Is Anyone Abiding By Chicago’s ‘Gun-Free’ Rule for Public Transportation?

The state of Illinois and the Chicago Transit Authority both prohibit the lawful carrying of firearms on public transportation, and though a federal judge has found the prohibition likely violates the Second Amendment the law is still being enforced whenever violations are found. The CTA’s status as a “gun-free zone” has been an ongoing topic here at Bearing Arms; not only because of the ongoing litigation, but because the law has done absolutely nothing to stop robberies, assaults, and shootings at CTA train stops and on the light rail system itself. 

As the website CWB Chicago reports, there have been at least two shootings on the CTA’s Blue Line just this month, including one this past Sunday where a man was shot in the leg on a Blue Line train, allegedly by a stranger who then ran out of the train car once it arrived at the next stop. 

The previous incident also involved a random encounter, but in that particular case the shooting appears to have been an act of self-defense.

At 6:04 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, 24-year-old CTA customer service agent Luther Hopkins III shot and killed 61-yaer-old John Flemister in an act that officials determined was self-defense. 

A CPD report said the men were arguing about fare payment when Hopkins said he saw Flemister gripping a firearm inside a bag. Hopkins pulled his own firearm and shot Flemister, who also fired at least one shot as he fell. Flemister was a concealed carry license holder.

Hopkins, who is licensed to own firearms but not carry a concealed weapon, is charged with unlawful possession of a weapon. The CTA said Hopkins will face disciplinary action for, among other things, possessing a firearm while on duty.

According to ABC 7 in Chicago, prosecutors contend that Flemister fired the first shot, and while they have access to far more evidence than I do I have to say that it seems odd that a concealed carry holder and 61-year-old doorman would whip out his gun and attack a CTA worker over a dispute about paying his fare. I’m sure that Flemister dealt with aggressive individuals on a routine basis as part of his job, and there’s no indication that he ever previously displayed or attempted to use his firearm offensively either on or off the clock. 

As many questions as there are about the circumstances of Flemister’s death and whether he really was the initial aggressor, if nothing else this incident is yet another example of the fact that regardless of the CTA’s status as a “gun-free zone”, both patrons and employees are so concerned about crime in the transit system that they’re choosing to disobey the law and carry for their own personal safety. 

The Illinois law and CTA policy barring lawful carry on public transportation isn’t just putting people at risk. It’s violating their fundamental right to keep and bear arms. As U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston ruled last August, the state failed to demonstrate any historical tradition of banning guns in settings like a bus or light rail car. 

This action has been properly brought before this Court—despite the disputes overvenue and standing, the parties can’t escape the Court. The parties also can’t escape that this case requires navigating the murky waters of Bruen. Plaintiffs’ proposed conduct—carrying concealed handguns on public transit for self-defense—falls within the presumptive ambit of the Second Amendment, shifting the burden to Defendants to show that the Firearm Concealed Carry Act’s ban falls within the historical tradition of firearm regulation in this country. On the record before the Court in this case, Defendants have failed to meet their burden.

It shouldn’t take a court order to get rid of this ridiculous “gun-free zone”, but with the state of Illinois and the CTA intent on keeping it in place it’s likely going to take the Supreme Court to act before the prohibition is finally undone. In the meantime, however, we’ll continue to see violent criminals use Chicago’s public transportation network as a hunting ground… and Chicago residents concerned for their safety willfully violate the prohibition on lawful carry in order to protect themselves from harm.