USA -(Ammoland.com)- IGOLD (Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day) is coming up on April 5, 2017. By now you should have received your IGOLD mailing. Please refer to the enclosed lobby cards (palm cards) as soon as possible.
The Senate deadline for bills has been extended. This is not surprising. In past years, we have seen it extended to May 31 and beyond. This means that we need to be on guard all the time.
There are really dangerous bills out there. HB2354 (Willis), Lethal Order of Protection, is on its third reading in the house.
There are two bills from Senator Harmon; SB1657 (Gun Dealer Licensing) and SB1985 (Ammunition Lead Ban) which are there for only one reason: to make it tough on law-abiding gun owners. Senator Harmon is President Pro Tempore, second in command to the President of the Senate, and therefore wields a lot of power. Also, SB1291 (Morrison) which is a look- alike bill to HB2354. It is going to be a busy spring session.
Illinois has done well in the National Collegiate Smallbore Championships. John Hirsch of the Illinois Institute of Technology, and John Finegan of the University of Illinois both made the second team All-Stars. This is excellent considering no Illinois College or University offers a scholarship program for collegiate competitive shooting. This is a problem we will have to address in the future.
For those who have never had the nauseating experience of hearing testimony given before the Senate and House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, you are the lucky ones. The Judiciary Committees have become landing zones for crackpot ideas.
In legislatures, people who want to promote and protect certain issues, form a caucus. The Sportsmen’s Caucus is a great example.
Members of the Illinois General Assembly, both Republicans and Democrats, join together to promote hunting, fishing and the shooting sports in Illinois.
When it comes to gun issues, there is a gaggle of anti-gun groups who promote any legislation that restricts law-abiding gun owners. By the same token, any bill that is an expansion of gun rights for law-abiding citizens will cause the streets to be awash with blood and carnage will spread throughout the land, according to these anti-gunners.
These are the same people who fought, and are still fighting concealed carry and any expansion of concealed carry. If you recall, they predicted gun fights over parking places, shoot-outs at traffic accidents and guns going off by themselves.
Of course, none of this happened. I call this group the “Chicken Little Caucus”.
The “Chicken Little Caucus” lines up flocks of Henny Pennies to make sure everyone knows every pro-gun bill will cause the sky to fall. These people are masters of the non-sequitur (false arguments to support invalid conclusions).
Typically, these take the form of tragic stories used to oppose one of our bills, or to promote one of their anti-gun bills.
The use of these invalid arguments occurs because the “Chicken Little Caucus” decides what they want their conclusion to be and then try to cobble up testimony to support their fallacious arguments attacking gun owners’ rights.
Remember, ideas become law but there is no requirement they be good ideas. Illinois law is riddled with bad ideas that have become law.
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To keep up with current legislation, please follow this link: https://www.isra.org/Advocacy/Legislation.aspx
Please remember: when you click on a particular bill, it will take you directly to the State of Illinois General Assembly website. The ISRA has no control over the ilga.gov website.
Upcoming Events:
For more information, visit www.isra.org!
Saturday, April 1, 2017:
Range Work Day
Sunday, April 2, 2017:
Black Powder League
Friday, March 31, Saturday, April 1, Sunday, April 2, 2017:
DTI Inc. Basic Defensive Handgun Course – Instructor John S. Farnam
Wednesday, April 5, 2017:
IGOLD
Sunday, April 9, 2017:
American Legion Service Rifle Match
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