When Chicago’s Broken Criminal Justice System Collides With Its Gun Control Laws

We’ve got another update from the “gun-free” Chicago transit system, and once again it’s bad news for those who understandably want to protect themselves while on Chicago Transit Authority property. 

For several years now we’ve been documenting violent crime on CTA buses, trains, and train stations. Honestly, I could write a story almost every day if I wanted to, but I try to reserve my coverage for particularly egregious cases like the woman who was set on fire a few months ago… and the seven-time felon who now stands accused of sexually assaulting a CTA employee while on pre-trial release for allegedly carrying a gun on a Red Line train last year. 

As CWB Chicago reports, the attack happened last Sunday afternoon around 4:30, at a station where Chicago police have already increased their presence. 

Police arrested Andre Hill, 43, who was still at the scene. Prosecutors said CTA video shows Hill forcibly touching the woman’s private areas as she worked at the station. Judge Deidre Dyer ordered Hill detained on charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse during the commission of another felony, aggravated battery of a transit employee, and aggravated battery in a public place. 

Court records show Hill was already on pretrial release in a separate gun case. On July 9, officers encountered Hill at the 69th Street Red Line station after seeing him smoking on CTA property, according to a detention filing. Officers stopped him nearby and recovered a loaded, stolen handgun from one of his backpacks along with 48 grams of cannabis from another, prosecutors said.

Though Hill was originally held without bond, he was released less than three weeks later despite a criminal history that involves 35 different criminal cases since 2002, including nine felonies. CWB Chicago reports that many of those charges were for selling marijuana on CTA property and were dismissed before going to trial, but Hill does have seven felony convictions to his name, including two previous convictions for possessing a firearm as a prohibited person. 

Last year a federal judge declared that the ban on lawful carry on public transit in Illinois is unconstitutional, the Seventh Circuit reversed that decision by arguing that there’s a national tradition of banning firearms in crowded public places where “vulnerable” populations like children might be present. The plaintiffs in Schoenthal v. Raoul have appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, and Illinois’ reply brief is due before the Court next Friday.  

In this case, CTA policy probably would have precluded the employee from lawfully carrying even if the carry ban wasn’t in place. More broadly, though, this incident is yet another in a seemingly endless stream of reminders that despite the CTA’s status as a “gun-free zone,” violent criminals are routinely carrying on CTA property. And even when they’re not, they can still pose a threat to life and limb just by using their fists and feet to assault riders and employees. 

I know the Supreme Court likes to wait for a split in the lower courts before taking up an issue, but this really is a matter of public safety. Depriving lawful gun owners of their ability to legally carry a concealed firearm while on public transportation is putting riders at risk on a daily basis, and SCOTUS will soon have the opportunity to set things right if they choose to grant cert in Schoenthal when the case comes before them in conference in a few weeks. 

Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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