Totin' at the Tower

By Rob Christopher in Miscellaneous on Jul 6, 2007 1:02PM

Before you continue reading, we want you to raise your right arm, take your index finger, place it on the top of your head and begin to scratch.

A woman visiting Chicago from Tennessee was arrested yesterday morning after attempting to visit the Skydeck of the Sears Tower with a loaded gun in her purse. When passing through the metal detector, it was discovered the she was packing a .38-caliber revolver. She was taken into police custody without incident, and there was no interruption of service for other visitors at the Tower.

Before we continue, we ought to point out that, provided you have a permit, carrying a loaded, concealed weapon in Tennessee is perfectly legal. The 56-year-old woman did in fact have said permit. But as anyone who loves barbecue will tell you, Chicago ain't Tennessee. "It didn't dawn on her that our state did not have the same gun laws as hers did," the Trib article quotes Chicago Police spokesperson Monique Bond as saying.

So many questions. Assuming she flew to Chicago, did she take the gun with her on the plane in her checked luggage? (Also legal, as long as you declare it). And is she in the habit of taking a loaded gun with her everywhere; or, worse yet, did she just forget it was in her purse?

Trivia question: which country banned handguns in 1997 after a disgruntled former scout leader shot dead sixteen young children and their teacher? Answer: the U.K.; the tragedy was dubbed the Dunblane Massacre. Interestingly a new study says that handgun crime is up despite the ban.

Sorry, lady. Go ahead and brandish your Second Amendment, but we here in Chicago do not want tourists from Tennessee or any other state walking around with concealed weapons.

Police are recommending that she be charged with unlawful use of a weapon, a felony. So why do we get the feeling that she's just going to get off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist?