Baby Bubba’s Got a Gun: True Story

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Here’s a bizarre tale out of Illinois. A local newspaper columnist decided to see what would happen if he applied for a gun owner’s ID card for his 10-month-old son and, well, here’s the story…

Little Bubba Ludwig got a 12-gauge Beretta from his grandfather as a present. While it’s illegal for minors to buy a gun in Illinois, it isn’t illegal for them to own one, and if Bubba was going to legally own his he needed a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card.

So like any good (and mischievous) father, Daily Southtown columnist Howard Ludwig sent in a picture of his son (featuring a toothless grin), filled out the appropriate form (2 feet, 3 inches; 20 pounds), and mailed in five bucks. A month later — boom — Baby Bubba’s got a gun. He’s even allowed to carry it unloaded under state law, but as his father says, “he can’t walk yet, so that’s not an issue.”

Check out the father’s column on the whole thing here. (Via Fox News and Wonkette.)

I can’t tell what to make of this story. The family in question — particularly the father who wrote the column — seems to see it as just good fun. They’re responsible gun owners, after all, and while this whole episode is kind of absurd, little Bubba will be taught how to use his gun only when he’s good and ready. And when that time comes he’ll be taught all the proper safety procedures by a family with a long history of responsible gun ownership.

At the same time, good God — is Illinois insane? Have we reached the point where we are so afraid of gun control that we have no restrictions whatsoever? Why have a gun owner’s ID card at all when a bureaucrat somewhere in the state house will stamp “APPROVED” on an application featuring the grinning mug of a 10-month-old baby?

And do you think the NRA would support a bill titled “Keep America’s Cribs Gun-Free”? I’m guessing no.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate