U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston tore into attorneys with the Illinois Attorney General’s office at a hearing on Wednesday, turning down their request to stay an injunction in a case challenging the state’s ban on lawful concealed carry on public transportation while blasting them for insinuating that the injunction led to a mass shooting on a Blue Line train in Chicago.
Johnston’s injunction doesn’t allow every concealed carry licensee in the state to bear arms on public transportation. Instead, it was limited to the four named plaintiffs in the case. But in a filing opposing the injunction and asking for a stay, attorneys in AG Kwame Raoul’s office claimed “the potential safety implications of the Court’s order are highlighted by a recent mass shooting on the CTAs Blue Line, in which four people were murdered with firearms three days after the Court’s order was entered.”
The attorneys had already apologized to Johnston in a written filing ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, but Johnston still took the attorneys to task during the conference.
“I don’t want to kill four people. I don’t want to kill anybody,” Johnston said Wednesday, chastising the state’s lawyers for inferring that his order impacting the four plaintiffs caused a mass shooting.
One attorney said they cited the shooting “as an extreme type of harm that can result from firearms and it was an example in an attempt to connect to …”
“The court’s order,” Johnston interjected.
“No, to the safety implications,” the attorney said.
“Of the court order,” the judge said. “Did the court order kill four people?”
“No,” the attorney said.
“Did the court’s order kill anybody?” Johnston asked.
“No, your honor,” the attorney said.
“Did the court’s order lead to any people shot on mass transit in Illinois,” the judge asked.
“Not to our knowledge,” the attorney said.
“Did the court’s order kill anybody?” Johnston asked.
“No, your honor,” the attorney said.
“Did the court’s order lead to any people shot on mass transit in Illinois,” the judge asked.
“Not to our knowledge,” the attorney said.
Johnston went on to describe the state’s request for a stay as “evidence-free”, pointing out the the defendants had provided no information whatsoever that “allowing four specific plaintiffs to carry handguns for self defense [means] that all hell is gonna break loose.”
On could argue that using Chicago’s public transit system is already a hellish experience for some riders. The CTA may be a “gun-free zone” under state and local law, but that hasn’t stopped criminals from bringing guns on board trains and buses to use in robberies and assaults. In fact, there was another shooting on a Red Line train on Wednesday involving a 23-year-old woman who allegedly spit on a passenger before pulling a gun and shooting him in the shoulder, and last weekend a 19-year-old woman was shot at a Red Line station when she robbed and attacked by five men.
For now, only those four named plaintiffs have been granted relief and can lawfully carry on public buses and trains throughout the state, but the lawsuit could eventually lead to the carry ban being struck down in its entirety, or at least revised to only prohibit unlicensed carry. Until that happens, the vast majority of passengers who rely on the CTA to get around are still subject to the carry ban… and are still at the mercy of those criminals who see the CTA as a target rich environment full of unarmed and defenseless victims.
