley said he drove four hours to the small town of Salem, the county seat of Marion County, to support Centralia resident Vana Haggerty.
She was arrested and charged after she told police she was carrying an unloaded handgun in a fanny pack as she was being questioned about an item she sold at the Marion County fairgrounds, reported the Centralia Sentinel.
A caravan of area gun rights activists attended the trial to see what a jury and judge would about fanny packs, but the downstate newspaper reported that charge was dropped before the trial started.
Haggerty was convicted of a misdemeanor charge for selling a paperweight in the shape of brass knuckles, the Centralia Sentinel reported.
Morley, 34, said he hopes more residents with gun permits throughout the state take advantage of the vague wording of the existing law, which doesn't describe what kind of case is required to transport a gun.
Anyone carrying a gun, loaded or unloaded, without a Firearm Owner's Identification card is in violation of state law.
Lawmakers have asserted the law was written to allow gun owners to take their guns from their homes to a firing range or hunting area. Loaded guns are not permitted in cars or carried on the body.
But an appeals court decision said the law cannot dictate a destination for those transporting guns.
Morley suffers from cerebral palsy that causes partial paralysis on one side of his body, and walks with a cane. He uses the transportation law to justify carrying his handgun on his hip, which he can load in a few seconds.
Morley said his physical disability makes him an easy target for robbers, and he was mugged several times before he began carrying his pistol to his Chicago job in a fanny pack.
A spokeswoman for Devine's office said the Cook County state's attorney has not changed his position against fanny packs, which he spoke against at a press conference a year ago.
"Don't take your guns to town, or the mall, or to pick up some dog food at the store, or to go to your child's soccer game," Devine said then.
"Think twice. You'll end up being charged with a felony."
Morley said he and other gun owners who use fanny packs had hoped the Haggerty trial would decide something.
"I think this is an issue that's not going to go away," he said. "The citizens of Illinois want a concealed carry law."
"This is the best we have so far, and people are willing to take the risk of a court case," he said.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/139nd4.htm
Steve Mace
Sunday, January 13, 2002
By Alice Hohl
Staff writer
A downstate court case against a 41-year-old woman could have set a precedent for judges trying to interpret a controversial loophole in state gun laws, but the weapons charge was dropped as the trial began Thursday.
Area gun-rights activists attended the trial, which they hoped would elicit a ruling on the practice of carrying unloaded guns on the hip in a fanny pack with the clip resting next to it.
Illinois law does not allow civilians to carry concealed weapons, but a DuPage County-based group has been spreading the word that fanny packs allow gun owners to assemble their pistols quickly and falls within a law requiring guns to be transported unloaded in a case.
"Whenever they arrest a law-abiding citizen with a gun permit with an unloaded firearm, we're going to be there, standing up for each other," said Chris Morley, a Park Forest man who advocates using fanny packs to carry guns.
Area prosecutors, including Cook County state's attorney Dick Devine and DuPage County state's attorney Joseph Birckett, have vowed to prosecute fanny-pack gun carriers for unlawful use of a weapon.
Birckett said previous attempts to pass laws allowing residents to carry concealed weapons have failed, and current state leaders agree fanny packs are not what lawmakers meant when they said guns have to be carried in a case or container.
A gun owner in DuPage County was charged with unlawful use of a weapon last year when he was caught carrying his gun in a fanny pack, but Birckett later dropped the charges.
Morley said he drove four hours to the small town of Salem, the county seat of Marion County, to support Centralia resident Vana Haggerty.
She was arrested and charged after she told police she was carrying an unloaded handgun in a fanny pack as she was being questioned about an item she sold at the Marion County fairgrounds, reported the Centralia Sentinel.
A caravan of area gun rights activists attended the trial to see what a jury and judge would about fanny packs, but the downstate newspaper reported that charge was dropped before the trial started.
Haggerty was convicted of a misdemeanor charge for selling a paperweight in the shape of brass knuckles, the Centralia Sentinel reported.
Morley, 34, said he hopes more residents with gun permits throughout the state take advantage of the vague wording of the existing law, which doesn't describe what kind of case is required to transport a gun.
Anyone carrying a gun, loaded or unloaded, without a Firearm Owner's Identification card is in violation of state law.
Lawmakers have asserted the law was written to allow gun owners to take their guns from their homes to a firing range or hunting area. Loaded guns are not permitted in cars or carried on the body.
But an appeals court decision said the law cannot dictate a destination for those transporting guns.
Morley suffers from cerebral palsy that causes partial paralysis on one side of his body, and walks with a cane. He uses the transportation law to justify carrying his handgun on his hip, which he can load in a few seconds.
Morley said his physical disability makes him an easy target for robbers, and he was mugged several times before he began carrying his pistol to his Chicago job in a fanny pack.
A spokeswoman for Devine's office said the Cook County state's attorney has not changed his position against fanny packs, which he spoke against at a press conference a year ago.
"Don't take your guns to town, or the mall, or to pick up some dog food at the store, or to go to your child's soccer game," Devine said then.
"Think twice. You'll end up being charged with a felony."
Morley said he and other gun owners who use fanny packs had hoped the Haggerty trial would decide something.
"I think this is an issue that's not going to go away," he said. "The citizens of Illinois want a concealed carry law."
"This is the best we have so far, and people are willing to take the risk of a court case," he said.
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsnews/139nd4.htm
Steve Mace