My family was not protected and service was not afforded to
us. THAT DAY should have never happened and
there is a tragic backstory.
Gabe had a history of mental illness. He had been hospitalized numerous times both
voluntarily and involuntarily. He was on
a great deal of medication and was very public about the drugs he was taking,
his therapy sessions and his battles with depression.
Gabe also had a very extensive gun collection and took
advantage of showing this off to everyone who set foot in our home. He was proud of his collection and
occasionally liked to target shoot on our property. This often didn’t bode well with our
neighbors and on more than one occasion was paid a complimentary visit by our
local sheriff.
In the fall of 2009, Gabe’s mental state significantly
deteriorated – so much so that for the first time in a 21+ year marriage, I
felt in danger. Approximately two months
before THAT DAY, Gabe was physical with me and our oldest son had to
intervene. I filed a police report and
Gabe was arrested. I requested and was
awarded and Emergency Order of Protection.
I then called the Champaign
County Sheriff and begged for assistance in removing the guns from our marital
home. After all, an Order of Protection
is nothing more than a piece of paper and if my husband was enraged enough, he
could have / would have ignored this and come to our property which literally contained
a full blown arsenal.
The Champaign County Sheriff refused my request so I went a
step up and contacted the Illinois State Police. They confirmed that Gabe was labeled a “mental
prohibitor” and did not have a valid Firearms Owner Identification Card, also
known as a FOID card. They also
determined that Gabe had applied for a FOID card under various mutations of his
last name and was repeatedly denied. It
was unlawful for Gabe to have access to any firearms let alone have any in his
possession and this is an irrefutable fact.
Nevertheless, the county and the state turned their back on us by refusing after repeated requests to deal with the situation.
Two months later my husband was dead, I was fighting for my
life and my children were traumatized beyond belief.
I have shared this to many and most react in disbelief and
find it incomprehensible that law enforcement agencies did not assist us. I have several theories as to why but will
refrain from speculation due to pending litigation. Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that
laws were being broken, I alerted authorities, I reached out for help and I was
denied on numerous occasions.
My story is not about the second amendment. Irrespective of our own personal and
political beliefs, I think we can all unite in agreeing that mentally unstable
people should not have guns. And furthermore,
as we embark on the upcoming election cycle we are going to hear numerous
politicians pontificating about whether or not Americans should be allowed to bear
arms. This my friends, is just clouding
the issue. You see, we already have
plenty of laws already voted into place.
If however, we can’t hold law enforcement accountable for following through
and upholding the law, then what good does more legislation do.
The following article appeared on the front page of our
local paper last week. It speaks
volumes. Please take the time to read
it. It serves as shocking validation
with respect to what happened to me.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/courts-police-and-fire/2012-04-05/audit-gun-program-limited-protecting-safety.html
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