Fire Fighter Catch-22

Our old friend, former NRA lobbyist and frequent e-mailer Todd Vandermyde, has a new video up about the recent Chicago Fire Department's illegal searches of CFD member's cars. He points out that many times, firefighters are assigned to and working in pretty shitty neighborhoods and perhaps they have a completely legal CCL license in order to carry a protective handgun in order to simply arrive safely at work. He also touches on the unverified rumor that someone told us that CFD had accessed the CCL database somehow and were comparing it against current CFD rosters.

As far as we know, CFD doesn't provide lock boxes in any firehouses, and we already know that Department lockers in the firehouse are subject to warrantless searches. We also know it's questionable at best to "secure" a gun in an unoccupied vehicle - even more so for a firefighter who will be responding to calls all day and night, leaving not only the firehouse unattended (or minimally so) but leaving the parking area with their personal cars even more unattended, multiple times during the shift.

We were also told via a comment or an email, that CFD applicants are asked if they have a CCL and if so, they must provide a list of all weapons owned. Not only that, but the last part of the application tells them if they lie/omit information, that is grounds for termination. We're going to need confirmation from a CFD member on this, and what happens if you get a CCL after being hired? Are you seriously being penalized for exercising a Constitutional Right that is legal even in Illinois? And what if you aren't hired - is this admission of owning guns kept on file somewhere, becoming a de facto tracking opportunity for any future city employment?

CFD opened an ugly can of worms with this one and we hope it costs them dearly. At the very least, they better start installing and maintaining lock boxes in the crew quarters of every single firehouse.