TTAG’s sources in Illinois tell us that Governor Quinn (aided by the Chicago Mayor and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel) will lead the charge to revive and pass the gun and magazine ban and shooting range regulations bills when the House reconvenes for the lame duck session on Sunday at 5pm. Watch this space. Meanwhile, if you want to know exactly what’s in play, make the jump for the Illinois State Rifle Association’s summary of the week’s battles . . .

 

ISRA NOTICE: 

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM ISRA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RICHARD PEARSON 
January 4, 2013 – The Week in Review – The Unabashed Arrogance of the Gun Control Movement

As most of you know, this has been a very tense week for the law-abiding Illinois firearm owner.  As most of us were getting ready to ring in the New Year, Senate President John Cullerton and his band of gun controllers were secretly preparing a major offensive against your gun rights.  We got wind of the pending attack on your 2nd Amendment rights early in the week and immediately called together our lobbyists and strategic planners to build a defense.

When we finally saw the public release of the Cullerton plan mid-week, we were shocked at what we saw.  Based on recent events, we fully expected to see legislative proposals to ban so-called “assault weapons,” and so-called “high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.”  However, those affronts to your rights paled in comparison with what Cullerton’s proposal entailed.  Here is a sampling of the extremist proposals advanced by Cullerton’s gun-grab plan:

–          The Illinois State Police would be given full control over the design and operation of commercial gun ranges in the state.  That control would extend from the design of the bullet backstops to qualifications of range employees and even to the color of the paint on the walls of the men’s room.  The State Police would determine the hours of operation, what types and calibers of firearms could be discharged at the range, and even a minimum number of square feet.  Every range customer would have to undergo a background check and each customer’s visit would be logged by the range operator.  Any Illinois law enforcement agency could conduct unannounced and warrantless inspections and searches of ranges at any time.  Those searches and inspections would extend to range customers and their property.  That means that the Chicago Police Department would have the authority to raid a range in Peoria and roust the customers of that range.  The bottom line is, this range regulation proposal has the sole objective of running commercial shooting ranges out of business.  We had never seen anything like this before, but the intent was clear.

–          All semi-automatic firearms would be either banned outright, or be so severely taxed and restricted that ownership would be impractical.  We expected to see attempts to ban or regulate AR and AK type firearms, but what we saw in Cullerton’s proposal carried that to an extreme.  Cullerton’s gun ban would extend to all semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns.  Additionally, many pump action rifles and shotguns would be banned as well.  This ban would include such classics as the 1911 and the M1 Garand.  Of course, all Glocks, Sig-Sauers, and other popular pistols would be banned as well.  Estimates are that about 50% of rifles and 80% of handguns lawfully-owned by Illinois citizens would be subject to ban and confiscation under the Cullerton gun ban.

–          A bizarre and convoluted scheme to register all “ammunition feeding devices” capable of holding more than 10 rounds – including magazines, stripper clips, drums, etc.  Since none of these devices possess serial numbers, owners of these devices would essentially register them under the “honor system.”  Of course, we all know how well criminals stick to the honor system.

The two bills containing these provisions, HB0815 and HB1263, were both assigned to the Senate Public Health Committee for review.  This committee is notoriously anti-gun and is stacked 6 to 4 with antigun Democrats under Cullerton’s thumb.  On Wednesday night, the two bills came up for hearing before the Senate Public Health Committee.  During debate of these two bills, we heard straight from the horses’ mouths what the intents and purposes of these bills were.  Sitting there listening to the sponsors and their supporters was a very maddening experience.

