ISRA Statement on Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan

ISRA Press Release: ISRA Statement on Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan

CHICAGO, April 2, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA): On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, Chicago Schools CEO Arne Duncan stood at a lectern in the Thompson Center Plaza and essentially blamed the state's hunters and sportsmen for the murders of 20 Chicago school children. Duncan made his appearance during a gun control rally sponsored by Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina's Catholic Church. Pfleger is best remembered for his speech at an earlier gun control rally during which he called for the murder of gun shop owners and state legislators who oppose gun control laws. Interestingly enough, at about the same time that Duncan was delivering his rant against the state's law abiding firearm owners, a report was released in "Catalyst Magazine" that indicates that just 51% of freshmen enrolled in Chicago public high schools stick it out to graduate. "Studies by the Chicago Police Department indicate that 88% of murders are committed by people with previous criminal records," commented ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. "Likewise, those same reports show that about 76% of murder victims had records as well. Nonetheless, opportunists like Pfleger and Duncan persist in shifting the blame away from failed public policies and towards law-abiding hunters and sportsmen. The gun control measures these people advocate will never succeed in thwarting crime because they totally ignore the criminal element." "It's ironic that the truth about Duncan's administration was being released just as he was damning the state's law-abiding gun owners," continued Pearson. "Maybe if Duncan did a better job keeping his charges in school, they wouldn't be out on the streets beating, knifing and shooting one another to death. If Duncan had any sense of responsibility at all, he would have been at the microphone apologizing to the people of Illinois for wasting their time and tax dollars. By all rights, Arne Duncan should be returning 49% of his $200,000 annual salary to the Chicago treasury. He's doing half a job -- so he deserves half his pay." The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.