DEMOCRATS AREN'T TELLING WHOLE STORY ON GUN CONTROL
John Kass
September 19, 2000
Politicians have discovered that one of the best ways to
appeal to mothers
who vote is to frighten them about their children.
And one of the best ways to do that is to use the
hyper-emotional issue of
gun control.
That's why supporters of Democrat Al Gore were on the steps
of Holy Name
Cathedral on Monday, to beat up on Republican George W.
Bush, who has
received the endorsement of Chicago's Fraternal Order of
Police.
To counter that endorsement, Gore operatives pushed the idea
that Bush is
weak on crime because he opposes their brand of gun control.
Unfortunately, the gun controllers forgot to mention Tumor.
How strange.
Tumor is the nickname of a fascinating guy whose story
explains the criminal
justice system and the pitiful enforcement of existing laws
for gun crimes.
He's been arrested seven times on gun-related charges and
about a dozen
additional times for other crimes. In most of those cases,
the charges have
been dropped.
Witnesses don't show up. Or cops don't show up. Or the local
prosecutors
refuse to proceed if they have a chance of losing.
So the charges disappear. It's easier that way, especially
when authorities
don't make the effort to drag those witnesses into court.
Raising the gun issue is smart politics for Democrats.
Emotion always trumps
logic, especially on radio broadcasts and TV news, where
slogans and
pictures matter more than reason.
In this rigid framework, gun control advocates are
portrayed, magically, as
nonpartisan. And there is only one appropriate response to
their rhetoric:
If you oppose politically inspired gun control laws, then by
extension you
want children to be killed.
So where does Tumor fit in?
"Tumor" is his nickname. But don't call him Tumor. He might
get angry.
"I guess he had a brain tumor removed when he was a kid,"
said Ald. Ted
Matlak (32nd), who has been fighting with Tumor and his pals
for years in
the yuppifying Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods.
"He's got a big, misshapen head. And a scar from the tumor.
That's the
problem with the guy," Matlak said. "He doesn't like you
mentioning it. He
gets angry."
His real name is Edwin Casiano Jr. He's 21.
According to court records, files, police reports and
interviews with police
and Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine's office, Tumor
has been an
extremely busy boy since he turned 17.
In February 1996, a week after his 17th birthday, Tumor was
arrested on
disorderly conduct charges when he allegedly yelled
obscenities at
Shakespeare District cops who had the gall to arrest two of
his pals on gun
charges. The charges were later dropped by prosecutors.
About a month later, in March 1996, Tumor turned himself in
to police after
he was sought for the attempted shooting of a 24-year-old
man near Wicker
Park.
He was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault. Again,
the state's
attorney dropped the charges.
Over the next three years, he was arrested about 15 times on
various
charges, including mob action and disorderly conduct. Once,
he got angry and
allegedly used his car to smash another guy's Cadillac. That
was dropped
too.
Few of the charges required a bond. And all were dropped,
except for one
drug charge last year. That ended up in a guilty plea in
exchange for
probation.
In May of 1997, Tumor was arrested on a mob action charge,
when he was
caught in a car with three other pals, one of whom was
carrying a rifle.
And in March last year, Tumor was arrested after he
allegedly flashed a
pistol at another neighborhood sport, then rudely informed
the man that "you
better get steppin'."
That case was dropped by prosecutors too.
While Tumor was out on bond on the drug charge, he was
arrested and charged
with shooting at a man and woman on the street. Prosecutors
dropped the
charges.
Then the other day, Tumor was arrested and charged with
murder. Authorities
say he was in a grocery store when some other guys called
him "Tumor."
So he allegedly followed them into a parking lot and shot
Jesus Vega, 18, in
the back as Vega tried to run away, police said.
Finally, Tumor is off the streets.
Sorry, I forgot one arrest you should know about.
Last year, on Sept. 5, Tumor was allegedly driving a black
Oldsmobile SUV,
with his pal, Alvaro Acosta, 21, riding shotgun.
They were following another car of rival punks. Police say
that shots were
being exchanged. Acosta allegedly was the shooter and Tumor
was the wheel
man.
One bullet from Tumor's black SUV missed. It pierced the
plate glass window
of the Coast Restaurant at 2143 N. Damen Ave.
A bartender, Hee Suk Oh, was talking to a customer. The
bullet bounced off a
beam and entered her spine.
Now she's paralyzed for life.
There were enough laws on the books long before that bullet
crippled Hee Suk
Oh. The only problem was that prosecutors and police didn't
do enough to
enforce them.
Because he had never been convicted of a crime before the
drug charge, Tumor
got probation and was out on the street.
And because he was never convicted of a violent crime
before, he paid out
$25,000 and walked on the attempted murder charge.
So Hee Suk Oh is paralyzed. Jesus Vega is dead.
And the speeches continue.
jskass@tribune.com
===================================
The Second Amendment Police Department (in CyberSpace) www.2ampd.net
To Protect & Serve the Individual Rights of All Citizens!
Please visit www.2ampd.net
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
2ampd-unsubscribe@egroups.com
------------------
When women are disarmed, a rapist will never hear - Stop or I'll shoot!
Armed Citizens SAVE Lives!
<A HREF="http://www.wagc.com
http://sites.netscape.net/wagcga/homepage
Gun" TARGET=_blank>http://www.wagc.com
http://sites.netscape.net/wagcga/homepage
Gun</A> Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a
woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.