Committee testimony given by the anti-gunners confirmed that the gun control movement holds firearm owners in deep contempt.  During testimony, the gun controllers claimed that the range restriction bill would actually preserve 2nd Amendment rights while providing public safety.  The gun controllers acknowledged that most semiautomatic firearms would be banned, but that people who wished to shoot semiautomatics should be reassured because they would be able to go to an approved range and legally rent semiautomatics to shoot.  In other words, you should not be upset about surrendering your $5,000 target rifle because you can still go down to an approved range and get a junker out of the rental case to plink with.  This was one of the most condescending lines of testimony I have ever heard levied against the right to keep and bear arms – and the anti-gunners uttered it with completely straight faces.  The gun controllers really need to keep in mind that the 2nd Amendment says “keep and bear arms,” not “rent arms.”

Of course, nowhere in any of the testimony given by the bills’ supporters was there any mention of how these restrictions and bans would affect criminals.  In fact, the bill proponents became extremely defensive when pro-gun witnesses mentioned anything about violent gun-toting criminals.  It was clear that the proponents’ focus was solely on lawfully held firearms.  In not so many words, the supporters of these bills claimed that they were good “first steps” to achieving a “civil society.”  In the twisted world-view of the anti-gunners, law-abiding citizens are standing in the way of a civil society, not criminals.

As most of you may know, the two bills passed out of the Public Health Committee by 6-4 and 6-3 votes.  The next step would be a vote on the floor.  Late Thursday, the newspapers were reporting that the sponsors are delaying a vote on the bills because they do not have enough support for passage.  Please, don’t be fooled by such claims.  These bills are alive and well and can be called up for a vote at any time.

In writing this note, I thought I’d give you a taste of what the ISRA lobbyists experience every day in Springfield.  We could not continue to do what we do without knowing that you, the law-abiding citizen, has our back.  Your support is crucial to our success – we do all we do for you.  So, with that in mind, there are a few things I’d like you to do:

1.  Remember that these anti-gun bills are eligible for a full vote of the Senate at any time up through next Wednesday.  Do not be lulled to sleep by media claims that the bills are dead.

2.  Keep an eye on your email for any alerts the ISRA issues regarding these bills or any other anti-gun activity.

3.  Please consider giving the ISRA a generous monetary donation so we may continue the fight for your rights.

Thanks for your time,

Richard A. Pearson
Executive Director
Illinois State Rifle Association

 

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

61 COMMENTS

  2. Are you shitting me. Just hold a lighter already to The Constitution. Seems like they aren’t tired of shitting on it yet, though.

  5. Based on this article, the only people qualified to work at a firing range will be off-duty cops or their “trained” friends…since these businesses would basically become State of Illinois Firing Ranges…taxed to the max.

  7. Seems to be a common trick among FLAME DELETED legislative bodies: Schedule controversial votes on days and times when their public offices and switchboards are closed so they don’t have to hear from the people they represent.

  8. Well, maybe they can make all the ranges inaccessable & then make it a felony to not practice & be proficient with your firearm. We’ve got some idiots in Wis., nothin like this though, Randy

  9. Wow, they schedule a vote on a Sunday where many religious people try to avoid work. That is just tasteless, you make a person choose between violating their religious principles or letting you violate the Constitution. They have no class what so ever.

  10. Has anybody heard of “The Dick Act of 1902”??? If not, please look it up and read it.

    I see this “ban” as an open declaration of war against the citizens of these United States. I pray that all involved in creating this ban understand clearly that upon passage of this bill their will be several unintended consequences as the public reacts!!

    • HR 11654 also authorizes the government to mobilize the NG/militia to “suppress insurrection”….
      Double edged sword?…

  11. Sunday morning there needs to be a tent city of pro gun people on the grounds of whereever the officials hold these votes. Unarmed and peaceful, the building needs to be surrounded by a sea of People of the Gun. It’s past time that we start to get pro active and embrace the tacticas of groups like Occupy.

  12. These bills do nothing to address violent crime. When was the last time there was a mass shooting at a range? Has there ever been one, ever, anywhere, in the world?

  13. The bill was dropped from the lame duck session, probably because the votes weren’t there. The new legislature has more Democrats, which means more gun grabbers.

    • Plus this helps distract people from the fiscal crisis in the state.

