A few months ago law abiding gun owners in a couple downstate counties, tired of being blamed for murders in Chicago, came up with the idea of Sanctuary Counties for Gun Owners. The idea was to get county boards to pass resolutions declaring their county to be a sanctuary for gun owners. These resolutions urged the lawmakers in Springfield to stop infringing on our Second Amendment rights. These resolutions were a protest.
Now there are 26 counties that have joined the Sanctuary for Gun Owners movement, with another 14 counties considering such resolutions map link. If you live in a county that is not considering such a resolution and would like to ask your County Board to consider this, the ISRA has a sample resolution you can start with. It is time for gun owners to fight back.
Law abiding gun owners have nothing to do with Chicago’s crime wave whether they live in Chicago or anywhere else in the state. What causes Chicago’s murder rate is a seemingly unrestrained gang problem fueled by illegal drugs. This problem is aided by both the refusal to prosecute these people and lax sentencing by judges. Plea bargains and probation for offenders are the order of the day, every day. It is not the Chicago Police who are to blame here. Why not go out and commit a crime if the most you are going to get is a plea bargain or probation, if you are even charged at all. A few years ago a study showed that 88% percent of the murders had previous criminal records and 80% of those murdered also had criminal records.
Blaming law abiding gun owners and firearms is a scam. The purpose of this scam is to push gun control down the throats of law aiding gun owners. In Illinois, law abiding gun owners have a Firearms Owners Identification Card (FOID) and may also have an Illinois Concealed Carry License (ICCL). In Illinois, there are nearly 2.300,000 FOID card holders and over 300,000 ICCL holders. They go through a background check nearly every night (with the exception on holidays) and whenever they purchase a firearm. That is approximately 930,000,000 background checks on Illinois gun owners every year. Gun owners should be mad. Gun owners are the 800 pound gorilla in the room but they have to be organized. Joining the ISRA will help with that.
If you have friends and family who don’t have a FOID card, ask them to get one. If you are an ISRA member and need assistance with obtaining your FOID card, you may call the office (Monday – Friday, from 8:00am-4:00pm) to schedule an appointment with Mary. Just to be clear, it takes two calls. Your first phone call will consist of your instructions of what you will need to have ready for your appointment; your second call will be your initial appointment. These are usually done on Tuesdays and Thursdays, after 10am. Remember, this is an ISRA member benefit.
Under the category of if it wasn’t for bad luck I wouldn’t have any at all, a guy robbed a Walmart liquor department in Jacksonville, Florida, but when he tried to escape in the vehicle he was driving, it wouldn’t start. So, being an enterprising fellow, he jumped into a car with a man, cut him with a knife and demanded the car. The driver pulled out his concealed carry pistol and the want-to-be carjacker found himself looking down the barrel of gun. He yelled don’t shoot me and ran away. Undaunted, the robber next tried to take a woman’s car but she retrieved her concealed carry pistol and once again, the robbery suspect and now twice attempted carjacking suspect was again looking down the barrel of a gun. He fled once again. The Jacksonville Police Department caught up with this guy. I think this would-be robber and carjacker is going to be retired from his life of crime for a few years. Concealed carry is just a grand idea, isn’t it?
For gun owners, this summer is going to be a critical time. The attack on law-abiding gun owners seems to be endless, which means gun owners must be ready to fight back everywhere! Everything is at stake in both Illinois and the entire country. In Illinois, every State Representative is up for election and about two thirds of the State Senators; all of the Constitutional Officers are up for election. While all are important for protecting your gun rights, the most important of those is the Governor and Attorney General. It is of utmost importance that Governor Rauner is re-elected. He has stepped to the plate for gun owners like no other Governor, in my memory.
If you are a gun owner and not registered to vote, you are not helping. Your vote counts more than ever before. If you don’t vote pro-gun you are helping the other side. Go register today.
