Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) writes:
Just today I had a member call me and ask how much longer the ISRA was going to pester him to call his legislators about gun control bills. My answer was, “Until we win.” . . .
Ladies and gentlemen, I need to speak to you very plainly about what we are facing in Springfield. What’s going in the Capitol is not some sort of new-age encounter group where gun owners and gun grabbers are searching weepy-eyed for an elusive piece of common ground.
No, what we are engaged in is a nothing less than a good old fashioned street fight. This is the kind of fight where – in the end – one guy goes home while the other guy gets carted away in a box. If you and your fellow gun owners do not stand up for what you believe in, your gun rights will be carted away and dumped on the scrap heap of liberties sacrificed in the name of political and social “progress.”
Many of you may believe that we will win this battle because the facts are on our side. Indeed, if this was a battle over the facts about private firearm ownership, our freedom would be assured.
Unfortunately, the battle for gun rights is not about facts – it is about out and out hatred. The followers of the gun control movement hate people who own guns, plain and simple. There is no way around it – if you own guns, you are the object of the gun controllers’ hatred. As we have witnessed the past few months, the hatred is so deep that these people will stop at nothing to eradicate your freedoms.
Why do gun controllers hate us so much? The answer is actually very simple. The armed citizen is symbolic of freedom and self determination. As our nation’s history has shown, that freedom bestows prosperity and well being. As long as a person is armed, they are free – unrestrained by social convention, unburdened by the priorities of others, unshackled by the intrusion of government.
On the other hand, gun controllers see self-reliance as being an obstacle to social progress. They view freedom as a selfish pursuit that reaps only inequality and despair. The gun controllers and their ilk yearn for a society where the government enforces equity among all citizens at the expense of liberty.
So, ladies and gentlemen, you see that the armed citizen just doesn’t fit into the gun-controllers’ recipe for social and political progress. The gun controllers demand that the underlying philosophy of personal liberty and self reliance be eradicated. Thus, guns and those who own them must be purged from society if society is to “progress.”
Our refusal to submit to their ideal of a gun-free America is why they hate us. And this hatred is nothing new. The following is a quote from an editorial appearing in the February 2, 1997 edition of the “Philadelphia Inquirer.” In the editorial, author Jack Cobbs depicts the hatred gun controllers feel towards gun owners:
“I may have to live in a world with NRA members, but I don’t want them on the school board, or the vestry of my church, or as leaders of my children’s Scout troops, any more than I want KKK members or people who think it’s OK for terrorists to bomb airplanes.”
Cobbs goes on to say:
“Like most of us, they (NRA members) cherish their positions as responsible citizens, and if it becomes clear that the price they must pay to belong to the NRA is to become social pariahs, most will opt for responsibility.”
Cobbs’ editorial plainly shows what we are up against. Don’t fool yourself, Cobbs is not an extremist – he is a moderate among those who support gun control. These people are not interested in any sort of “national dialog” or “balancing the rights of gun owners with public safety,” or any of the other post-Newtown claptrap we’ve seen in the press. The only thing the gun controllers want is to see you hand over your guns – all your guns – to the local police and then just go away.
This is why we must continue to fight in Springfield. This is why you need to keep calling your representatives and senators. They need to be reminded day in and day out that the right to keep and bear arms is not negotiable. They need to be reminded that incremental diminishment of our rights is not acceptable.
The gun controllers are patient. Their plan is to rely on gun owner complacency – to wait us out. The gun controllers expect you to stop making calls to your representatives and senators. They expect you to get distracted by other pursuits while they remain focused on taking your guns away from you.
Gun owner complacency is responsible for people like Obama and Quinn being elected. The more complacent gun owners become, the worse the political landscape becomes. The more gun owners let others make decisions for them, the more oppressive the outcomes of those decisions become.
Remember – preservation and protection of the right to keep and bear arms is a moral imperative. With a diminished Second Amendment, this country will become unrecognizable to those who cherish freedom and self determination.
