Washington monument in Chicago (courtesy samgrubersjewishartmonuments.blogspot.com)

Todd Vandermyde (not shown) is to realpolitik what Texas is to pretty women. Or something like that. To land The Land of Lincoln a concealed carry law that isn’t gun control in disguise, Todd’s been fighting the good fight in Springfield. His job was made harder by the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case re: New York’s “good and substantial reason” provision in their concealed carry legislation. Well that’s Gov. Pat Quinn’s story, anyway. chicagotribune.com reports that Quinn’s still urging Attorney General Madigan to appeal a concealed carry mandate from a federal appeals panel to the Supremes. In the run-up to the June 9 deadline, Todd files this interim report via [ammoland.com] . . .

Last week we spent a lot of time working on killing off HB-2265. A bill that would set up a mandatory 3 year minimum sentence for an AG-UUW.

What might seem like an unconventional pairing, Governor Quinn’s office has been engaged in helping kill this proposal by Mayor Emanuel due to its nearly $1 BILLION cost to the state.

Mayor Emanuel has taken to calling legislators personally to try and sway them, while city lobbyists have taken to portraying anyone opposing the measure as soft on crime.

This is very simply a 2013 version of the Safe Neighborhoods fight of 2000 only it’s on steroids. We have a mayor who acts like a petulant child demanding he get things his way and stamping his feet.

In putting the votes together it was a simple math equation that said hanging on to a majority of republicans, along with downstate democrats, and adding in the black caucus made it nearly impossible for the City to find the 60 votes to pass the bill. While we have tried to tell them how to fix it, they have refused.

We start with the fact that the state has taken little to no action on passing a carry law to address the Court’s ruling in Moore/Shepard. They have done nothing to address the unconstitutional finds of the Court on the basic UUW and AG-UUW statute. Not to mention the ruling by a Cook County Judge in Mosely where not only did he find that the statute was unconstitutional it also violated the disproportionate penalties rule.

After tying them in a knot all week, they decided to go over to the senate and try to add their language as a floor amendment to SB-1003 late Friday. Same stuff, different chamber.

All the while the City continues to demand that they get to set their own rules for carry in the city and that the carry law contain no preemption language. My response – “Yea Right”. Add to this that the Senate continues to hold secret talks about a carry bill and the House seems to have put on hold any more floor debates.

Add to the mix talks of drafting a bill dealing with mental health issues and FOID reporting and Sheriff Dart’s idea about picking up revoked FOID cards and firearms reporting. Next week we will have another run at things and we’ll see where it all is going.

Call your state senators starting Monday and tell them to oppose Mayor Emanuel’s proposal for SB1003.

Call your state representative and tell them to continue to oppose Mayor Emanuel’s Billion dollar boondoggle, until concerns about out of state gun owners, and the carry issues have been addressed.

Continue to call your reps and senators and tell them

NO BAD CARRY BILL.

(Carry legislation must include shall-issue, statewide preemption, carry on public transportation, and commercially available training.)

Session is far from over with about 6 weeks left. We should take heart that we have made it this far without any significant anti-gun proposals being passed.

As I said, more will come, and we will have to defeat it as well as work on passing a carry law. I fully believe that we will have to kill a bad carry bill to prove we can and are serious about what we want and fought to get.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

37 COMMENTS

  2. The “Keep ’em ignorant!” industry will next attempt a ban on magazines with more than ten pages or any high-calibre content…

  3. Since you mentioned Texas women, I have to tell you- you have no idea what you are going to find down here. When it comes to beautiful women, Texas is like the spring from which everything else flows….

  4. I’m glad we’ve got Vandermyde here in Illinois.

    If he weren’t here, we would have been NY, CO, CT a long time ago, only worse.

    John

    • Give to the ISRA. Every bit helps. If Illinois tips CCW, then national reciprocity may stand a chance. (A punchers chance, but a chance.)

      • Do you really want the federal government involved in your carrying of a gun? I don’t..

        I thought we’re trying to keep the federal government out of our lives? Call me crazy

        • What are you talking about? This has nothing to do with the federal bills currently being debated. The US Supreme Court struck down an unconstitutional state law, as is their prerogative, and instructed the state they had a set period of time to enact one that was or none would be had. That was the USSC actually doing its job for one of the first times since it was established.

    • Hell yeah. Todd is one of us and has done a great job for us here in Illinois.

      Reading the Chicago papers you would think it was 1985. We still get the “wild west” discussions in the media, and shootings over parking spots will happen, etc, etc… Todd has to fight this on a daily basis and keeps all of us at Illinoiscarry.com up to date on the bills, amendments, etc.

      The joke that is the IL general assembly is torture for gun owners. Many of these pols have lived in a land where since the 1960s all carry has been banned. That means the average non-gun owner here automatically thinks Handgun or carry = criminal. It tough to change a mindset that has been taught to you your whole life.

  5. “mayor who acts like a petulant child demanding he get things his way and stamping his feet” – Todd knows his stuff.

