By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Morning Editor
March 02, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - The president of the Springfield, Ill., chapter of the
Million Mom March faces charges of having drugs and an illegal handgun in
her home. Press reports said the gun's serial number had been scratched off.
Annette Stevens became a gun control activist after her son was shot to
death several years ago. She told a newspaper the gun belonged to her late
son, and when she found it, she didn't know what to do with it, so she put
it in a drawer.
Police reportedly found the gun and illegal drugs while executing a search
warrant at Stevens' home in connection with a spate of drive-by shootings in
the area. Stevens insists the search was illegal.
Second Amendment groups were quick to note the irony of a gun control
activist being arrested on gun charges.
The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) called it a classic case of
"liberal elitists" who "cannot walk their own talk."
"I find it incredible that someone representing an organization that pushes
legislation that only punishes law-abiding gun owners would possess such an
illegal weapon," said Richard Pearson, ISRA's executive director.
"Surely she must be familiar with US gun laws and those in Illinois,
considering the position she holds. Does she think the law does not apply to
her due to anti-gun affiliation? It's the height of hypocrisy!"
Press reports said Stevens did not have the ID card required of Illinois
firearms owners.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called it ironic
that "this poster mom for gun control" has admitted keeping an illegally
altered handgun in her home while she's campaigned to deprive other citizens
of their firearms.
"If Stevens is so convinced guns don't belong in society, then why didn't
she immediately turn that gun over to the police when she found it more than
two years ago?" asked CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
"Why did she keep it? What's wrong with this picture? Ms. Stevens is about
to learn that supporting gun control is like keeping a vicious dog. They
sometimes bite the hands that feed them."
"In the kind of Draconian anti-gun society Stevens and her cohorts are
trying to create," Gottlieb continued, "it wouldn't matter if she were
innocent as she claims. Under the laws her group supports, gun owners are
essentially considered guilty until they prove themselves otherwise."
CCRKBA said gun laws supported by activists such as Stevens do nothing to
prevent crime - but go a long way in eroding the rights of law-abiding
citizens.
