Chicago police made another handgun arrest early Thursday morning.
It wasn’t a street-gang member toting a pistol for the sport of it.
It wasn’t a homeowner who kept it in the house for protection.
This time, it was Scottie Pippen, star of the Chicago Bulls.
Pippen, 28, became a high-profile arrest statistic and one in a growing number of pro athletes across the country who have landed in the spotlight for carrying guns. Pippen was arrested after a blue-steel Colt Government Pocketlite handgun-loaded with seven .380-caliber bullets-was found inside his vehicle, a 1994 Range Rover parked illegally in a tow zone outside a restaurant and bar on the city’s Near North Side.
Police said the vehicle-bearing a vanity license plate that read DA PIP-had been spotted by two officers from the East Chicago Avenue police district’s special tow unit, which combs city streets hunting for illegally parked cars.
Police entered the vehicle in preparation for towing it and found the weapon in “plain view” next to the console, just to the right of the driver’s seat, authorities said.
It is unclear where Pippen was, exactly, when the handgun was discovered, or whether it was Pippen-or police-who gained entry to the vehicle, by key or by force. Pippen declined comment Thursday.
Police said the car, parked at 1206 N. State St., was ticketed and a tow truck summoned when Pippen appeared.
A high-ranking police official, who asked to remain anonymous, said Pippen approached the policemen, told them who he was, and asked them for “a break.”
Pippen, however, was taken to the district police station, where he was charged with unlawful use of weapons, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. His gun was confiscated as evidence and his vehicle was impounded.
But the basketball star may have lost a little bit more than his gun and his car.
Ten-year-old Roosevelt Darring, a 4th grader who was shooting hoops after school Thursday at the Lawndale Community Church on the city’s West Side, said he wasn’t sure if he could call Scottie Pippen his “hero” anymore.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I gotta figure it out.”
With his arrest, Pippen got caught in the jaws of Chicago’s gun ordinance, which is often called one of the toughest in the country, and the state’s gun law.
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Chicago’s firearms law is as simple as it is strict:
It is illegal for the average citizen to possess a gun.
Of course, there are exceptions. Police officers, persons who qualify as “peace officers” and people who already owned a registered gun prior to the city ordinance, enacted in 1983.
But even for those exceptions, the law is clear: When transporting a weapon, it must be broken down and non-functioning, which generally means unloaded, and not immediately accessible.
Since passage of the city ordinance, new guns cannot be registered in Chicago.
It is relatively simple to get credentials to buy a gun.
A citizen needs only an Illinois firearm owner’s identification card, which police said Pippen had.
The card costs $5 and is issued after background checks determine the applicant is not a felon, has not been confined to a mental institution, and has no recorded involvement with drugs. It takes only 10 days to process an application, though by law the state is entitled to take up to 30 days.
Some of Pippen’s teammates said he told them Thursday during practice that the gun was in his glove compartment, not in “plain view,” as police said.
But while the visibility of his pistol could raise a legal issue relating to the search of his vehicle, the fact remains that it’s illegal for most people to possess and carry a loaded gun in Chicago.
His arrest drew reaction.
“I wish he’d used better judgment,” said Tom Sanberg, a not-for-profit executive in Evanston and a Bulls season-ticket holder since Michael Jordan’s first game.
“I believe he’s some kind of a hero to kids and to guys like me,” said Sanberg, “and I feel he should be above this kind of thing.”
To Mayor Richard Daley, Pippen’s reasons for carrying the gun don’t matter.
“These sports figures have to be very careful,” Daley remarked. “They make big money and they have a responsibility.
“If they feel they need extra security . . . they can hire private guards. That’s a better alternative.”
Bulls player Scott Williams, who lost both parents when his father killed his mother and then committed suicide, asked:
“Why would an athlete feel he has to carry a gun?”
Williams said players joked about it some at practice, but said he considers handguns a serious issue. “I think handguns on the street are a definite problem,” he said.
The city ordinance allows police to impound a car if a person is charged with a weapons violation involving the vehicle. As of closing time Thursday, Pippen had not contacted the city’s Department of Revenue to pay the impounding fine or ask for a hearing to contest the impoundment, said a city spokesman.