Mayor’s Security Costs Raise Eyebrows Amid Gun Control Policies

A report from Lawrence Keene, a senior figure with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, reveals that Mayor Brandon Johnson’s personal security detail costs taxpayers around $30 million annually.

Keene noted that this security team could involve “as many as 150 Chicago Police Department members.”

Interestingly, while Johnson benefits from this level of security, he also advocates for tighter restrictions on citizens owning certain types of firearms. It’s a bit ironic, I suppose.

In Chicago, Johnson backs some of the strictest gun policies in Illinois. Following a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit which reversed an injunction against Illinois’ ban on “assault-style weapons,” he praised the decision, labeling the regulation an “important step” toward keeping “weapons of war” out of local neighborhoods.

Keene highlighted the message this sends to Chicagoans: government officials and their security forces can have their protection, while regular citizens are expected to comply with more stringent restrictions on self-defense.

This isn’t an isolated viewpoint. Other pro-gun control Democrats appear to adopt a similar attitude of “guns for me, not for you.”

Take Hillary Clinton, for instance. Back on June 2, 2022, she asserted that “no one actually needs an AR-15,” even as she, like many politicians, has relied on taxpayer-funded security that often includes AR-15 rifles.

This isn’t the first time Clinton has made anti-gun remarks, despite having long enjoyed the benefits of armed protection. After the tragic San Bernardino attack in December 2015, she stated, “Guns themselves… do not keep the American people safe.”

Moreover, President Joe Biden also receives round-the-clock security from individuals armed with the very firearms he has sought to restrict for the general public.