Illinois Sentencing Proves State's Gun Laws Don't Work :: 09/13/2020

While the state of Illinois isn’t the most gun controlled state in the country–California holds that tile and isn’t likely to be challenged in the near future–it’s still a state with a lot of gun control.

In theory, at least according to anti-gunners throughout the nation, gun control prevents bad people from getting guns. Especially things like gun permitting, which Illinois requires, as well as universal background checks.

Of course, if all those work so well, then why did this 19-year-old get sentenced for having a gun?

Champaign teen who possessed a loaded gun in a residential neighborhood of Urbana last spring has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Kamarion Busby, 19, who listed an address in the 300 block of Edgebrook Drive, told Judge Tom Difanis he wanted to be a better role model for his child and his siblings and that “part of me becoming a man is knowing that I was wrong and taking responsibility.”

When Busby pleaded guilty in July to unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, other charges alleging that he fired a gun into an apartment on East Colorado Avenue on April 10 were dismissed.

Busby, under the influence of some substance, cooperated with Urbana police who were investigating the shot that was fired into an apartment at 1102 E. Colorado Ave., a three-story, densely populated building with several families.

His companion, Aleyah Lewis, 22, resisted the efforts of Urbana police to arrest her. The force used by officers to get her into a squad car became the subject of three separate reviews — the first by Urbana police, a second by the state’s attorney and a third by an independent firm paid $20,000 for its work by the city of Urbana.

All three reviews concluded the officers acted within departmental policy but that there was room for improvement in how they handled Lewis.

So a 19-year-old convicted felon who was under the influence of something illegal–after all, even if it were alcohol, he’s only 19 and can’t drink legally–got his hands on a firearm and fired into an apartment building.

Now, I’ll give credit to Busby for owning up to his actions and taking responsibility. Frankly, the kid deserves some credit for that because it’s all too rare in this day and age.

However, let’s not forget that all those gun laws were supposed to prevent Busby from getting a gun in the first place. They failed.

Busby got a firearm despite being both a convicted felon and underage. That’s a complete failure of gun control, now isn’t it?

Of course, some will argue that he only got his guns because of lax gun laws in other states. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is notorious for that line of “reasoning.”

Yet here’s the problem with that. These guns are black market guns. They’re not lawfully sold in other states, they’re bought under false pretenses and then shipped into Illinois. That makes them black market guns.

Trying to change the laws in ever other state won’t change a thing. By definition, black market guns are illegal. They’ll continue being illegal and being sold to those who would use them for nefarious purposes. They’ll be sold to people like Busby.

You’re not going to stop that from happening. All Illinois has done is make it a pain in the posterior for anyone trying to do anything lawfully.

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. He's also the host of Unloaded TV on YouTube. https://bearingarms.com/author/tomknighton/

https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2020/09/13/illinois-gun-laws-dont-work/