Wednesday morning (May 26) at about 5:20 a.m. in Chicago (hometown of former anti-gun Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels), a fatal shooting occurred that has created, in its aftermath, a public outcry that strongly signals bad times ahead for the gun prohibitionist movement in the United States.
The incident, which cost the life of recidivist felon Anthony Nelson, known in the neighborhood as “Big Ant,” is bringing a tidal wave of public support for the 80-year-old man who shot him with a handgun, which is essentially banned by law in the Windy City. That is the ban currently being challenged in the Supreme Court by the Bellevue, WA-based Second Amendment Foundation, Illinois State Rifle Association and four Chicago residents, including Otis McDonald, for whom the case – McDonald v. City of Chicago – is named. SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb anticipates a ruling sometime in the next three weeks, and he is confident the high court will strike down the ban and incorporate the Second Amendment to apply to state and local governments in the process.
(Note: While the National Rifle Association was allowed to present argument to the Court in March, this is not their case. A separate NRA lawsuit against Chicago and neighboring Oak Park, is essentially “on hold” at the high court. Newspapers seem to get it wrong all the time when reporting this case.)
I’d have done the same thing. They say we’ve got to give up our guns, but that’s crazy."—Audrey Williams, neighbor
According to local NBC affiliate WMAQ and the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, whose reporting teams have been doing excellent detailed coverage of the Wednesday shooting, Nelson has a long criminal record. The older man, a Korean War veteran, was robbed at gunpoint in his house last year of $150 by three thugs. In reaction, he bought a handgun and, according to his son, vowed he would not be a victim again. My colleague, Howard Nemerov, writes about the incident here.
Wednesday morning, Nelson tried to break into the old man’s home, and when he could not gain entry, he fired rounds from a handgun through the bedroom window. Inside, the would-be victim and his 83-year-old wife were slumbering, and in the next room was their 12-year-old great-grandson. The older gent grabbed his unregistered handgun – kept in Chicago against the law, now being hysterically defended by anti-gun Mayor Richard Daley – and fired back. Nelson died at the scene.
How are we going to protect our homes without guns? That gun law should be abolished.”—Butch Gant, son of shooter
In the aftermath, gun prohibitionist groups are silent. It appears clear the older man will not be charged for violating the city’s handgun ban, thanks to a 2004 Illinois statute that protects homeowners who use handguns to defend themselves, even if having the gun violates a local handgun ban ordinance. Known as the “Hale DeMar Act” for a Wilmette man who shot a burglar in his home and was temporarily charged for violating the Wilmette handgun ban (until public outrage caused the Cook County prosecutor to drop the charge), the law was passed by a legislative veto override in November 2004. Then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich had vetoed the bill, after then-State Sen. Barack Hussein Obama had voted against the legislation twice.
Mayor Daley needs to come up with a better solution than just saying ‘turn in your guns’. . . . Crooks will not turn in theirs.”—Chicago Sun Times columnist Stella Foster
Why does this case sound the death knell for the gun control movement? Public sympathy is decidedly supportive of the older man. Demagogues like Daley, and other anti-gunners like Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, Washington CeaseFire President Ralph Fascitelli and Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke better pay attention.
Audrey Williams, 75, is a neighbor. Her observation: “They did the right thing. If anyone tried to come in on me, I’d do the same thing.”
Another neighbor, identified as Curtis Thompson, added, “It’s a good thing they had a gun, or they might be dead.”
Nelson had a 13-page rap sheet that includes a number of drug and weapons convictions dating to 1998, according to police and court records. He lived less than a mile from the home he broke into. Neighbors recognized him from his mug shot as a man they had seen at the corner liquor store who went by the name "Big Ant."
And most telling remarks came from the shooter’s son, 57-year-old Butch Gant, quoted at length by the newspapers, noting, “If homeowners can’t have guns to defend themselves and their families, there’s going to be more home invasions. My father’s glad he had a weapon. He did what he had to do…(Nelson) missed, but my daddy didn’t.”
Sadly, it takes incidents such as this to illustrate to the public why onerous gun control measures that disarm law-abiding citizens but not criminals are simply wrong. People are beginning to increasingly understand this. Combined with this week's report that overall violent crime is down while gun ownership is soaring in this country, which I wrote about here, it is no wonder that organizations like the Brady Campaign and Washington CeaseFire have lost momentum and credibility. CeaseFire can boast only 6,000 members while NRA membership in the Evergreen State is above 90,000. Does that tell you anything?