      I just spent ten days in Chicago over the holidays, and this bill made very little splash in the local media.

      What’s silly is that they have a laboratory where the results of restrictive gun laws can be evaluated. It’s virtually impossible to legally own a gun, let alone a handgun, in Chicago. They topped 500 homicides in 2012.

  14. They know if they can’t get it done now, at least a mag cap bill, they’re DONE. Probably FOREVER. Also, if they can’t get it done in Illinois…..how are they going to get it done in the U.S. House?

    • what i was thinking.

      does anybody know when the lame duck session is over and the new legislators start?

  15. McBane says these gun grabbers are losing their minds. Have they ever read the constitution?

  16. Sounds like a good time for all the law abiding gun owners, or those wanting to be law abiding gun owners, to move the hck out of Illinois altogether and let the retards and gang bangers have it.
    We have some real nice real estate for sale here, 10-12 miles from the nearest town and 9 miles from the nearest store. Can be a bitch to get in and out in really bad weather but the neighbors are always ready to lend a hand and we all keep an eye out for each other.
    Just come on down, be a good neighbor and relax!! We don’t have the most lax gun laws but we are shall issue and we love to shoot, hunt, swap and trade!!!

    • I would love to move out of IL. But… unless I opt to walk away from my upside down mortgage, take the credit hit that follows & leave my elderly parents who live nearby to fend for themselves it isn’t going to happen any time soon.

      • Having a mortgage is quite impressive for someone who just turned 18. I’m assuming you’re 18 because otherwise you would have known for many years that Illinois is horribly anti-Constitution and would have had several opportunities to move to another state.

  17. Was talking w/buddy of mine about the failed attempt. He’s ex-Army, served in Desert Storm, & very anti “automatic weapon”. I told him autos are already regulated, guns in stores are semi & 1 trigger pull = 1 round down range. Even showed him the wikis detailing the difference. I got “I was in the military & know the difference, you’re wrong. On TV they showed he had a full auto & the news doesn’t lie”.

    My stomach is back to aching over this.

    • Guzzmike- I am a usmc vet and I know the difference between semi and full auto. All of my buddies do male and female. We trained on the weapons. I question your friends service. Granted I know he’s Army… but military hasn’t changed that much. He should without a doubt know the differenc

      As far as moving out of IL… I’m in process now. I’ve had it. You have choices to make. We all do. IL is the most fled state due to the taxes. IL out taxes even CA and still they are broke. They infringe so many of our rights and I’m here to tell you the quality of life is so much better in many other states. Convince your parents and gtfo out of here while you can. Sh!t is going down hill fast and its only going to get worse. So what if you walk away from a mortgage that you’re upside down in? 7 years or 2 with bankruptcy and its gone. I think the real issue is you’re afraid of the unknown. That’s the problem with Americans… they get comfortable and don’t want to change. IL is a hellhole and many other states are much nicer and observe your rights… rights I and my forefathers fought for… its disheartening to see people so lackadaisical. :-/

  19. This is the press conference that I want to see from the Illinois State Troopers.
    In order to shed light on the agenda of dis-arming the people of Illinois of their scary black firearms, we have decided that all security personnel in charge of the safety of our fine government officials will observe a gun free weekend. All of our firearms will be left at home or locked up in our vehicles while we provide the security you so desire. We will be in our tactical gear and have Tasers and pepper spray at the ready should the need arise. In the case of an active shooter situation we will promptly notify the subject that this is a gun free zone and that he is breaking the law. Then we will observe your wishes to not stand our ground and retreat to our nearest available non-black scary firearm and await further instruction from our fine government officials.

  20. Look at the crime in Illinois. Check it again in a year. With firearmes being banned, crime WILL go up. The thugs still have the guns while the ‘people’ don’t. Glad I don’t live in Illinois.