    Tiny Dancer and his rubberstamp City Council can go and suck it. Just once, maybe these statist Machine hacks could support something that doesn’t f*&% over the average citizen. Why not let Chicagoans (legally) pack heat? We certainly can’t do any worse than the 400+ that have already been victims of lead poisoning so far this year.

    Illustrating Chicago’s Murders, Homicides, Violence and Idiocy at heyjackass.com

    • Why, you wouldn’t have a decent city then. Libtards couldn’t skip around smelling the flowers on the way down the yellow brick road. Murder? I think not. Murder is CC holders defending themselves against liberal gods, Randy

      • Soon my friend. Born and raised here. Crap loads of family and other ties here. But soon nevertheless. In the meantime, I’m going to bitch and support individuals like Todd V.

        Also, one other thing to add. Those 50 Aldercreatures that enhabit City Hall are considered “officers of the law” and therefore are allowed to CC. CC for me but not for the.

  6. Thank goodness for Todd! I will only believe this state will have a reasonable CC law when I see it, but at least we have a fighting chance with people like Todd on our side.

  7. Todd is an awesome person to have in our corner… thank god he isnt batting for the other team 🙂

  8. Hi Robert,

    I’m flattered that you chose my photo to accompany your piece, but I’m afraid I can’t license the work for external use… it’s only available for use on my site. Could you please use a different photo?

    Sorry for the trouble,
    Brady

  10. God bless Todd Vandermyde. He is tireless (seemingly, he would probably admit to being tired) in his defense of the 2nd amendment in Springfield. Gun owners in Illinois owe a lot to guys like Todd and John Boch. I hope to someday shake their hands and buy them the adult beverage of their choice.

  11. The ISRA is a fantastic organization to have in Illinois. Keep up the good work.

    If Illinois does go “May issue” we need to modify our tactic come election time. We can point out how they jumped at the chance to create a bill that nobody wants.

    What’s total BS is that they just refuse to try it. Why they can’t just grab a state with a good CCW model and adapt the verbage for our own?
    With the court ruling, they had an opportunity to make it happen without pissing off their fan base. They could argue they had no choice.

    Now they risk being proven wrong if a good CCW bill goes through. I wonder how that will play out.

    • “The ISRA is a fantastic organization to have in Illinois. Keep up the good work.

      The ISRA gave IL. the whole FOID system so their hands are a little dirty. For most of it’s modern existents the ISRA and all of it’s upper leadership have been pure Jim Zumbo types. I have seen this first hand. Decades of the ISRA stance that hunters don’t need guns like that nasty black AR rifle have allowed things to get as bad as it has gotten. ISRA has all to often been happy to sell down the river guys who own black rifles.

  12. A few points of clarification if anyone can provide them. Frist, what is AG-UUW? I figure UUW is unlawful use of a weapon, but AG in myspeak is Attorney General. Second, since we haven’t had a report in a long time, what is it that Rahm wants that he thinks he can ram down the Legislatures throat? And why would it cost the state a billion per annum?

    • Hope this clears it up, Illinois law is fun 🙂

      AUUW = Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Class 4 felony punishable by a mandatory year in prison, not to exceed three years. Found unconstitutional by Judge Brown on grounds it is a disproportionate sentence. Subsequent AUUW charges are (right now) a Class 2 felony.

      I’m not gonna cite the entire AUUW statute as it is LONG but it is 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6 and basically says that you are committing AUUW when you satisfy one of the two following conditions:
      a. Carry a concealed firearm/taser/weapon on or about your person or in your vehicle, except when on your own property, in your abode, place of business, or private property WITH permission from the property owner whose land you are on (without permission is BAD); or
      b. Carry on or about your person a weapon on city streets blah blah except when you’re going to say, a gun store, on your own property, and the other crap above;
      (And one of the following factors is present)
      subpars (A) through (I), excluding (F) which is blank
      Weapon is uncased, unloaded, ammunition is “immediately accessible”
      Weapon is uncased, loaded, and immediately accessible (i.e. on you)
      No FOID card (which should be stricken because IL Supreme Court ruling stated non-residents cannot get a FOID card)
      Adjudicated delinquent minor
      High on drugs
      Order of protection issued against offender within past 2 years
      Engaged in commission of violent misdemeanor or felony involving threats of violence against a person or property owned by person
      Underage possession of a handgun

  13. “I fully believe that we will have to kill a bad carry bill to prove we can …”

    Rounding up the votes against a “may issue” bill so as not to leave the legislature a choice but to pass a “shall issue” one for fear of having “constitutional carry” come June looks like a pretty tough game.

  14. I’ve been utilizing my ccw permit here for years, it’s called the second amendment. Hopefully now, however, I’ll be able to pack something a bit more substantial then my P3AT, and not have to worry about printing.

    One can hope.

    • The Federal appeals court set a deadline, June 9th, for the striking of the UUW prohibition on all carry, after that date it takes the force of law.

