by Dave Workman
Senior Editor

One week after it was announced, a self-described “Anti-Gun Youth Rally” promoted by the Chicago Police Department’s Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) office was apparently cancelled.

Gun Week learned of the cancellation within hours after going to press with the initial report about the proposed rally, which CAPS officials insisted had never been scheduled in the first place, at least not by their office.

CAPS Project Manager Vance T. Henry repeatedly declined to say who had actually organized and sponsored the proposed Feb. 21 rally outside of Chuck’s Gun Shop in suburban Riverdale. That letter stated in part, “The Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) would like to invite your school to support Superintendent Philip J. Cline and the Chicago Police department regarding a new Violence Reduction Initiative targeting youth, by participating in an Anti-Gun Youth Rally on Saturday, February 21, 2004.” Henry’s name and what appears to be his signature is on that Jan. 26 letter which was either sent, or at least intended for distribution to school principals in Chicago. The copy obtained by Gun Week appears to be on city letterhead.

It is now unclear who was actually planning and organizing the event, but revelation that it had been even proposed in the first place has created a furor in the Illinois gun rights community.

Chuck’s Gun Shop was apparently selected as the site for the protest because it was recently identified by a national gun control group as the worst gun shop in the country based on the number of firearms traces initiated back to the store by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is also named in Chicago’s $433 million lawsuit against the firearms industry.

Contacted by telephone, Henry initially suggested he was not aware of the letter until speaking to Gun Week. Asked to clarify that, since the letter went out over what appears to be his signature, Henry repeatedly stated that “I am aware that young people have expressed their concern about gun violence in the city. . . . I am aware that young people want us to support their efforts.” Asked again specifically about the letter, he responded, “I am aware that there are young people in Chicago who are part of activities that reflect their passion about gun violence.”

Henry would not say whether his office was directly involved in planning or scheduling the now-cancelled event. He would only state that the CAPS project is responsible for coordinating with local community groups, including helping provide transportation for various groups and organizations across the city “for a range of community based activities.”

Henry said the office has provided buses for a variety of groups to make trips to Springfield, so that “concerned” residents could meet with state lawmakers. At one point, he said such trips were to allow these residents an opportunity “to lobby on behalf of laws” which he described as being designed to make the community safer.

“We partner with community organizations, civic organizations, block clubs, religious institutions who have a message to promote safety and security of the neighborhood,” he stressed.

A second letter, the text of which was obtained by Gun Week, was dated Feb. 2. It appears to be either a draft, or a transcription, but it is again addressed “Dear Principal.” The text provided to Gun Week bears no signature and is not on official letterhead, though the text does end with Henry’s name and title. It expressed CAPS appreciation “for your continued support in our efforts to work with youth.” Then it announces that the anti-gun rally “has been cancelled.”

Neither Henry nor CAPS public information officer Yvonne Richardson could explain how it was that a rally that had allegedly never been planned, at least by the CAPS office, would later have been cancelled, and that notification of that cancellation would have gone out in a letter from CAPS.

Henry promised Gun Week that he would investigate the origin of the letters, adding that such an inquiry might take “several days.” At the same time, neither he nor Richardson, who joined the interview with Gun Week about midway, could say who may have actually planned the event.

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) asserted that the event was cancelled because “they got caught.”

His organization issued a blistering attack on the proposed rally when word first leaked that it was being planned. He called the proposed rally “state sponsored terrorism against the Second Amendment.”

Pearson told Gun Week that there were no plans to call off a counter-demonstration that had been announced and organized almost immediately after the Jan. 26 letter to school principals was leaked.

“It’s galling to know that taxpayer dollars are being used to fund this politically-motivated publicity stunt,” Pearson said in a statement prior to the event’s cancellation. “We expect our police departments to be neutral third parties interested only in upholding the law. But it appears once again that the Chicago Police Department is being diverted from enforcing the law in favor of enforcing Daley’s political agenda.”