Oh yeah, that will work.
http://chicagotribune.com/news/local/article/0,1051,SAV-0008110366,00.html
`EXORCISM' TARGETS EVILS OF GUN SALES
By Lola Smallwood
Tribune Staff Writer
More than 100 anti-gun protesters held what they called an exorcism outside a Riverdale gun shop Thursday to symbolically drive the evils of gun sales out of their communities.
As a priest sprinkled the entrance of Chuck's Dolton Gun Shop with holy water and recited prayers typically used during exorcisms, the diverse throng of clergy, activists, parents and children prayed for people killed or scarred by gun violence.
"This shop has made a lot of money--a killing--at the expense of our children," said Barbara Nelson of the Million Moms March/Bell Campaign Chapter in south suburban Dolton. "We want businesses like this out of our neighborhood. We are tired of losing our brothers, sisters, cousins, sons and daughters to gun violence."
Though a "closed" sign hung on the store's door, a shop manager answered the phone. He refused to comment on the vigil.
Speaking into a bullhorn, Nelson explained how her son, Marlon, was shot to death three years ago while saying goodbye to old friends in Roseland a day before he was to leave for college. A half dozen others spoke of similar tragedies or sounded a bell marking the death of a loved one.
Chuck's Dolton Gun Shop, 14310 S. Indiana Ave., has one of the highest rates in the nation of guns traced to violence, including the .357 revolver used to shoot Chicago Police Officer Michael Ceriale in 1998, said Van Bensett, chairman of the Centro Comunitario Juan Diego in Chicago.
Under the beating afternoon sun, participants toted signs that read "Guns Kill" and "No Mas Armas" while speakers prayed for the closure of suburban gun shops as a way to curb the flow of weapons on area streets.
"As late as Saturday we buried a woman's son," said James Teer, a member of the Roseland Christian Ministries, who attended the vigil. "They can't buy guns in Chicago. This is where the guns come from. [Shooters] buy them in the suburbs and bring them back to the city."
As the crowd sang, " Riverdale officers quietly stood by, asking some of the participants to stand clear of the shop's door. The hourlong vigil was organized by several religious and community groups from Chicago to Goshen, Ind., including the Interfaith Initiative Against Gun Violence in Chicago; St. Kevin's Church in South Deering; and Centro Comunitario Juan Diego on Chicago's South Side.
"We came with two school-bus loads of people because we've known of four families at our center whose children were killed by guns in the last year," said Rosa Perea, community organizer for Centro Comunitario Juan Diego. "It's important to send a message that enough is enough."
The center houses the Arnold Mireles Center for Human Rights, named after the anti-violence activist who was shot down outside of the Chicago center nearly three years ago. Mireles' sister, Sonia, attended the vigil.
Chuck's Dolton Gun Shop, like many others in nearby suburbs, has come under legal and community pressure in recent years.
Last year, the City of Chicago filed a $433 million lawsuit against 12 suburban gun shops, 22 gun manufacturers and four distributors, accusing them of flooding the city with guns they knew could be used in a crime. That same year, the federal government followed suit by filing criminal charges against five suburban gun shops for illegally selling handguns and semiautomatic weapons last August.
Employees of two of those shops have since been acquitted, while the corporate owner and two employees of a third shop, B&H Sports in Oak Lawn, were convicted. Two other cases are pending trial.
The charges came after undercover Chicago police officers posed as gang members and allegedly made it clear their purchases were on behalf of others, in violation of federal law, yet still were able to buy weapons.
Charges were not filed against Chuck's.
But even the youngest protesters Thursday said they would not feel safe as long as gun sales were allowed.
"I came to stop the gun sales," said Porfirio Serrano, 14, who attended the vigil with his friends. "I have a friend who saw someone get shot in the face right in front of her. We could get shot like that by accident while we're out playing."
http://chicagotribune.com/news/local/article/0,1051,SAV-0008110366,00.html
`EXORCISM' TARGETS EVILS OF GUN SALES
By Lola Smallwood
Tribune Staff Writer
More than 100 anti-gun protesters held what they called an exorcism outside a Riverdale gun shop Thursday to symbolically drive the evils of gun sales out of their communities.
As a priest sprinkled the entrance of Chuck's Dolton Gun Shop with holy water and recited prayers typically used during exorcisms, the diverse throng of clergy, activists, parents and children prayed for people killed or scarred by gun violence.
"This shop has made a lot of money--a killing--at the expense of our children," said Barbara Nelson of the Million Moms March/Bell Campaign Chapter in south suburban Dolton. "We want businesses like this out of our neighborhood. We are tired of losing our brothers, sisters, cousins, sons and daughters to gun violence."
Though a "closed" sign hung on the store's door, a shop manager answered the phone. He refused to comment on the vigil.
Speaking into a bullhorn, Nelson explained how her son, Marlon, was shot to death three years ago while saying goodbye to old friends in Roseland a day before he was to leave for college. A half dozen others spoke of similar tragedies or sounded a bell marking the death of a loved one.
Chuck's Dolton Gun Shop, 14310 S. Indiana Ave., has one of the highest rates in the nation of guns traced to violence, including the .357 revolver used to shoot Chicago Police Officer Michael Ceriale in 1998, said Van Bensett, chairman of the Centro Comunitario Juan Diego in Chicago.
Under the beating afternoon sun, participants toted signs that read "Guns Kill" and "No Mas Armas" while speakers prayed for the closure of suburban gun shops as a way to curb the flow of weapons on area streets.
"As late as Saturday we buried a woman's son," said James Teer, a member of the Roseland Christian Ministries, who attended the vigil. "They can't buy guns in Chicago. This is where the guns come from. [Shooters] buy them in the suburbs and bring them back to the city."
As the crowd sang, " Riverdale officers quietly stood by, asking some of the participants to stand clear of the shop's door. The hourlong vigil was organized by several religious and community groups from Chicago to Goshen, Ind., including the Interfaith Initiative Against Gun Violence in Chicago; St. Kevin's Church in South Deering; and Centro Comunitario Juan Diego on Chicago's South Side.
"We came with two school-bus loads of people because we've known of four families at our center whose children were killed by guns in the last year," said Rosa Perea, community organizer for Centro Comunitario Juan Diego. "It's important to send a message that enough is enough."
The center houses the Arnold Mireles Center for Human Rights, named after the anti-violence activist who was shot down outside of the Chicago center nearly three years ago. Mireles' sister, Sonia, attended the vigil.
Chuck's Dolton Gun Shop, like many others in nearby suburbs, has come under legal and community pressure in recent years.
Last year, the City of Chicago filed a $433 million lawsuit against 12 suburban gun shops, 22 gun manufacturers and four distributors, accusing them of flooding the city with guns they knew could be used in a crime. That same year, the federal government followed suit by filing criminal charges against five suburban gun shops for illegally selling handguns and semiautomatic weapons last August.
Employees of two of those shops have since been acquitted, while the corporate owner and two employees of a third shop, B&H Sports in Oak Lawn, were convicted. Two other cases are pending trial.
The charges came after undercover Chicago police officers posed as gang members and allegedly made it clear their purchases were on behalf of others, in violation of federal law, yet still were able to buy weapons.
Charges were not filed against Chuck's.
But even the youngest protesters Thursday said they would not feel safe as long as gun sales were allowed.
"I came to stop the gun sales," said Porfirio Serrano, 14, who attended the vigil with his friends. "I have a friend who saw someone get shot in the face right in front of her. We could get shot like that by accident while we're out playing."