      The hurdle Illinois is trying to overcome is “homerule”. Any state law that preempts city legislative powers must be passed with a super majority of state legislature.

      At the last vote of a similar good ISRA/Illinois Carry.com supported carry bill, we were only 3-5 votes short of the super majority (if I remember right).

      Therefore, I am quietly optimistic. We have the fulcrum (the fed court deadline) and we have the leverage (majority legis votes). If we don’t get what we want, we go to Constitution carry. To me, the biggest hurdle is making sure the legislature members loosely on our side don’t surrender early and accept a bad carry bill (“may” issue, highly restrictive, etc).

      • Let me understand this. So:

        (1) If you pass “shall issue” with enough votes to override the home rule, the Governor’s won’t dare a veto since that would usher in constitutional carry.
        (2) If you pass “shall issue” without overriding the home rule, downstate will get its concealed carry, Chicago won’t, and then the only hope is a new lawsuit and the 7th circuit, and who knows how that will go.
        (3) If you pass “may issue”, life sucks.

        Looks like there are enough votes against (3), but not enough for (1). Option (2) seems the most likely one. So, the only strategy for preventing this option is to sway those 3-5 wavering votes for “shall issue” carry?

  16. I think its up in the air. They are pretty far apart on the may issue and shall issue, but they do have a deadline. If they don’t pass anything by June we get constitutional carry. Todd V is the man and does wander for us

  18. What is the risk to stonewalling and defaulting to constitutional carry?

    I can only see one down side. At any time in the future, whether in a few months or a few decades, the Illinois legislature could have the votes to pass a “may issue” concealed carry license scheme — and it could be quite a prohibitive scheme at that. Of course future legislatures could have the votes to pass an almost unrestricted “shall issue” concealed carry license scheme as well.

    I suspect that once a “may issue” or “shall issue” law is passed, it will be hard to change it. The safest approach for concealed carry enthusiasts, in my mind, is for the legislature to pass a fairly non-restrictive “shall issue” concealed carry license scheme before June 9th. While that is not what some people in the legislature want (those who want a highly restrictive “may issue” scheme), the totally and completely unrestricted constitutional carry scheme that looms has to be incredibly distasteful.

    I guess time will tell.

    • Home Rule. Read the Illinois Constitution. It’s royally messed up. Any muncipality over 25k (I believe that’s the threshold but maybe fewer) can pass legislation like “carrying a concealed bullet” and dumb crap like that, as long as it’s a Class A misdemeanor and doesn’t carry a sentence of longer than 364 days in jail. Well, add about 10 more Class As like “carrying a holster” or (insert STUPID STUPID law here) and you’ve got just short of 11 years in jail. It’s gonna be a patchwork of that crap all up and down I-80, I-74 by Peoria, through Bloomington-Normal, and every other larger city where the mayor is a member of Bloomberg’s little rag tag group MAIG. Your duty will be to know EXACTLY what you can and cannot do, EXACTLY where you are crossing into that area. How is that possible? I hope the State buys me a GPS for my car accurate down to the millimeter…pfft heh. I’d rather not have Constitutional Carry but I’ll sure take it over may issue any day of the week. The court system will be a mess either way, it makes no difference only who is suing whom.

      Chicago and Cook County may well fold when they see what happens if Constitutional Carry into effect (hint: Federal district court judges will issue Lisa Madigan more orders to show cause than she can imagine, tip of the iceberg too).

      Cook County will just keep arresting and charging people with AUUW, they don’t care about being sued. They don’t believe CA7’s ruling applies. Anita Alvarez needs to read People v. Nance (Illinois Supreme Court, 2000), that’ll change her mind. Or a federal civil rights lawsuit under Section 1983, that could change her mind too, and McCarthy’s, Dart’s, Lisa’s, Rahm’s, everyone who decides to not comply with the injunction.

  19. Can’t say enough good things about Todd V and how he has fostered a sense of community among the gun owners and 2A supporters in Illinois!

    I am new to the scene (arrived just before Sandy Hook but that situation really jettisoned my advocacy) but from my newbie vantage point, it seems like having someone like Todd V helping guide strategy here in IL has been invaluable.

  20. If they dont pass anuthing by the deadline then we have no CC law on the books since our blanket ban will be dead. Aftwr that time they can and will craft something. That is why we are pushing for shall issue and state wide preemption right now. But of course the Chicago machine and Crook county want total control.

  21. HB0831 HA1 (may issue permit with multiple violations of Amendments contained within Bill of Rights) was just crushed to pieces today in the IL House by a massive margin. Madigan must’ve felt empowered by the recent cert denial in Kachalsky. Even Rep. Flowers (who HAAATES guns) voted against it. Frankly, I couldn’t even read the whole thing because it made me ill. McCarthy would’ve been the issuing authority in Chicago, Dart in Cook County…yeah I’m sure a lot of us regular folk would be getting permits then even if we do have proper cause.

    It was a great day for gun rights all around, with the exception of continuing to strip vets of their gun rights w/o due process.

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