Recent research by John Lott has brought to light interesting facts regarding concealed carry. Nationally, in 2018, the number of concealed carry permits has grown to 17.25 million. Last year, the number of permits had grown 890,000, the most in any year. It is important to understand that 14 states do not require permits and are not counted in any of the above numbers. It is certainly possible that there are 25 to 30 million people carrying firearms for self-defense. Alabama has 22.1% of the adults carrying, followed by Indiana with 17.9% and South Dakota with 17.1%. Four states have over 1,000,000 permits: Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Texas.
When I was interviewed prior to the passing of concealed carry in Illinois, I predicted women, minorities and the elderly would benefit most from concealed carry. John Lott’s latest research bears that prediction in terms of growth of permits. When compared to white men, the growth rate among women is 111% higher, blacks 20% higher and Asians 29% higher. I did not find a number for the elderly but I still think that benefits tremendously from concealed carry.
When one looks down the states by percentage of adults carrying concealed, it is obvious that politics play a heavy role in how many carry. In states like New York, New Jersey, and the worst of them all, Hawaii, the numbers are suppressed. While Illinois is now up the over 310,000 range, that could change if the wrong person is elected governor. Remember the day of reckoning is coming. It will be disastrous for firearm owners if J.B. Pritzker is elected.
John Lott is a leading researcher and debunker of pervasive left-wing anti-gun baloney. His organization is the Crime Prevention Research Center. Please check out the organization at www.crimeresearch.org.
The Chicago crime wave continues to capture the headlines week after week. The 2016 numbers are in and they show the clearance rate for the shootings at a dismal 5%. That means 1 out of 20 are charged.
I am not going to blame the Chicago Police Dept for these failures. The Chicago PD has had their hands tied behind their backs. They are short of patrol officers, detectives, money and support from the city administration. Meanwhile, the drug fueled gangs are running over everyone. It is well known that if you sign a complaint, testify or even talk to the police, you and your loved ones will face retribution from the gangs.
If the police do make an arrest, the Cook County State’s Attorney doesn’t prosecute with much vigor. Gun crimes are dropped or plea bargained down to nothing. These problems can be laid on the doorsteps of City Hall and Cook County. It is also obvious that the city does not have the backs of their law enforcement. These policies have a demoralizing effect on both the police force and individual policemen. It is easy to blame the law-abiding firearm owners and firearms for these problems because it is the politically expedient thing to do. It is also a smoke screen used to avoid talking about a 49% school dropout rate, no jobs and every type of tax available that drives employers and working people out of the city.
The downhill slide to the Midterm Elections has begun and right on queue the Gifford’s have announced plans for ever-tightening firearm regulations. The basic theme of all of this is that there are never enough gun control restrictions to satisfy them. Their goal is the strangulation of the Second Amendment. This includes the usual stuff like running gun dealers out of business by piling on costs and regulations, running the cost of firearm ownership as high as they can, taxation on firearms and ammunition and the outright banning of firearms. The new twist seems to be to put a bureaucrat in charge of seeing if you and I are worthy enough to own a firearm. Remember an attack on one class of firearms is an attack on all classes of firearms.
Levi Strauss has decided to sellout gun owners and join anti-gun campaigns and donate $1,000,000 to various anti-gun organizations. The company has already joined the Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety, a Bloomberg front group. The CEO and President of the company says he is not for the repeal of the Second Amendment and does not think gun owners are irresponsible. Well, he needs to check the organizations he has gotten in bed with then because they are for repealing the Second Amendment and do think gun owners are irresponsible. I did own one thing that is Levi Strauss, did being the operative word. That thing is now residing in its new home – the dumpster.
Social media attacks of one kind or another are common against the Second Amendment or pro Second Amendment organizations. One organization that I know of hired a forensic social media expert or see where they were all coming from. Surprisingly, they found 80% of them were from the United Kingdom. I have been warning everyone that the attacks on American gun owners and the Second Amendment is International and the U.N. is in the thick of it. If there was ever an organization that needs to go the way of the dodo bird the U. N. is it.
Soon, the first of the 10-year FOID cards will start renewing and this is likely to swamp the Illinois State Police (ISP). With that in mind, on August 17th, Governor Rauner signed HB 4855 into law. HB 4855 allows gun owners a 60-day grace period to keep their FOID card active while their renewal application is being processed, even if the processing period extends beyond the FOID card’s expiration date. Your renewal should not be submitted more than 60 days before your expiration date. This new law also clarifies the definition of a patient so hospitals have a better idea of how to report the status of a patient to the ISP. For years, the ISRA has had to deal with cases in which people who were admitted to a hospital were put into an empty mental ward because the ward they should have been admitted to was filled. These were usually people who should have been placed in either a medical ward or maternity ward. Because they were in a mental facility, they lost their FOID card. It takes years to straighten these cases out. Meanwhile, the person is denied their rights. Hospitals were not helpful. I will leave it go at that.
I advise everyone who desires a FOID card to apply immediately. Please be very careful, particularly if you are unfamiliar with a computer; if you answer anything wrong, it is a first-class mess. If you are an ISRA member, our office will assist you. Please call Mary at 815.635.3198 to schedule an appointment.
Anti-gunner State Representative Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) doesn’t like Illinois County Boards that are passing Gun Sanctuary County Resolutions. Willis has filed a resolution (HR 1197) condemning “scofflaw counties” that do not agree with her or her Chicago anti-gun political agenda. Willis, on the other hand, supports resolutions from the Illinois General Assembly to Congress to influence Federal Legislation and policies that many do not agree with. Maybe someone in Congress will pass a resolution condemning “scofflaw state legislatures”. By the way, 39 counties have passed Gun Sanctuary County Resolutions.
Illinois, like many other states, has a High School Clay Target League. In 2018, Illinois had 26 schools in the league. I expect this number to grow beyond 30 next year. The results for the Illinois All-State Trap Team are in. It was nice to see that 45 students from many schools made the All-State Trap Team. These young shooters were from all over the state.
The 2018 Grand American, which was held at the World Shooting Complex in Sparta, reported 7% higher attendance this year totaling 4833 shooters. To give you an idea how big this event is: the firing line is 3.5 miles long and utilizes 121 Trap fields. This year, the event used 12 semi loads of clay targets. The Shotgun sports are growing because of these young people. The National Handicap Champion was Kelan Kinion, a 15-year-old from Missouri. Kelan broke his first 100 straight and he could not have picked a better time. Congratulations to Ian Lawrence, of Herrin, Illinois, was named the Captain of the All-American Sub Junior (15 years old and under). The future of the Shotgun sports looks very bright.
The ISRA is followed by many people in many countries besides the United States. Right now, we have active followers in 43 other countries. I just want to give you all a shout-out and say thank you for following us. I have met shooters from around the world and there is not one of them I haven’t gotten along with or liked. I have often thought that if shooters should run the world instead of politicians, the world would be a much more agreeable place. In fact, I will make that motion. Is there a second?
FOID – 2,280,658
ICCL – 310,543
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