Was it the gun’s fault when a disgruntled employee murdered five of his fellow coworkers and wounded five responding police officers? Who will the anti-gunners blame—the shooter who had been convicted of multiple violent crimes and served time in prison, the authorities that made it possible for him to “legally” buy the gun, or the gun?
It is a trick question. The anti-gunners will blame you and me—the honest law-abiding gun owners. Had the gun been more scary than a Smith and Wesson pistol, they would have likely lumped in the gun or a high profile accessory or component. At a minimum, they will use this tragedy as justification to pass some new legislation that will only punish—you guessed it—by definition, the law-abiding gun owners.
The Murderer
Over two decades before Gary Martin went on his murderous, workplace-shooting spree in Illinois, he was convicted of aggravated assault in Mississippi. When questioned about the shooter’s criminal record, authorities reported that he had been convicted in the 1990s of regularly abusing a former girlfriend and at one point, hitting her with a baseball bat and stabbing her with a knife.
“All I can remember is him hitting and kicking me, I can remember fighting and screaming for help. I remember him pushing my head into that brick wall outside the apartment and thinking that he was going to kill me,” the woman told police in Mississippi in 1994, according to court records.
Martin was sentenced to five years in prison making him a convicted felon who should have never been allowed to purchase a firearm. In January of 2014, Martin applied for a Firearms Owner’s ID (FOID) card. Incidentally, Illinois is the only state that mandates a FOID card. in illinois, you have to present your FOID card to buy a firearm or ammunition. To obtain a FOID card, you have to pass a criminal background check by the Illinois State Police (ISP).
Unfortunately, the ISP did not catch that Martin was a convicted felon when he applied for his FOID card. Given the question about whether the purchaser has ever been convicted of a felony on the ATF form 4473 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) form, I would have to guess that Martin, the then convicted felon, lied (shocker) and the BATFE failed to disqualify him based on his previous felony conviction during the NICS check. As a result of these two failures of the system that is in place, Martin was able to walk into a store in 2014 and “legally,” and I use that term loosely and in quotes, buy a handgun.
Later, Martin applied for a concealed carry permit. Getting a CCW in Illinois requires the submission of your fingerprints. The fingerprints outed Martin as having been convicted of a felony, Martin was denied a Concealed Weapons Permit and the ISP revoked his FOID card. However, losing your FOID does not necessarily mean confiscation of your firearms. The police simply send you a letter informing you that your FOID card has been revoked, and you have to specify that you either no longer have possession of the firearms, or have given them to another person.
Author’s note: Trusting a convicted felon’s response that he has gotten rid of his firearms, especially one who has most likely lied on an ATF form 4473, FOID application, and CCW application (all under penalty of perjury of course) may not be a sound method of handling a situation such as this.
At least six times after having his FOID card revoked, Martin was arrested by Aurora IL police. The most recent incident was in 2017 for disorderly conduct and damage to property.
Mississippi court records paint a picture of a disturbed man who frequently abused his former girlfriend, Chyreese Jones. Jones, brought charges against Martin after he stabbed her several times with a kitchen knife in March 1994.
On March 8, 1994, Jones told Martin she wanted to end the relationship. Jones recalled to law enforcement that Martin responded by telling her, if they were going to end their relationship, they were “going to go out with a bang!”
“We are all going to die…” Jones recalled when interviewed by the police. “That’s when [he] began to hit me.”
According to court records, Martin kicked her in the stomach and hit her with the baseball bat. Jones ran to her neighbor, and police later found her bleeding from several stab wounds, including two deep cuts to her neck.
The Bad Guy
After reading Martin’s history, most reasonable, sane people with at least a modicum of intelligence might conclude that due to the current laws in place to prevent a tragedy such as this—forget it; we are talking about politicians and a media with an agenda. Logic, or even the truth of the facts will mean little.
Martin was:
- Convicted of a felony for domestic violence, beating a woman with a baseball bat and stabbing her, and threatening her daughter’s life by holding a knife to her throat.
- Guilty of perjury? Multiple counts of perjury to obtain a firearm and FOID card, and attempting to obtain a concealed weapons permit.
- Arrested at least six times in between 2014 and 2017 by local authorities after having his FOID card revoked.
- In illegal possession of a firearm and illegally carrying a concealed firearm when he committed the heinous acts.
- The benefactor of people who believe they can legislate evil by passing feel-good laws, which only serve to punish the law abiding.