The more concealed carry permits we have, the more the scum of America is forced to crawl back under their rocks. In Washington State, some miscreant entered a Walmart and started shooting. There he was met not only by one, but two armed citizens, and one of them shot him Dead Right There (DRT). Earlier, the offender had carjacked someone and critically wounded the driver. The criminal is exactly where he needs to be – on a slab in the morgue. The armed citizen not only saved the county and State of Washington a lot of money, he cleaned up the gene pool as well.
On the 5th of July, 1776, the people of Philadelphia woke up to another sweltering day of the summer heat wave, but it wasn’t just another day. John Dunlap’s print shop had been working through the night printing 200 copies of a document that had been rushed over from the Pennsylvania State House where the Second Continental Congress was convened. Soon the citizens of Philadelphia were reading the Declaration of Independence, a document that was, and still is, changing the political face of the planet.
On July 6th, the Pennsylvania Evening Post had printed the Declaration of Independence. Couriers were sent carrying the Declaration throughout the American Colonies. Within a few days most newspapers had printed the Declaration. On July 9th, George Washington ordered the Declaration be read to the troops. The great American Experiment had begun – 242 years ago.
The men who signed the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Most of them paid every one of those things. Thomas Jefferson hung on by a financier thread. Eventually, Jefferson was forced to sell his personal library to the U.S. Government just to survive. It became the basis for the Library of Congress.
The ideas in the Declaration of Independence were implemented as the basis for the United States Government in the Constitution of the United States, the greatest country the world has ever seen. Now both of those great documents and our democracy are under full attack by those who want the bread but don’t want to sow the wheat, harvest it, mill it or bake it. The “wanters” will soon turn into takers. This national trial will be played out among us before our very eyes.
The 4th of July is one of several mile posts on the way to the Midterm Elections. After the 4th we see increased activity in election campaigns. The county fairs and, of course, the State Fair will be visited by candidates for all offices competing for attention against Aunt Minnie’s canned peaches and cousin Henry’s prize pig.
The next mile post is Labor Day. Candidates will be in the Labor Day parade and then the activity level, particularly in your mail box, starts to increase. The TV, radio and newspaper ads start to appear. Candidates will begin publishing endorsements.
When the October 1st mile post arrives, things begin to get really intense. We will all be inundated with every type of ad you can imagine. Yard signs pop up like daisies and candidates and their supporters start knocking on doors. The TV and radio ads will be relentless. Then suddenly it is November 6th and it will all be over and we will have to live with the results.
I have been involved with elections since 1966. I admit that I have a somewhat cynical view of the whole process but, cynical or not, the harsh reality is that those who are elected control our lives. It is incumbent for gun owners to get involved and help pro-gun candidates. You may not want to, you may not like to but, like it or not, the future of the Second Amendment depends on us doing just that. I know you might think the election is a long way off but it is much closer than you think. The first day to request a mail in ballot is 8/8/2018. Early voting begins on 9/27/2018.
The United Nations International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) just completed another week long conference aimed at disarming you, the American Citizen. Town Hall’s Beth Bauman reports the reference to Grassroots groups is very interesting. The committee’s words: “…controlling and regulating small arms therefore requires action that goes well beyond national security institutions. It includes providing alternative livelihoods for former combatants, engaging with municipal governments and the police, working civil society including grassroots organizations and community violence reduction programs as well as local businesses.”
Sound familiar? Of course it does because it is happening right now. What do you think the Moms, Everytown, and all the other local initiatives are really about? The people who populate these organizations are wittingly or unwittingly helping the U. N. and destroying the United States. It does not matter; they are all guilty. Of course, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros and several other holier than thou billionaires are behind it. I have two U.N. flags which I bought for the sole purpose of burning the bastards.
The ISRA/NRA Day went very well despite the incredible heat. Thanks to all who came and all of the volunteers and companies who showed up to help.
Congratulations to Konrad Powers! I am pleased to report Konrad Powers, ISRA High Power Chairman, has won the NRA Civilian National Service Rifle Championship at the National Matches in Sparta. Want to learn how to shoot high power rifle? The ISRA is the place. Well done Konrad!
ISRA Range Sighting-In Day
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