I am a different kind of gun dealer. Though I share the same interest and passion for firearms, I often find myself at odds with the politics of some of my more vocal fellow enthusiasts and industry colleagues.

I’ll start by saying that my colleagues and I share many values and core beliefs. We are patriots, loyal to the Constitution, respectful of our neighbors, responsible with our guns and proud of our American firearms heritage.On policy, here is one point where I differ (friends, hold on to your National Rifle Association coffee mug!):

I believe that we should have universal background checks on all firearm purchasers

“All gun laws are unconstitutional!” This is the battle cry of hard-core Second Amendment (2A) community members. Many of these folks are well-intentioned, educated and passionate. But do they, or should they, really believe this statement?

“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The Second Amendment is a human right equal to, and the ultimate guardian of, all other rights.But having a right does not mean that it can be exercised without any responsibility or care. (Think of the common argument that the First Amendment doesn’t allow shouting “fire” in a crowded theater — or “Go White Sox” from the bleachers at Wrigley Field.) The founding fathers believed that the Constitution, Bill of Rights and democracy depend on a communicative, cooperating and responsible citizenry.

So how do we balance seemingly absolute rights of an individual against the needs of a democratic society? There must be compromise, because neither extreme view can prevail lest we lose our rights, our democracy or both.

When asked if everyone has the absolute right to own a firearm, some people, the loudest people, would immediately shout “Yes! Shall not be infringed!” Do they really believe this?It would imply that mass murderers, child rapists and the criminally insane should have unfettered access to firearms. I don’t think that is what they really believe.We should have laws against dangerous people having access to guns.

Once you admit that there should be laws to prevent certain people from acquiring firearms, then you can no longer claim thatallgun laws are unconstitutional. Friends, please, stop making that ridiculous claim.

I want to know that the person to whom I am selling a gun is not a lunatic or violent criminal. Background checks are not 100% accurate and have limitations, but enforcing background checks improves the odds significantly that the gun will be used lawfully and responsibly.

I refuse to sell a firearm to someone that has not passed a background check. That’s my decision and frankly, if you are a responsible firearm dealer, that should be your decision as well.

If implemented correctly, background checks are reasonable and constitutional.But if implemented poorly, those checks may be an unconstitutional infringement.The devil is in the details. The universal background check system must be accurate, limited in scope, timely, and fair.

Accurate:Data must be collected consistently across all jurisdictions, recorded accurately, reviewed periodically, purged when no longer needed and immediately conclusive.

Limited in scope:The data collected from firearm dealers and buyers must be narrowly limited to only the information required to run the pass-or-fail background check.The only inquiry data should be the buyer’s personal identifiers.The system cannot become a firearm registry that records who owns what guns, which would violate current federal law and privacy rights.

Timely:Background checks must be instant.Fifteen minutes isinconvenientat worst.Delays of days and weeks are aninfringementof a right.

Fair:The background check system must be fair in planning and execution. Who decides what information goes in?What are the standards for a “pass” or “fail”?What is the cost and who will pay for it?How do we ensure that the cost and burdens do not disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities?

Please do not confuse my moderation in this policy for a lack of commitment to the Second Amendment.I am passionate about the personal and societal benefits of responsible firearm ownership for self-defense and defense of the free state, including the responsible possession of commonly used semi-automatic firearms.I simply ask for your reasoned consideration and your constructive voice.

Benjamin D. Ferdinand is owner/manager of Benjamin Specialties LLC Modern Firearms in Libertyville. He is a retired member of law enforcement.

Send letters to [email protected].

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His team hasn’t played a game yet, but new head coach Matt Eberflus already has suffered his first loss.

The Bears’ organized team activity practice originally scheduled for Tuesday at Halas Hall was canceled by the league as punishment for having contact drills during OTA practices last month, a source confirmed.

Another source said that an NFLPA member noticed contact drills while visiting an OTA practice in May and told the team to stop doing them. The union then looked at film of subsequent practices as part of its standard follow-up procedure — and found the Bears had not ceased the forbidden activities.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is agreed upon by owners and the NFLPA, expressly prohibits contact during offseason workouts. CBA rules mandate that teams record their practice for review. OTAs, which end later this week, are voluntary but well-attended.

The public reprimand is a bad look for Eberflus, who had never served as a head coach at any level until he was hired — by another first-time boss, general manager Ryan Poles — in January.

Last month’s practices were either a sign of Eberflus’ early struggles to run a proper workout or his willingness to inch past the line of acceptable protocol.Eberflus was either unable to stop his team from running verboten drills or decided that a mild offseason penalty– the NFL equivalent of a speeding ticket for going a few miles over the posted limit –was worth the risk to establish a team mindset through increasingly physical offseason work.

Because he didn’t heed the original warning, it’s fair to conclude the latter. It’s not nearly as disqualifying as the former.

Eberflus certainly doesn’t want to be the same company as Urban Meyer, who in his first and only season as an NFL coach last year oversaw OTA practices with contact. He and the Jaguars were both fined and the team had two 2022 OTAs stripped. Meyer had bigger problems, though, and was fired midseason.

But veteran coaches –the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan and the Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy –were both fined and had their teams penalized for violations last year, too.

Two of the league’s most respected coaches have been, to quote the old “Chappelle’s Show” bit, habitual line-steppers. The Ravens lost two OTA practices in 2018, three in 2016 and a full week in 2010 for offseason practice violations overseen by John Harbaugh, the third-longest tenured coach in the NFL. Pete Carroll, who ranks fourth, ran OTA practices in 2016 that prompted the league to take away the Seahawks’ fifth-round draft pick and a full week of the following year’s OTAs.His team was punished in 2012 and 2014 for excessive contact during OTAs, too.

