Jun 21 2008
Meet the Plaintiffs
Otis McDonald
Mr. McDonald is a retired maintenance engineer who worked at the University of Chicago and has been a Chicago resident since 1952. In the 1960s, this Army veteran, who served in Germany and came home to raise a family in Chicago, was a pioneer in integrating his local union, rising through the ranks until he became head of his union local.
In addition to being a civil rights and union leader in the Chicago area, Mr. McDonald is also a community activist who has been threatened for his efforts to rid his neighborhood of drug dealers and other criminals. He owns a handgun, but cannot keep it inside the city because of the handgun ban.
“This lawsuit, I hope, will allow me to bring my handgun into the city legally,” he said. “I only want a handgun in my house for my protection.”
Adam Orlov
A former Evanston, Illinois police officer, Mr. Orlov, 38, left that job and went to business school. He now runs a trading business in Chicago, dealing in stocks and other securities.
Mr. Orlov believes that the Chicago handgun ban violates his constitutional right to have a handgun for his personal protection at home. Removing the ban would not only allow him to be more secure in his home, but also help his neighbors be safer from criminals. He says the Chicago handgun ban is “onerous.”
Colleen and David Lawson
This husband-and-wife have a home in the city that has been targeted by burglars. David has been a Chicago resident for more than 25 years and is a software engineer who works away from home several days a week, while Chicago native Colleen is a hypnotherapist working in the city.
David was working out of town one afternoon when Colleen was home alone during an attempted home invasion. She came face-to-face with three men trying to break in through the rear sliding doors. It took more than a half-hour for police to respond. At least two more attempts occurred following the first: the third coming just minutes after police left her home. Colleen said when officers finally arrived, “Each time, they came and basically just said there was nothing they could do.”
The Lawsons believe they represent many of their friends and neighbors who want a handgun for protection, or perhaps have one that cannot be registered within the city limits.
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Orleans; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
Illinois State Rifle Association
The Illinois State Rifle Association (www.isra.org) was officially formed on June 3, 1903 to train civilians in marksmanship skills, thus preparing them for the National Guard, the U.S. military or as a better trained element of the “irregular militia.” Since that time, they have trained thousands of marksmen who have answered the call.
The mission of the Illinois State Rifle Association has not changed – only the challenges have become more taxing. The most troubling though are our domestic adversaries – they want to disarm the civilians of Illinois and to prevent us from shooting, hunting, collecting, or even owning a firearm.
The Illinois State Rifle Association works to promote and defend the individual Second Amendment rights of Illinoians.
