North Cook News

The New Trier GOP is one of many groups questioning Illinois Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford’s continued support of anti-gun laws in the wake of her recent carjacking.

Lightford was carjacked on Dec. 21. She said her husband’s concealed carry license saved them as he fired on the attackers after the couple was separated, giving her cover to run away.

“We at the New Trier GOP are grateful that Senator Lightford and her husband are alive and physically unharmed. As we read in the paper everyday, many are not so fortunate,” she told North Cook News. “Disturbingly, it is not uncommon for legislators (who oppose New Trier Township Republican Chair Kathy Myalls said permitting ordinary citizens to protect themselves) to avail themselves of protection afforded only to the wealthy ruling class elites, both in Illinois and the US.”

Myalls said Lightford's position is not uncommon, according to the Chicago City Wire.

“We see politicians breaking rules they impose on the rest of us (see the dozens of Pols maskless in jurisdictions where masks are required at their behest) and protecting themselves - whether it be with weapons, gated communities, armed guards, etc. - when they deny that protection to the rest of us,” she said.

Lightford’s carjacking comes as the violent crime rate in Chicago and Cook County has been skyrocketing. Cook County has seen over 1,000 murders this year — the most since 1994.

“The sickening trend of ‘defunding’ police has made the ordinary Chicago resident afraid daily of the rampant crime wave that was the inevitable result of both reducing police protection and turning a blind eye to crime. These politicians would have no standards if it weren't for double standards. It is reprehensible if Lightford will not now adapt her policy position to reflect her actual practices,” Myalls said.

Myalls said Lightford’s refusal to consider looking at legislation to make it easier for law-abiding citizens use concealed carry makes the state less safe, particularly when it comes to the FOID card lines the state experienced last year in which she waited over a year to her their licenses processed.

“Conceal carry permits address the right of citizens to carry weapons outside of their homes. A delay in the issuance of a conceal carry permit similarly prevents law-abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves and their families at a time when it is less safe than ever to leave your home, especially in the city of Chicago,” Myalls said.

“The fact is that criminals are carrying guns without conceal carry permits at will and with impunity. It is long past time for the state to recognize its abject failure to fairly and efficiently process conceal carry (and FOID) cards on top of its failure to prevent and prosecute crimes. It is time to permit people to protect themselves, especially since it appears that many of those same politicians are permitting shooters to run free after doing far worse than possessing a weapon without the required (and constitutionally questionable) permits.”