  22. AGAIN tyhis is a plea to all Illinois residents on TTAG.

    Please cosnider joining the forum at

    http://www.IllinoisCarry.com

    We are leading the fight. We filed the lawsuit (Shepard v. Madigan) that won the right to concealed carry in Illinois. We need to keep fighting until we win this war. Join Todd Vandermyde the NRA lobbyisit and Illinois Carry and help us to continue to make history.

    When we finally get concealed carry done this Spring, we will start on the fight to get rid of the FOID and the waiting periods but we cannot fight the mindless progressive liberals who are attempting to subjugate our liberty and destroy our freedom without your help and participation.

    It is free to join and you will have access to all of the breaking news state-wide and you will be able to participate in history, not stand on the sidelines wringing your hands and hoping that somebody, anybody! does something to stop the onslaught.

    • Unfortunatly for most of us here in Illinois, we try every election to “maintain a rational representative government”. Unfortunatly Illinois is controlled by Chicago Libs that have NO concept that their Bullshit views do NOT represent illinois. they only care to represent that pus pocket on the ass cheek of illinos called Chicago.

      • Exactly! 58% of the population of Illinois is in Chicago and predominately democrats the other 42% the rest of the state and predomitaly republican except E.St Louis. The blind leading their sheep. And according to the last election 39% of the votes don’t count! Chicago has always been known for crooked politics but the rest of the country didn’t pay attention I hope they get the picture now!

    • Illinois Carry is active in the fight, yes. But let’s not confuse who is leading it: the NRA and its man in Springfield, Todd Vandermyde.

  23. I don’t live in Illinois or like the crap that the people of Illinois allow to go on there. It’s their state and their responsibility to maintain a rational representative government. With that said, it still remains that their fight is our fight. Don’t ask me why, but when I finish this post I’m sending some money to the Illinois State Rifle Association. Any infringement allowed there will only give the grabbers momentum. So, even if only temporarily, today I must say “Ich bin von Illinois”. Actually, were all from Illinois now.

    • Thank – you Sammy! This is not the time to run and hide, it is time to stand and fight. A lot of us cannot move for various reasons. We have tried to get good reps in gov, and we do have some good ones outside of Chicago and Cook county. My reps here in the far NW suburbs have told me they will do everything they can to stop this insanity. However, those of us who believe in the Constitution are held hostage by the completely corrupt, criminal politicians in Chicago. They do everything they can to enslave us, from outright lies to stuffing the ballot boxes to re – drawing districts to favor their fellow grabbers. We just lost Joe Walsh, a very pro – gun conservative congressman, to Tammy Duckworth, a far left extremist. This happened because Mike Madigan re – drew Joe’s district to include more lefty neighborhoods. Joe would have easily won his seat back if his district had remained the same.

  24. Is anyonehere really foolish enough to actually take the media’s word on ANYTHING? The MSM has proven itself to be anti-gun, up to and including using faulty and incorrect language, sometimes knowingly.

  25. 10,000 armed patriots standing outside the statehouse could put an end to this bullcrap rather quickly.

    “Governor, Senators, Representatives: Your services are no longer needed. Please vacate the building immediately.”

  26. I don’t like these attacks on our fundamental constitutional rights. I don’t like that our government takes an oath to protect them and then turns to attack them. They know full well that these bans will do nothing to stop or help prevent crimes committed with guns. History proves that. But they’ll trample our rights to keep votes from the thousand’s and thousand’s of misinformed people who fear firearms because of false representation. All the while we’ll continue to suffer these crimes because our politicians implement laws for votes instead of policies that actually work to deter these crimes and save lives.
    I’m a proud American who will always stand and fight against these bad policies.
    You can educate yourself and fight the fight at http://www.illinoiscarry.com

  27. Oh, Quinnochio, when will you learn….
    This state is broke, and they are wasting tax money we don’t even have, trying to disarm us all. Not gonna happen. Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Speak out and make your voices heard. Non-compliance every step of the way.

