The ISRA Open House is on June 16th. This is a great opportunity to get your whole family involved and spend a day at our Range! Factory representatives from major manufacturers will answer your questions about your favorite firearms. A small fee for ammunition will be required; admission and parking are free. See details on page 117 and at: isra.org
As predicted, there is a whirlwind of anti-gun activity in Springfield. The only breath of fresh air was the Governor’s Amendatory Veto of HB1468. Now we have to make every effort to prevent the Amendatory Veto from being overridden. We need phone calls to the members of the Illinois House asking legislators to support the Governor’s veto.
SB2387, the Firearm Disposition Bill, passed the Senate, but has not passed in the House. This bill came courtesy of the guy who shot up the restaurant in Tennessee and the father who gave the firearms to him. The father knew this kid was prohibited. If this bill becomes law, whoever receives the firearms has to sign an affidavit swearing they will not give the firearms to a prohibited person. The affidavit must be given to the Illinois State Police and the County Sheriff. Stupidity costs us all.
In the last few weeks the topic of Artificial Intelligence, and how dangerous it may become, has been in the headlines. The reason Artificial Intelligence is so dangerous is because it does not make decisions based on history, beliefs, ethics, morals or values. My term for all of this is a moral core. There are people who have no moral core who act just like Artificial Intelligence. These people can be identified by their disdain for God, patriotism, nuclear families and any other part of the fabric that makes the United States great. To give you an idea of what it would be like to be ruled by Artificial Intelligence, one only needs to look at Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, and Hillary Clinton – it’s scary alright!
You may not have seen this on the national news May 17th, a School Resource Officer took down a 19 year old ex-student at Dixon High School. This comes at a time when many want to do away with school Resource Officers, which is a dumb idea. In my early days, I worked with one of the first School Resource Officers; Officer Steve Brienen eventually became McLean County Sheriff. I was there and I know how effective he was. He saved lots of kids. The situation between School Resource Officers and the school should be a partnership, not an adversarial relationship. Many think the world would be a pleasant la-la land if we were just nice all the time – it just isn’t so. Children and young people are always in search of limits, discipline, trust and love. Weakness is not in the equation. I will admit to you that you need to have both the knack and balance but that becomes almost impossible when you have out-of-bounds parents, chicken-hearted school boards and administrators.
The election of Oliver North as President of the NRA is just what the organization needed. I am elated. There are already media and some people taking potshots at North. The L.A. Times called him a gun runner and then some. Members are whining about his past. There are a few people out there who have said they were going to join the NRA but they are not now. That is a lot of baloney; they were never going to join. Soldiering is a tough business and not for the fainthearted. Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) North did the job the United States asked him to do and was raked over the coals by the milquetoasts in Congress. Oliver North is a leader who is well-spoken and sees the world as it is, not like the Pollyanna types who view the world through rose colored glasses while wearing blinders.
Every member and every gun owner needs to get behind NRA President North and understand we are in the battle of our lives to save the Second Amendment. This is not a muffin baking contest.
My wife Genee and I attended the NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas. As always, the exhibition hall at the NRA Annual Meeting was fabulous. If you have never been to a NRA Annual Meeting, you need to attend one. This year’s number of attendees was 87,000+.
A few weeks prior to convention the Mayor of Dallas asked the NRA to move their (our) annual meeting somewhere else. Of course, it would not be possible because it takes 3-5 years to plan big events. I am sure the Mayor was just pandering to the anti-gun crowd when he made that suggestion. Well over a $100,000,000 will be spent on everything from meals, hotel rooms, and all that goes with national events. Dallas Mayor basically shot himself in the foot. Next year NRA Annual Meeting will be held in Indianapolis. The ISRA will have a booth there. If you intend to stay overnight, book your hotel rooms now; several hotels are already sold out.
