Lisa Madigan: Between a rock and a hard place

(Guns Save Life) – Lisa Madigan, Illinois’ Attorney General, is between a rock and a hard place.

She just lost the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision which struck down Illinois’ prohibition on right-to-carry firearms outside the home.

It’s her decision whether or not to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to have the case overturned.

Complicating the equation is Lisa Madigan’s political ambitions.

As the daughter of the long-time Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, she’s been widely seen as the next governor in Illinois.  It’s hers to lose, some would say.

She may even have aspirations of becoming president someday.

However, this case is a complication she didn’t need.  Her name is on the case, further tying her to a potential landmark civil rights decision on par with Brown v. Board of Education.

If she allows the ruling to stand, she will upset her core base of support among the staunchly gun-hating City of Chicago’s urban voters along with Illinois anti-self-defense politicians like Governor Pat Quinn, who were going to hang their hat on gun control as a core campaign issue.

If she appeals the case, she risks a quadruple whammy:

• She will alienate herself with pro-gun downstate Democrats
• She’ll deepen the geographic rift between Chicago Democrats and the pro-gun downstate Democrats
• She’ll also look inept when she likely loses the very high-profile, landmark Supreme Court case.  She’ll even have her name it, further tarnishing her image for eternity.
• She’ll also be bringing down anti-right-to-carry laws in California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and a host of other restrictive “may issue” states, which will surely render her persona non-grata with the far-left, national Democratic leaders who favor unconstitutional gun laws.

“This is truly a case of damned if she does and damned if she doesn’t,” Guns Save Life President John Boch said recently.  “It would seem the most expedient thing to do would be ask for an en banc review from the Seventh Circuit and when she loses there, to leave it alone and move on.”

There’s little doubt Madigan’s phone has been ringing non-stop since the decision.  One one side are a handful of powerful supporters of gun restrictions nationwide, encouraging her not to appeal and possibly bring down anti-self-defense laws in a number of states.  On the other side are state and local officials urging her to appeal the case to death.

We’ll all just have to wait and see which side prevails in Lisa’s world and what her decision will be.

In the meantime, mark June 9th on your calendars.

That’s the date Illinois’ prohibition on right-to-carry ends.