CHALLENGE TO ILLINOIS LAW ON 2ND AMENDMENT
NOW IN FEDERAL COURT
Illinois State Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Second
Amendment Foundation, and Lawful Gun Owners
File Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
January 18, 2023, Chatsworth, IL-Late Tuesday evening, lawful gun owners from around the State of Illinois, along with the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., and the Second Amendment Foundation, filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, the Director of the Illinois State Police Brendan F. Kelly, and numerous Illinois States Attorneys challenging Illinois’ new law.
On January 10, 2023, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation that enacted an extensive ban on firearms and high-capacity magazines in the state. Plaintiffs say the new law infringes on the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear commonly possessed firearms and ammunition magazines for the defense of self and family and other lawful purposes.
“Governor Pritzker and the legislators who voted for this law did this for self-serving political purposes and are not upholding the United States Constitution,” said Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the ISRA. “The 2nd Amendment is fundamentally about self-defense, and the 14th Amendment is about not having our rights infringed. This new law makes criminals out of lawabiding citizens.
“The real problem is that there are existing gun laws that do not work because they are not enforced,” Pearson added. “We would all be much safer if the police had the resources they need, and there were stronger consequences for the non-law-abiding citizens.”
A resident of St. Clair County and two Illinois gun stores join the three non-profit organizations seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
The ISRA is represented by the Law Firm of David G. Sigale, P.C. of Wheaton, IL.
When the sun came up over Illinois on Wednesday morning everything looked the same as it did on Tuesday morning, but it was not the same. Governor Pritzker had signed into law a draconian bill that squashes the rights of 2.4 million plus law-abiding firearm owners in Illinois. The bootheel of government has been placed squarely on the neck of freedom-loving Illinois citizens. The rights of people who have done nothing wrong have been trampled.
Gun owners have 300 days to comply with the law. There are rules that have to be followed but they are not done yet. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking as law-abiding gun owners come ever closer to being criminals. Each day our freedom is being diminished. Following is the link to Public Act 102-1116: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=102-1116
This Illinois State Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Firearm Policy Coalition have partnered to sue the State of Illinois. The goal is to declare this disgusting law that has been precipitated on lawful gun owners of Illinois unconstitutional. All of this, of course, takes money and membership. Please join the ISRA and donate to the Legal Assistance Committee (ISRA-LAC). We will fight and do whatever it takes. https://isra.org/support-us/
As irked as I am at the General Assembly, I want you to know that there are some of these members who stood up to the pressure and voted “No” on HB5471. We have pictures of the tote board on our website. They are the ones in red. This includes both Democrats and Republicans. They were true to their oath of office and their pledge to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Two standouts among the Democrats were Senators Doris Tuner and Patrick Joyce. Remember who those people are.
I have been receiving copies of letters sent out from various county sheriffs telling the citizens of their county that HB5471 is a violation of their constitutional rights and that they will not be enforcing the law solely for noncompliance with this Act. The Illinois State Police can’t take a stand like the sheriffs because they work for the Governor.
The government would like to dumb us down until we become a herd of sheep to be shepherded by bureaucrats. We will be allowed to do safe things like play shuffleboard and bingo. It turns out bingo isn’t so safe after all. In Florida, two women got into an altercation with a man outside a bingo parlor. The women then went into the bingo parlor for a rousing game of bingo and the guy entered the bingo parlor with a gun after the women. A couple of armed good Samaritans interceded, and the suspect was held until police arrived. Surprisingly, the police found a bag of crystal meth and a knife in the suspect’s vehicle. Meth makes people paranoid and crazy. Who was one of the world’s most famous meth users? Adolf Hitler.
In Des Moines, Iowa, an armed mom prevented her kids from being taken. A pair of miscreants had been hanging around a skywalk at an apartment complex. The Manager, Shay Lindberg, opened the door to ask if there was a problem. She had her two children with her. When she opened the door, one of the troublemakers grabbed one of her children. Lindberg went into action, drew her pistol, and said, “Let go of my kid.” Wisely, they did. Lindberg held them until security arrived. The pair were arrested and charged with child stealing. In Iowa, this is a class C felony which will get you 10 years in the clink. My guess is that the good folks in Iowa aren’t as understanding of criminals as we are in Illinois.
The Winter Wars XIX event that was scheduled for January 17th, has been rescheduled to February 11th, 2023, at the ISRA Range. This is a fun match for military surplus rifles, shot at 200 yards from the prone position on a military head and shoulders silhouette (the so-called Sitting Dog target).