One of the most enjoyable features in the exhibition halls was the gun collector’s corner – great gun collections and history. Of course there were several collections that revolved around the Texas Rangers, including photos of these guys. You could tell by their pictures that these guys did not mess around. If you were a bad guy and ran into Texas Rangers, I would guess your career might come to an abrupt end.
On Tuesday, May 1st, SB337-SFA2 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 7-5-0. SB337-SFA2 turns into SB1657, the draconian Gun Dealer Licensing Bill. This is an example of the one hour posting notice in action and how quickly things can happen. This battle will rage on.
May 31st ended the Spring Session for the Illinois General Assembly. Even though the Session ends, the battle will not end. The 2018 elections are going to be hard fought. In Illinois, the future of the Second Amendment is literally at stake. Justice Kennedy is hinting about retiring, so the same is true on the national level. No gun owner better stay home for this election.
You may not be aware of the county sanctuary movement in Illinois. Several counties have declared themselves as Sanctuary Counties for Gun Owners. Jefferson County has joined Effingham, Iroquois, Saline, and soon, Perry County. This is push back for the recent attacks on gun owners in the General Assembly. Bills such as SB1657, HB1465, HB1467, HB1469 and others that are about to come, are clearly aimed at law-abiding firearm owners and have nothing to do with the real problem. If your county is considering such a resolution, please let me know.
On a sad note, the United States, Illinois and the ISRA have lost Joseph I. Brown, one of the greatest of the greatest generation. Joe was 94 years old, a high power shooter and Second Amendment defender. When Joe was 88 or 89, he was one of the plaintiffs in the Ezell v Chicago case. We will all miss you Joe. Hopefully, 9 or 10 people will step forward to take his place.
April 25th, the ISRA held one of our most successful Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Days (IGOLD) in recent years. Thanks to all who attended and the gun groups who joined in. The weather was beautiful. The attendance was about 2500. In fact, we had to ask for the mezzanine of the Bank of Springfield Convention Center to be opened for extra seating.
At the Springfield Convention Center, we heard Legislative updates and several excellent speeches. Both Senator Bill Brady and Representative Allen Skillicorn were great. We also listened to two young people, Kaleb Huddleston (age 15) and Jacob Vandermyde (age 18); they did an outstanding job. Kaleb pointed out that many in his generation are Second Amendment supporters, and Jacob, a young three gun shooter, let us all know that youthful shooters are responsible and should not be banned from shooting just because they are not yet 21.
I reminded everyone that we are fighting to protect our rights so these young people, and others like them, can enjoy the shooting sports and the Second Amendment, just as we have.
Each year, I have the privilege of watching the IGOLD March from the podium on the Lincoln Steps. This year’s march was astounding. Senators Neil Anderson, Jason Barickman, and Dale Fowler all spoke; Representatives Monica Bristow, Jerry Long, Margo McDermed and Reggie Phillips also spoke. We then went into the Capitol and the Stratton Building to deliver Lobby Day cards to legislators. Coverage of the 2018 IGOLD was the best it has ever been, with ABC News out of Chicago, NBC Channel 20/Springfield, Pool Camera and Crew Broadcasting, as well as all the major TV networks. At 3:00 pm, we met in the Capitol Building rotunda for a few final thoughts and then began winding our way home. Later on, it was announced that the override of SB1657 would not happen because the votes were not there. It was a successful day but we all know this is not over.
We are fighting, as Representative McDermed so aptly put it, the hysterically uninformed, or in some cases, the hysterically misinformed, which is deliberate on the anti-gun side. Either way, it is going to be a long tough fight.
The ISRA Range has booked Massad Ayoob for classes. MTG presents Massad Ayoob’s Mag-80 class from June 6-10, 2018. To register for this class go to www.midwesttraininggroup.net.
Thanks for your membership support!
Saturday, June 16, 2018
NRA Day Open House
at the ISRA Range
Check out ISRA’s website at www.isra.org!
Follow the ISRA on Twitter and Facebook.
Give the gift of an ISRA membership.
Not an ISRA Member? Join Today!