Belovedest and I were married at the Chicago Cultural Center – the former Chicago Library. It’s just a couple of blocks from where we now live, and it’s a treasure of downtown Chicago.
On Saturdays, they schedule civil wedding ceremonies every 15 minutes in one of the beautiful rooms that overlooks Michigan Avenue. The whole crowd is great fun – weddings about to happen, or wedding that are just ending.
The rest of the time, the center has concerts at lunch time, a small cafe, a center with tourist information, and temporary art exhibits…
And now, it has these stickers on all of the doors.
Gordon Bennett, you guys live in an odd country!
I find it very sad that someone feels there is a need to put those stark stickers on all the doors in such a beautiful building. Being British my view is that there should be stricter gun laws instead, but I appreciate that it's not my country and I hope that I don't offend anyone by stating my views.
I'm from USA and I totally agree with you..there should be stricter gun laws, but that won't happen since there is so much money in the gun lobby.
Chicago already has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.
This is what the gun culture in the United States has brought us. I am concerned who may be offended. We have too many guns and too much violence as a result. Yes, we need stricter gun laws.
Completely agree, I feel so strongly about this subject.
So do I. It is amazing that these stickers are "needed", yet no sticker will keep out someone who feels the need to carry a gun. I'm rather overwhelmed at the militant need to be armed, I know people who put a gun in their pocket to go to the supermarket. I fear our US civilization is imploding from within.
Please, please don't bring hot button, devisive, political issues into your lovely blog site. Please.
In complete agreement.
Say whatever the hell you want, Janice! It's your blog
About style and fashion. If this is going to be a political blog, it is time for me to move on.
Agreed!
FYI: The above "Agreed!" is to "moving on" if this becomes a political blog, even if just occasionally.
Oh my gosh. You have got to be kidding. Since when is a sign going to stop a lunatic from bringing a gun into a building?
I think this would just ruin the experience of visiting a lovely building. I wouldn't like the reminder of something terrible happening.
I agree. I grew up in the country so there were plenty of guns everywhere. There was no need to put signage on the doors because reasonable people don't pull this stunt. It's the unreasonable people that are the problem, and they usually ignore the signs. By this logic there should be "no pipe bombs", "no corrosive materials", "no big knives" etc. The problem is an attitude of the heart – a need and desire to harm others.
Agree with both of you. I'm a rural resident, concealed carry permit holder. The signs are ugly and won't stop those unreasonable people.
I have never seen a poster like this one!
Well maybe at the Canadian US border but seriously do you think it will deter gun owners?
It would startle me if I thought that it might be a place where I might be vulnerable to a shooting.
We need more places of calm and respite in this world and fewer guns.
Well as a gun owner, I can assure you that carrying a gun does not make one a "lunatic" :-). But I wonder why the powers that be felt the need to post those stickers given how completely useless they are? Perhaps to stir controversies such as this? If gun possession is of such great concern in the building then they need to install metal detectors…..
There are signs like these in all kinds of places. Restaurants, bars, schools, churches, other business establishments if the owners choose. It is just a fact of life in the United States. The sign is simply saying that it is not allowed to carry a gun there. We are gun owners too, but still think there needs to be more regulations–at the very least stringent background checks.
These stickers are now required in Illinois, after the Firearm Concealed Carry Act, for places that prohibit concealed carry. The Cultural Center had no choice in the matter. Sad but true.
I was in that lovely place a summer ago with my Chicago sister-in-law for a midday concert. Where exactly are the signs? On the glass at the entrance/exit doors? Surely not on any of the interior doors!
It's a sad commentary.
So sad that such a lovely place had to be embellished with such a sign – so sad that there might actually be a need.
To prevent shotgun weddings????
Ahahahaha! :)
Very good!
I have lived in this country for about thirty years, and in some ways I shall remain a foreigner forever. This is one example.
As part of Illinois' recently passed concealed carry law, all government buildings must display that sign. I'm sure you will be seeing it often. My daughter and son-in-law also were married there and it brings back great memories. The sign shouldn't really change your enjoyment of the building.
Crazy people won't obey the sign and hopefully others won't carry concealed weapons.
I'm sure those who faced crazies holding illegal guns wish they had one too
In 2005, approximately 40% of female homicide victims ages 15 –50 were killed by either a current or former intimate partner. In over half (55%) of these cases, the perpetrator used a gun. It is likely that these figures are lower than the actual prevalence. First, the data represent approximately 85%-90% of police department reports, and therefore do not offer a complete measure of homicides. Second, FBI data do not include a category for former dating relationships (e.g., ex-boyfriend). Third, many relationships reported as “friends” or “acquaintances” may in fact be current or former intimate partners.
Source: Johns Hopkins University
It's a beautiful building Janice and looks to be a great spot for a wedding. Such a sign is alien to most of us in Australia.
What a gorgeous building! I must add it to my list of things to see whenever I return to Chicago..it is stunning!
Everything related to that sign constitutes one of the biggest embarrassments in our country.
Aren't congratulations in order here? Congratulations, Janice!!
There will always be fear. There will always be those who look to hurt the innocent. But do we focus on the sign of the gun or on the soaring beauty of the building, the music, and the joy of new beginnings? Beauty and happiness will always be with us, too.