Richard Pearson
ISRA Executive Director
He had a book on pistol shooting. He used the pistol to shoot himself in the head. Therefore, the NRA saved the day.
well done.
Sounds like Richard is finally starting to get it. I have gone around with him in the past about the ISRA being too soft and too willing to compromise. The vehemence of this latest round of anti – gun, anti freedom hatred must have woken him up to the real agenda.
I was curious if you knew for a fact that the Delta agent called, since it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen assumptions like that here, and you didn’t provide any direct sourcing for the original story (although a little Google-fu found it here). But even that story didn’t say specifically that it was the Delta agent who called, so it still falls under the category of an unsourced allegation, at that point.
However, I did find this line in a Yahoo Sports article about the arrest: “The Delta agent was required by law to inform the police, which she did.” I don’t know why I’m surprised at that law, but somehow I still am. The fact that it’s a law for the agent to notify law enforcement, despite the gun being legal for them to transport for him, and legal at his destination — not that that should matter either, frankly, because you’re just contracting with them for transportation from Point A to B, and what you do after you get there is none of their concern — just floors me. If the agent didn’t call, tell me who would be harmed? Process the gun as baggage just like they would in Orlando, and in two minutes it’s on the way to the belly of the plane and nobody’s the wiser. The gun’s leaving town, no arrest, no fuss. Frankly, even on an inbound flight, I see no responsibility for them to call. Again, the contract is for Point A – B transport, and the laws at the destination and your compliance with them are no concern of theirs.
I suppose I can’t fault the Delta agent for following the law and calling (although I can, a little, and do), but it’s definitely a stupid law that makes them do it. But then, what’s one more stupid law, especially in New York?
It’s all becoming more and more Orwellian, isn’t it!
While its insanely redundant, its got a silver lining. This guy being a prize fighter and having a bankroll big enough for some ace caliber legal counsel combined with the high profile nature of this case is going to put the law to the test much faster than if the average workaday citizen were pulled for the same offense.
Basically, if he beats this he paves the way for us to do the same and overturn it IN THE MEDIA SPOTLIGHT. I don’t wish him any harm but any ally in this fight is a good one and he’s in place any of us could be.
“Skin that smokewagon and see what happens!”
FB is a private company. I’ hope they do more things like this to drive companies back to having their own web pages vice riding on facebook.
I’m not on FB and don’t want to be, so I find it irritating when companies choose FB as their web presence vice having their own sites.
Dear Residents in Illinois, If you would like to know just exactly what your legislature can do take a look at
the law Maryland put into affect October 1, 2013. The theory being that if the law abiding citizens couldn’t get guns than neither could the criminals yes it is an over simplification but the Governor was bound and determined that it pass; and pass it did. Beretta couldn’t open their mouths being in the middle of a 10,000 unit contract t0 the Federal Government(tyrant). There was enough stink raised that
they did Grandfather in anything owned prior to Oct. 1. So please continue to call, so what has happened to us in Md. won’t happen to you. Good Luck, and may God Bless all of you.
P.S. My second son who was an EMT worked in an E.R. in southern Chicago, I asked him if they were a level 1 trauma center,his response was my God no we get enough gunshot wounds in being a Level 2. Yes he is one of those young men who was military, with a sharp shooters ranking. He saw every night the damage guns could do in the hands of criminals.
“Why do gun controllers hate us so much? The answer is actually very simple. The armed citizen is symbolic of freedom and self determination. ”
Nope, they are simply afraid cause they can’t and don’t want to shoot back.
Unfortunately for them, Darwin’s thoughts, are alive and well.
While I support everything the ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson says. There is one point where I diverge.
The gun grabbers need us for 3 things; 1) the point he made; 2) our money to fund their liberal agenda; and 3) our votes to change the constitution to what they believe it should read.
The only way the Constitution becomes relevant again, in their eyes, will be by making those changes.
The rich stay rich by spending our money for us, they never spend much of their own.
I also encourage everyone to keep fighting for our rights!