"Quemadmoeum gladis nemeinum occidit, occidentis telum
est" ("A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hands")
Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the younger" ca. (4 BC - 65 AD)
John Kass
September 19, 2000
Politicians have discovered that one of the best ways to
appeal to mothers
who vote is to frighten them about their children.
And one of the best ways to do that is to use the
hyper-emotional issue of
gun control.
That's why supporters of Democrat Al Gore were on the steps
of Holy Name
Cathedral on Monday, to beat up on Republican George W.
Bush, who has
received the endorsement of Chicago's Fraternal Order of
Police.
To counter that endorsement, Gore operatives pushed the idea
that Bush is
weak on crime because he opposes their brand of gun control.
Unfortunately, the gun controllers forgot to mention Tumor.
How strange.
Tumor is the nickname of a fascinating guy whose story
explains the criminal
justice system and the pitiful enforcement of existing laws
for gun crimes.
He's been arrested seven times on gun-related charges and
about a dozen
additional times for other crimes. In most of those cases,
the charges have
been dropped.
Witnesses don't show up. Or cops don't show up. Or the local
prosecutors
refuse to proceed if they have a chance of losing.
So the charges disappear. It's easier that way, especially
when authorities
don't make the effort to drag those witnesses into court.
Raising the gun issue is smart politics for Democrats.
Emotion always trumps
logic, especially on radio broadcasts and TV news, where
slogans and
pictures matter more than reason.
In this rigid framework, gun control advocates are
portrayed, magically, as
nonpartisan. And there is only one appropriate response to
their rhetoric:
If you oppose politically inspired gun control laws, then by
extension you
want children to be killed.
So where does Tumor fit in?
"Tumor" is his nickname. But don't call him Tumor. He might
get angry.
"I guess he had a brain tumor removed when he was a kid,"
said Ald. Ted
Matlak (32nd), who has been fighting with Tumor and his pals
for years in
the yuppifying Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods.
"He's got a big, misshapen head. And a scar from the tumor.
That's the
problem with the guy," Matlak said. "He doesn't like you
mentioning it. He
gets angry."
His real name is Edwin Casiano Jr. He's 21.
According to court records, files, police reports and
interviews with police
and Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine's office, Tumor
has been an
extremely busy boy since he turned 17.
In February 1996, a week after his 17th birthday, Tumor was
arrested on
disorderly conduct charges when he allegedly yelled
obscenities at
Shakespeare District cops who had the gall to arrest two of
his pals on gun
charges. The charges were later dropped by prosecutors.
About a month later, in March 1996, Tumor turned himself in
to police after
he was sought for the attempted shooting of a 24-year-old
man near Wicker
Park.
He was charged with misdemeanor aggravated assault. Again,
the state's
attorney dropped the charges.
Over the next three years, he was arrested about 15 times on
various
charges, including mob action and disorderly conduct. Once,
he got angry and
allegedly used his car to smash another guy's Cadillac. That
was dropped
too.
Few of the charges required a bond. And all were dropped,
except for one
drug charge last year. That ended up in a guilty plea in
exchange for
probation.
In May of 1997, Tumor was arrested on a mob action charge,
when he was
caught in a car with three other pals, one of whom was
carrying a rifle.
And in March last year, Tumor was arrested after he
allegedly flashed a
pistol at another neighborhood sport, then rudely informed
the man that "you
better get steppin'."
That case was dropped by prosecutors too.
While Tumor was out on bond on the drug charge, he was
arrested and charged
with shooting at a man and woman on the street. Prosecutors
dropped the
charges.
Then the other day, Tumor was arrested and charged with
murder. Authorities
say he was in a grocery store when some other guys called
him "Tumor."
So he allegedly followed them into a parking lot and shot
Jesus Vega, 18, in
the back as Vega tried to run away, police said.
Finally, Tumor is off the streets.
Sorry, I forgot one arrest you should know about.
Last year, on Sept. 5, Tumor was allegedly driving a black
Oldsmobile SUV,
with his pal, Alvaro Acosta, 21, riding shotgun.
They were following another car of rival punks. Police say
that shots were
being exchanged. Acosta allegedly was the shooter and Tumor
was the wheel
man.
One bullet from Tumor's black SUV missed. It pierced the
plate glass window
of the Coast Restaurant at 2143 N. Damen Ave.
A bartender, Hee Suk Oh, was talking to a customer. The
bullet bounced off a
beam and entered her spine.
Now she's paralyzed for life.
There were enough laws on the books long before that bullet
crippled Hee Suk
Oh. The only problem was that prosecutors and police didn't
do enough to
enforce them.
Because he had never been convicted of a crime before the
drug charge, Tumor
got probation and was out on the street.
And because he was never convicted of a violent crime
before, he paid out
$25,000 and walked on the attempted murder charge.
So Hee Suk Oh is paralyzed. Jesus Vega is dead.
And the speeches continue.
jskass@tribune.com
===================================
The Second Amendment Police Department (in CyberSpace) www.2ampd.net
To Protect & Serve the Individual Rights of All Citizens!
Please visit www.2ampd.net
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
2ampd-unsubscribe@egroups.com
------------------
When women are disarmed, a rapist will never hear - Stop or I'll shoot!
Armed Citizens SAVE Lives!
<A HREF="http://www.wagc.com
http://sites.netscape.net/wagcga/homepage
Gun" TARGET=_blank>http://www.wagc.com
http://sites.netscape.net/wagcga/homepage
Gun</A> Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a
woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.
"Quemadmoeum gladis nemeinum occidit, occidentis telum
est" ("A sword is never a killer, it's a tool in the killer's hands")
Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the younger" ca. (4 BC - 65 AD)