In expressing his opposition to a concealed carry bill currently making its way through the Illinois General Assembly, Mayor Richard Daley on Wednesday recalled great Americans lost to gun violence.
"John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and all those that have been killed since them in America by their own people, that's what this bill -- we should defeat this bill for. And to prevent further assassinations and killings of our children and the adults," Daley said during a press event at the Austin Town Hall Cultural Center.
Surrounded by several alderman, Interim police Supt. Terry Hillard and anti-violence advocates, Daley said the bill -- HB148 -- is wrong for Illinois and would mean loaded weapons would be legal to carry on buses, trains, near schools, parks and in malls.
Daley said that he and Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel sent a letter to Springfield on Wednesday urging lawmakers to vote against the bill. The press event was a call-to-action for citizens who agree with him.
Hillard echoed the mayor's sentiments and added a personal anecdote.
"February 14, 1975. I'm lucky and blessed to be standing here because I was a victim of gun violence. As I was a young police officer, a young individual who had shot five or six suburban police officers. I know what the pain and the agony felt like because I was off 11 months. So when I say that guns is not the answer to safer streets, I know what I'm talking about," he said.