This year the ISRA will celebrate its 120th year. That is 12 decades of serving the gun owners of Illinois and helping protect the United States. It hasn’t always been easy. I don’t expect 2023 to be easy either but here we go.
The big news that you haven’t been hearing from the “Lame Stream Media” is that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has omitted the defensive use of firearms from their reports. The CDC reportedly received pressure from both the White House and anti-gun groups to omit the self-defense statistics. These actions and their acquiescence have weaponized them and made them just another political arm of the left. I have long thought they should change their name to the Center for Dictatorial Control.
Another group that has gone from science to junk science is Johns Hopkins. Recently, Johns Hopkins published a pamphlet regarding gun control in Illinois. By sheer coincidence, it supports all the provisions in HB5855 (who are they kidding). Just so you know, John Hopkins has received 1.8 billion dollars from leading anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg. That does not include another 150 million dollars here and there. Bloomberg also funds an anti-gun think tank at Johns Hopkins. I think that was 200 million dollars, as I recall – Disgusting.
New York City’s anti-gun culture isn’t protecting them. Not only are they anti-gun, but they are also anti-knife. That didn’t seem to stop a crackpot on New Year’s Eve from attacking people with a machete. The perp was shot by a couple of NYPD cops, but the perp is already out of the hospital. The two cops were also cut in the attack. New York City is a Joke. An elderly jeweler was almost beaten to death by a group of thugs. He is in critical condition. He might live but he will never be the same. There is no real way to protect yourself in New York City. Remember that if you are dumb enough to go there.
Recently, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) discovered there were deficiencies in reporting to the National Instant Check System (NICS). The system that is supposed to keep bad people from getting guns, often makes law-abiding citizens wait days to get approval for a duck gun. And who do you suppose is the major contributor to these deficiencies? Why, the Department of Homeland Security, of course. They are reportedly behind 6.4 million records. I think Ronald Reagan said something to the effect that government isn’t the solution to a problem, government is the problem. True then and getting truer every day.
John Lott, President of the Crime Prevention Research Center, reports a noticeable increase in the use of firearms for self-defense. Not surprising, considering what is going on the United States. John Lott reports there are now 22 million concealed carry permit holders in the United States. This number is much lower than the real number of persons carrying because of the recent trend of states passing constitutional carry. As of January 1st, 2023, there are 25 states that allow constitutional carry. Alabama is the latest, with the law taking effect on January 1st, 2023.
The question is how many people are actually carrying firearms for self-defense? That is hard to say, but my guess is somewhere between 45 and 50 million people. Women and the elderly are among the leading demographics carrying. I don’t blame them.
In the small town of Elderon, Wisconsin (population 276 ), is an example of why people, particularly elderly people, are carrying firearms for self-defense. Elderon is one of those towns that most people know each other. Nothing could happen in a northern Wisconsin town like Elderon, or could it? A 79-year-old man came home and was parking his car in his garage when a 22-year-old thug attacked him and was stabbing him in the face. The 22-year-old had apparently been following the elderly man, waiting for a chance to rob him. There is no way a 79-year-old is going to win this fight with an armed 22 year old unless he was carrying a firearm, which he was. The elderly man fired one shot into the chest of the 22-year-old. Still, the 22-year-old managed to take the gun from the elderly man, but it was too late. Seconds later, the young thug collapsed and died. Just one more example of it can happen anytime and anywhere so be ready.
Some of the stuff that happens makes you scratch you head. I watched a documentary over the weekend of a guy in Minnesota who had a long criminal record. The judge let him out on bail. Before the police caught up with him, he murdered at least six young women and two young boys. The police don’t really know how many people he murdered. It could have been 30 or 40 people. This guy would cruise neighborhoods and look for homes which obviously had children living there, particularly little girls. He was a total stranger to his victims and their families. I watched a now-adult woman who witnessed her family being murdered by this guy. I will say there is nothing that will ever help this woman to recover. It happened to this woman and her family after this guy was let out on bail. How about the judge and the attorney who set him free? They are probably eating lunch at the country club.
As of January 3rd, there are now 458,077 Illinois Concealed Carry Licensees and 2,424,189 FOID cards. Remember every one of these people go through a background check every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Easter, and the 4th of July. The courts are closed on those days. That is 360 background checks a year. That equals 1,037,615,750 background checks a year on law-abiding gun owners. That does not include another background check when someone buys a firearm. Law-abiding gun owners have done enough. How about enforcing the laws we have and putting criminals in jail instead of trying to make law-abiding gun owners criminals?