Yet, all of this was not enough to stop him. All of the forms or applications and background checks did not stop him. Multiple arrests did not stop him. One thousand new laws would not have stopped him. What finally stopped the bad guy? It wasn’t a law; it was a good guy with a gun. Enough said.
What do you think should be done to prevent further tragedies such as recent one in Aurora Illinois? What do you think of background checks or the confiscation of firearms from convicted felons? Who would you say is at fault for the shooting? Share your answers in the comment section.
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The blame rests on the Deep State.
Don’t be fooled by Elite Globalist owned MSM propaganda, or their False Flag Operatives.
As with the majority of shooting incidents the blame must be placed upon the Individual State and Federal Government. The Officials we vote into office are the ones pandering to voters with false information based upon false or misunderstood data and a basic lack of understanding and experience with firearms. The problem is not with the weapon itself but with the person wielding that weapon. Our Representatives and Senators lack the willpower to tackle the issue of restricting ownership and purchase and access to weapons by individuals who shouldn’t have access to weapons. Instead they pander to voters who want action to reduce access but are also not weapons knowledgeable and are easily persuaded by Officials scared to take action which does not target the law abiding but hinders the felons and those with mental problems.
When only “Outlaws” have guns, I will be an “Outlaw” Soryy but I fought to keep them and will do so.
Every horrible event does not have a legislative answer. I’m certain that a check has been done to determine why a convicted felon received a FOID card, AND the background check didn’t catch his prior deeds.
When the people of Illinois get tired of empty promises by the demos in charge they will vote them out and the onerous anti-firearm and anti-small business laws can then be repealed. Until then, democrat officials will continue with their bluster at the podium, scare enough easily swayed voters looking for hand-outs and big government “protection” and will continue being elected. That will allow them to spew more fear into the air and make more people look up to them and continue the cycle.
Thank you for this well written article Mr. Dolbee.
Thanks for the read. It is always good to hear from fellow patriot in Illinois!
I grew up in Aurora, IL and know people who work at Henry Pratt Co. and have paid attention to Illinois politics. There are been questions being asked why there had not been follow up on Mr Martin’s gun ownership and the other 11,000 folks that have had their FOID cards revoked. I have an issue with Mr Martin not being charged with a federal crime in 2014 for lying on his 4473. The reality is that no law enforcement agency wanted the responsibility, risk and cost of making sure that ineligible people did not have guns without a boost to their budget when the FOID law was passed. Similarly, the ATF and Fed AGs have been short funded for decades and lying on a 4473 is not sexy enough to qualify for court time.
There are proposals that ban ‘assault weapons’ and limit magazines to 10 rounds that predate the shooting pending in the Illinois legislature that probably will not be passed. Our new Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that his administration will push for legislation to tighten enforcement of the state’s gun laws.
Murder has always been a crime so if they’re willing to do that , they obviously will ignore any gun control laws . They’re called criminals cause they don’t follow laws. Why can’t the politicians figure it out. Perhaps they have. Disarm the masses and they can never resist. It worked pretty well for Adolf. It’s Why I’m also so surprised that Schumer, Feinstein, Pelosi, are such gun grabbers. History was not kind to their people when the German government took all the guns in the 1930s . Those that forget the past are condemned to repeat their mistakes.
MOANABE
It can’t be denied that Mr. Martin killed 5 people and wounded 6 LEO’s, but if the system had not failed at every level, State and Federal, Martin would have been in jail or prison before he had a chance to commit these acts. In this case the fault fully lies with the people in charge of making certain that only honest, lawabiding citizens have access to firearms. In an interview a BATFE agent said “somebody dropped the ball”. Lawsuits against the State and Feds should fly and the somebody that dropped the ball should be fired. It’s a crying shame that NONE of the MSM outlets brough
The demo dumbos have been at the forefront of stupidity for several decades when it comes to gun control. Nothing that they have done has affected how criminals obtain their guns and commit crimes. There’s still a pipeline from the Philippines of illegal unserialized 1911s, and I don’t think the flow has decreased. Add to that government officials complicit in aiding and abetting hard-core murderers and criminals south of the border as Odumbo and Holder did. Why would anyone take so-called leaders and officials seriously when they trample on the Constitution with their ideas? If the Constitution is invalid and irrelevant (or a “living” document), nothing matters. I believe this is the leftists’ and many democrats’ goal.