It is more than merely ironic that this shooting should happen as the Supreme Court’s ruling on Chicago’s handgun ban looms. As Gottlieb noted in a statement to the press, the Nelson shooting is precisely why SAF and ISRA filed their lawsuit, and a Supreme Court victory would be well-timed for a West Side Chicago resident who just demonstrated how phenomenally stupid that ban is.
For more info: America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age.
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More from Gun Rights Examiners
Atlanta: Ed Stone | Austin: Howard Nemerov | Boston: Ron Bokleman | Charlotte: Paul Valone | Cheyenne: Anthony Bouchard | Chicago: Don Gwinn | Cleveland: Daniel White | DC: Mike Stollenwerk | Denver: Dan Bidstrup | Detroit: Rob Reed | Fort Smith: Steve D. Jones | Knoxville: Liston Matthews | Los Angeles: John Longenecker | Minneapolis: John Pierce | National: David Codrea | Seattle: Dave Workman | St. Louis: Kurt Hofmann | Tucson: Chris Woodard
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Comments
Good article, Dave. Perhaps Hizzoner Daly might like to visit this vets house at 0500 and try to shove an SKS up HIS butt. I suspect he might not like the resulting outcome.
I'm glad I moved to Florida. I just had Breakfast at a local Restaurant and I was packing my 9mm. I have a FL. CCw and I am damm glad I do. I hope I never have to use it but, being disabled, I'm glad I do. I never leave the house without it.
I do love a happy ending. I want to know, with a 13 page rap sheet, why wasn't this scab on humanities ass in a cage somewhere? I'm glad the old guy won't be persecuted for defending his family. Maybe after this the people of Chicago will shed themselves of that other piece of human debris Daley. It's long past time for him to retire.
If the city/county authorities criminally charge the elderly veteran, for defending himself against a violent thug, fully expect a riot. I'm only a neighborhood to the East of Garfield Park (Chicago, IL), and folks around here are nearing a fever pitch over the criminals ruling the city (both the gangbangers AND the crooked politicians) and good honest people being unable to defend themselves. Once I complete my residency, I'm leaving Chicago behind like a bad memory, and going somewhere where my rights are protected. =P
Great article, Dave. Politicians love to speak so glowingly about how vets, fighting in some far-off land, do so to "protect our freedoms at home", but then demagogues like Daley and Bloomberg pass laws to make it nearly impossible for these vets to protect themselves and their families. The rankest hypocrisy.
Around Mother's Day, Daley crowed about how many guns were turned in by civilians - a few days before that cop was shot and killed. Now this incident of the senior vet protecting himself with a gun, has Daley wetting his pants. Daley actually cut short a press conference when asked if the vet would be prosecuted.
If the "Big Ant" turned in his gun on Mother's Day, he'd be alive today.
Big Ant got squashed!
Straightarrow:
I deleted your comment. Keep it clean and avoid vulgar references.
Daley says he doesn't want this to become the "Wild West!" If so then that makes him the Sheriff. I say fire the DAMN SHERIFF & get a new one that does not infringe on the second amendment.
When the Sheriff protects the criminals over the law-abiding citizens there is tyranny!!! Citizens have the right to defend themselves!
The Public Servants and their friends and families are well-protected by the machine-gun-armed security detail around the clock.
So, obviously, they wouldn't give a crap about we, the people.
Let's strip those self-important bums of their weaponry once and for all, level the playing field and then we'll talk!
Shame on the City Council of Chicago for enacting and enforcing such a law. The Castle Doctrine is proven and "We the People" do not need any further encroachments on our Constitutional Rights by hypocritical politicians, oh my bad, that was redundant
2nd Amendment! Daley is a corrupt piece of regurgitation. Should be investigated for all the cover ups he has been involved in. He is a Globalist and does not care about Chicago or America. He dad was corrupt and his son is the same. The both will have their day before God!
Dictator Daley should give up his armed guards since guns are so bad.
The answer is simple. When on a jury, never ever convict anyone of unconstitutional gun violations. Nullification is your friend.
Perversely, I think people in favor of gun-rights should be against Illinois' weaseling "Hale DeMar act".
Every time a would-be victim successfully defends themselves, it should go to trial. Drive up court costs for the gun ban's prosecutors, force those prosecutors to accuse defenders of violating the law.
Throw it into their faces, and make them defend their ban every time. Don't let them side-step the central issue. Make the gun prohibitionists carry their ethically & intellectually bankrupt policies to their logical conclusions.
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