Editorial

Father Pfleger Redux

David A. Lombardo

Father Michael Pfleger, the Archdiocese of Chicago's court jester, is once again on his anti-gun jihad. Nothing says "Welcome to Chicago, Archbishop Cupich," like sitting down to watch the 5 o'clock news and seeing Father Pfleger ranting on television. Pfleger is infamous for his ability to attract the news media.

When he's not on camera, he's busy organizing his next appearance which is not modeled after the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. Pfleger's specialty appears to be inciting the crowd he brings with him to drag the gun store owner outside and kill him in the street. Fortunately nobody takes the nutcase that seriously, so gun store owners have thus far avoided being whacked by the Catholic Church.

Apparently Pfleger doesn't remember Matthew 5:44 - Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Not that any gun shop owner has persecuted Pfleger. Most gun store owners view Pfleger as a cockroach.

Apparently now, finding he has a little time on his hands, Pfleger has decided to file law suits against the towns of Riverdale, Lyons and Lincolnwood-not against those that illegally use firearms, but the towns in which the gun stores are located.

As a side note, one has to wonder when the good padre finds time to tend to his flock at St. Sabina's. But then I'm not convinced he cares about his flock's spiritual well-being. Father Pfleger is on a mission from God. But unlike Jake and Elwood Blues' mission from God, this one is far more sinister and devoid of any intellectual insight.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Cook County Circuit Court, accuses Riverdale, Lyons and Lincolnwood of not having enough oversight when it comes to licensing and regulating gun shops. Right, like it's so easy to buy a gun illegally in an Illinois gun store; you can grow a beard in the time it takes you to fill out the forms.

The suit was presumably spurred on as a result of the 2014 City of Chicago report which claims nearly 20 percent of guns recovered from crime scenes in Chicago are purchased from gun stores in those three villages. The lawsuit also claims this is causing disproportionate hardship on African American communities, which is a violation of the Illinois Civil Rights Act. Seriously, Pfleger's argument is it's a civil rights violation? I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he breaks that news to his law-abiding, pistol-packing parishioners.

Gee, let's see. You have a gun store in a bad neighborhood. Good, law-abiding people who live there are afraid for their lives, so they go to the local gun store and buy a gun for personal protection. They're subsequently robbed, the gun is stolen and eventually shows up in a street crime.

Is that a good situation? No, but it's the best Plan B they've got going. Plan A was unarmed law-abiding citizens in a bad neighborhood simply being sitting ducks. The solution is not to sue the village or the law-abiding person that purchased the gun. The solution is to do something about the gang-infested community. This is where Father Pfleger's hypocrisy rises to the surface for all the world to see, or more specifically, for all the world not to see.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, there were no shootings in the otherwise notoriously dangerous Englewood District of Chicago. Moms took to the street for the holiday, fingers wagging, tongues clucking, armed with rolling pins and putting up with nothing from the street punks. It worked, and everyone made it through the holiday unscathed. Noticeably absent was Father Pfleger.

If he were really interested in reducing gun violence in his neighborhood, he would have been there, learning a thing or two from the moms. The thing is, actually stopping the violence doesn't fit Father Pfleger's agenda. If that sort of thing gets out of hand and gang violence does go down, it won't be long before reporters will forget Pfleger's name, and he'll be back in the sanctuary sampling the wine.

The great irony that apparently escapes Father Pfleger is his own parishioners constitute an area of Chicago that has one of the highest per capita gun purchase rates. Apparently when Pfleger is out protesting some poor gun store owner, his parishioners sneak off to a different gun store and buy a gun. At least someone in St. Sabina's parish has a little common sense.