Illinois Makes Progress in War on Freedom

Stiffer gun and drug laws are among hundreds of new Illinois laws that take effect today.

One law requires trigger-lock mechanisms to be included with the sale of any gun. Another bars people from buying stun guns or tasers unless they have a Firearm Owners I-D card...

Another new law says cold medicines that can be used to make methamphetamine must be kept behind the counter and sold only to people with a valid I-D.

Look for a rise in "gun deaths" and meth use.

News like this always makes me think of a passage from "One of the People," Philadelphia Federal Gazette, July 2, 1789:

"What should we think of a gentleman, who, upon hiring a waiting-man, should say to him—'my friend, please to take notice, before we come together, that I shall always claim the liberty of eating when and what I please, of fishing and hunting upon my own ground, of keeping as many horses and hounds as I can maintain, and of speaking and writing my sentiments upon all subjects.' A servant must be a fool, who would not suppose such a master to be a madman... Let these truths sink deep into our hearts: that the people are the masters of their rulers and that rulers are the servants of the people..."

We're the Only Ones Celebratory Enough...

The suspect, identified as PO2 Orlando Antonio, was collared by fellow policemen after he was caught firing his gun in Tondo, Manila.

Orlando, Orlando.

Didn't anyone tell you about masking tape?

Cancerous Bloomberg Pledges to Metastasize

"We will take our message to Albany, to Washington and to every capital of every state that permits guns to flow freely across its borders," said Bloomberg.

"And to those who distort our laws to aid and abet hardened criminals, know this," he said, punching the air for emphasis. "We will not rest until we secure all of the tools we need to protect New Yorkers from the scourge of illegal guns."

I wonder how that sounds being screamed in its original German?

My "favorite" point from this story--and one that we ignore at our peril:

Gun control advocates said that as the Republican mayor of the country's largest city - and one of the GOP's most generous donors - Bloomberg could be uniquely positioned to influence the national gun control debate.

Presumptions About "First Gun Death of 2006"

Reading the lead paragraphs, my immediate thought was "I'll bet he was involved with gangs."

Not more than five hours after ringing in the new year, a 21-year-old man was gunned down in the driver's seat of his Cadillac DeVille yesterday.

Dillan Yhanike Anderson of North York was pronounced dead at Sunnybrook hospital after he was found slumped over in the driver's seat of his car in an alley...

"What's a 21-year-old from New York doing in a Cadillac in a Toronto alley late at night?" I asked myself.

"Here we are just into 2006 and already there is another mother planning to bury her son," said homicide Det. Steve Ryan.

Now I started to feel bad for being presumptuous. Det. Ryan's spin evokes visions of June Cleaver grieving over a slaughtered Wally. Still:

Mayor David Miller said he was disappointed to learn of yesterday's murder.

"Every shooting fills me with sadness and this one again appears to be connected to the gang and the gun trade. It tells me that the things we're doing are the right things -- we just have to get them moving."

So my instincts were right? Anderson probably was up to something? And does anybody else find it creepy the way the mayor took the opportunity to publicly dance in fresh blood to hawk his citizen disarmament agenda?

"I think someone approached the vehicle and shots were fired from outside the car," Ryan said.

Yep, gangland hit, alright.

And there's one more "surprise" twist in this case:

Anderson was known to police. In 2003 Anderson and a 17-year-old were arrested in connection with the robbery and shooting of a man near Jane Street and Wilson Avenue. The victim in that case survived.

Dillan, my man: say it ain't so!

Would it be presumptuous and wrong of me to speculate about that victim?