Jet eeaLe OI b ON BU isk TEN 3 
DOES JOHN DOE HAVE AN 
INALIENABLE ‘RIGHT’ TO BEAR ARMS? 
by ABNER J. MIKVA 
Mr. Mikva, a state representative from Chicago’s Hyde Park | 
area for 10 years—and once awarded the “best legislator” 
tribute by the Independent Voters of Illinois—is a member of 
the Chicago law firm of Devoe, Shadur, Mikva and Plotkin. 
Currently he is chairman of the Committee on Illinois Govern- 
ment, a civic association. His thoughtful article was prepared 
especially for this issue of the BULLETIN. 
When I was in the State Legislature, I sponsored what I considered a 
rather modest gun control proposal. I received 5,000 letters in opposition 
to the bill (more than I received on all other legislative proposals put 
together). My phone would ring in the middle of the night, sometimes with 
obscene calls. A majority of my colleagues, including many who had co- 
sponsored the bill, weighed the mail, measured the intensity of the opposi- 
tion and decided that discretion was the better part of valor. The bill 
failed of passage. The last session of the legislature finally passed some 
gun control legislation—even more modest than previously suggested. Lest 
anyone give the legislature too high a mark in courage, it should be 
pointed out that the gun lobby withdrew its opposition to the proposals 
that were finally adopted. 
Is it a fact that the majority of the people in the State of Illinois oppose 
gun control legislation? Not at all. Public opinion survey-after-survey 
shows an overwhelming majority of the people in favor of such legislation. 
The fact is rather that the people who do oppose gun control laws are 
vehement and vigorous in their opposition. Over the years, I have tried 
to categorize these opponents, and at least to my satisfaction, I would 
group the opposition to gun control legislation as follows: 
1. The “vested interest boys.” It is no coincidence that the campaigns 
against gun control legislation are financed by groups that make money 
out of the sale and ownership of guns. The sporting goods houses, the gun 
manufacturers, and, of course, the National Rifle Association and its state 
affiliates, are omnipresent and seem to have unlimited resources whenever 
a campaign against such legislation is on. I am not suggesting that there 
is anything improper with vested interests seeking to protect their interest; 
I merely think the facts ought to be known. 
2. The “wild west” boys. Most of us still enjoy a good western movie 
or a western novel. There is something attractive about that simple society 
when most problems could be solved by developing a fast draw and a 
steady eye. There are some among us, however, who just refuse to accept 
the fact that those simplistic qualities won’t solve today’s problems. These 