  29. If you are reading this and you’re a resident of Illinois, please go to the Illinois Carry forum and read up on what you can do to help the fight. This is ground zero for the battle over our Second Amendment rights (or Lexington and Concord if you like that better).

    http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/

    And if you can (whether an Illinois resident or not), consider financially supporting any of the following organizations, each of which are very active in Illinois: the NRA-ILA, the Illinois State Rifle Association, IllinoisCarry, and Guns Save Life.

    Thanks from a Chicago resident!

  30. Boy, that’s really great news…!!! Every time they pull this crap it wakes up a whole bunch more voters to the need to throw these subversive bastards out come election time….

  31. The secretary in the Speaker’s office sounds like she is having a bad day. I was nice to her, but plainly spoke my position. Throw these bums out of office. I can tell you all this, not only will I not comply if this garbage became law, I’d sell my home and move to another state.

  32. I just have to say that if armed patriots showed up I’m positive that they’d send out the swat team and the FBI and label everyone there a terrorist. Look at the occupy movement… love it or hate it the government already labeled them a terrorist group. The government labels vets and preppers terrorist too. That’s all it takes to have your rights removed from you. NDAA added on to what the patriot act took. I’m for real Google fema camps. At first I didn’t believe it but when my logic took over I had no choice. Why hire private security for fema camps from haliburton and KB&R? Why barbed wire that points inward? A lot of sh!t is going down ppl don’t realize. America is turning into a police state. Its sad but its happening. If they manage to get your guns its done. They won’t be afraid of knives or pitch forks… very sad times we live in.

    Even worse a bill like this could pass in IL and then NRA will spend another 20 years fighting it. What about us in the meantime?

  33. Would Ill-Annoy gunmakers come out and say that they would leave the state if this passes? I haven’t heard them say as much so far. It seems interesting that the ISRA isn’t pushing them to come out and say this – a pathetic crap pot like this place (and yes, I live here) can ill afford to lose jobs at LMT and others. And, would gunmakers in the rest of the country please help by boycotting Sears, Motorola, Sara Lee products, Wrigleys and United Airlines to begin with? All of these businesses have been moving offices and factories out of state, and, they need an excuse to move more jobs out. This would be a powerful (and very peaceful) punch to the collective Ill-Annoy and $h1tcago establishment’s nose. It might also serve as a warning to other states contemplating similar repressive regimes to back off.

  34. Hey guys. I live in WA, but I have a great idea: let’s nullify the $hit out of whoever is trying to get this passed.

    Take their job away and put them in jail; away from their families. THAT will send a message to legislators.

    -Lima-1, upholding his Oath.

  35. Just wait for the Obama-Biden shoe to drop. We’ll be looking at the Feinstein — NY and IL bills with nothing but affection.

  36. I guess Illinois is not finacially broke anymore or the pension mess is all cleaned up or we arn’t facing another downgrade by the
    the credit rating agencies and every other crisis in this State the Madigan, Emmanuel, Cullerton and Quinn have to devote all their
    time and efforts trying to deny law biding citizens their constiutional righ to bear arms and not let us protect our families when we
    our houses. Its OK for them to have armed body guards but the rest of us should just stand defenseless against the gangbangers.

  37. Crazy diseased libtard evil. If there are any democrats (still) on this forum that are pro-gun, please talk (beat) some sense into the skulls of your fellow dem friends who are of the libtard persuasion. Got liberty?

  38. Are there any ISRA members gonna be here at the capitol today Sunday the 06th of January … Im here now! I just drove over from UrbanaChampaign…

  39. A President of the United States who was worthy of the office and honored his sworn oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States would order federal law enforcement officers to surround the Illinois State House, arrest all legislators participating in this flagrant unconstitutional action, perpwalk them in handcuffs in front of the mainstream media to the nearest federal courthouse, incarcerate them without bond, and try them all for treason. And members of Congress who took their oaths seriously should demand that he do so!!!

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