I get your point, to a point. The problem is that there are laws on the books and we are either law abiding citizens or we aren't. I could probably have carried my pistol with me without a CHL but doing that doesn't stay within the rule of law. When we give up the rule of law, what have we become?Keith B wrote:
Bottom line, don't confuse Cook County (Chicago) with the rest of the state.
My point wasn't really about the fact that Cooke County and the rest of IL are different but about the fact that the gun laws are supposed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. The OP contained an excellent example of where that should have happened and didn't. In NJ, the story was the same. Lots of repeat offenders, terrorizing half of the population of Newark with almost utter impunity. There were lots of excuses for the lack of prosecution but it came down to the DA not wanting to quickly fill up the jails. They wait until the BG murders someone and then it is just too bad for the victim - who was legally prevented from defending his or herself. Newark and Camden are very much like Chicago in that regard. I really didn't know many people in lower NJ (which at one point wanted to secede from the upper part) who ignored the State's draconian gun laws.
I probably won't worry too much about taking a gun in our RV into Ocean City but I'd be paranoid even following Federal transport guidelines and traveling above Princeton. A simple traffic stop could turn ugly and expensive.