Those penalties didn’t portend trouble; all of the above teams except for the 2021 Jaguars and 2016 Ravens made the playoffs in the years they committed a violation. The Bears, who are rebuilding, probably won’t be in that company at the end of this season.

The day he fired GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy, Bears chairman George McCaskey said that the chief trait he wanted in his next hires was leadership. He then chose Eberflus and Poles, neither of whom had helmed a team before, with the belief both would develop into high-level leaders.

Each has suffered missteps in their first offseason. Poles shouldn’t be blamed for big-money defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi failing a physical before he signed a contract, but it hurt the Bears’ free-agent class nonetheless. Receiver Byron Pringle, perhaps Poles’ most high-profile signing, was arrested in April for driving parking-lot donuts with a suspended license –and a child in his backseat — while home in Florida. Poles, who worked with Pringle the last four years in Kansas City, said it was “not a reflection of who he is at all.”

Is pushing the limits of OTA drills a reflection of Eberflus and the way he runs his team? With time, the Bears will find out.

In the interim, they’ll discover how their new coach handles his first piece of controversy. Eberflus is expected to answer questions after the team holds its OTA practice — presumably without the contact –on Wednesday afternoon.

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NFL leading receiver was impressed with Jaylon Johnson

Cooper Kupp had a great season in 2021, but even he had to plan for Chicago Bears defensive back Jaylon Johnson. Kupp led the NFL last season in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. There weren’t many cornerbacks that seemed to bother Kupp on his way to winning a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams.

If Kupp was bothered by Johnson when playing the Bears last season, his stat line doesn’t show much of it. Kupp caught seven passes for 108 yards and recorded one receiving touchdown. The Rams would route the Bears 34-14 in week 1.

On the Dan Patrick Show, Patrick asked Kupp what defensive backs were the best Kupp had recently faced. Kupp named Johnson as a particular test.

“Early on when we played against Jaylon Johnson with the Bears. I thought he was a guy that would come up and challenge you,” Kupp said. “I mean you had to have a plan for him.”

Johnson has had an interesting offseason

Since the new regime came in, Johnson’s name has been popular in national and local headlines. The 2020 second-round pick saw the Bears draft cornerback Kyler Gordon with their first pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Last week, head coach Matt Eberflus told the media Johnson was getting reps with the second team. Eberflus said not to read too much into the decision during OTA’s. Per multiple reports, Kindle Vildor was working with the first team.

Johnson told Jim Rome last week the bump wasn’t a “problem” for the third-year cornerback. “I don’t want to say it didn’t bother me. But at the end of the day, it’s not anything I’m going to give too much energy to,” Johnson said.

I’d fully assume Johnson will be starting on the Bears’ defense when the season starts. Kupp’s praise is a likely indication of how other NFL receivers feel about him. And right now, Kupp’s voice carries a lot of weight.

Johnson has had a history of success. Since coming into the league, Johnson has recorded 71-solo tackles and had 24 passes defended. He’s too valuable to be watching Vildor give up territory to the Kupps of the NFL.

Make sure to check out our Bears forum for the latest on the team.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Los Angeles Angels fired manager Joe Maddon on Tuesday with the team mired in a 12-game losing streak.

Third base coach Phil Nevin will be the interim manager when the Angels (27-29) host Boston on Tuesday night.

The 68-year-old Maddon went 130-148 with the Angels, who hired him before the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season for his self-described dream job. Maddon spent three decades of his career as a player and coach for the Angels before going on to an impressive managerial career that has included three Manager of the Year awards and a World Series title with the Cubs.

After finishing with losing records in Maddon’s first two seasons, the Angels were off to a strong 27-17 start to this season before their current losing streak began. They are one loss shy of tying the longest skid in franchise history, and the skid has dropped them 8 1/2 games behind Houston for the AL West lead.

The Angels were shut out 1-0 in Maddon’s final game by the Red Sox and journeyman starter Michael Wacha, who threw a three-hitter against the Halos’ star-studded lineup.

Owner Arte Moreno’s big-budget Angels have finished with six consecutive losing records in the longest active skid in the majors despite a roster headlined by former AL MVPs Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Their seven-year playoff drought is also tied for the third-longest in baseball, and the Angels appeared to be well on their way to making the expanded field this fall before their confounding current skid.

Maddon excelled as a manager in Tampa Bay and with the Cubs, who famously ended their 108-year World Series championship drought during his tenure in 2016. He is 1,382-1,216 in parts of 19 seasons as a manager.

Nevin is the Angels’ third manager in just over four seasons since Moreno cut ties with Mike Scioscia, who ran the Angels’ dugout for 19 years and won their only World Series championship. The Halos dismissed manager Brad Ausmus after just one season in late 2019, and the move appeared to be made because Maddon had just come on the market after parting ways with the Cubs.

The 51-year-old Nevin is an Orange County native who played 12 major league seasons for six teams, including the Angels in 1998. He has never been a manager, but he spent four seasons as the New York Yankees’ third base coach before joining Maddon’s staff this season.

Maddon is the second manager to be fired this season. Philadelphia’s Joe Girardi was dismissed last week, and the Phillies promptly swept the Angels.

The Cubs dismissed Maddon before the 2019 season finale, a move that surprised no one at the time. That was a lame-duck season for Maddon considering Theo Epstein, then the Cubs president, would not consider a contract extension until the end of the season.

“Sometimes it’s just time,” Epstein said in 2019 after Maddon and the Cubs parted ways. “We’re going through some transitions in various levels of the organization and think change will be good for this group.”

Maddon joined the Cubs after their last-place finish in 2014 and after nine seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays. He led the Rays to their first World Series appearance in 2008.

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