You know all the champagne popping and huzzahs you heard when the Illinois House and Senate passed a concealed carry bill just before adjourning for the year? Well the war ain’t quite over. The Illinois State Rifle Association‘s Don Moran figures the legislature has poked the anti-gun hornet’s nest and he’s bracing for the swarm. He sent this email blast over the weekend:
Fellow Members:
As most of you know by now, a “concealed carry” bill passed both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly yesterday, the last day of the legislature’s regular session. By doing so, Illinois has partially met its obligations as ordered by the federal appeals court. The next set of milestones includes getting the governor to sign the legislation and for the state police and other government agencies to implement the provisions of the new concealed carry law . . .
The bottom line up front is that anyone who feels that the war has now been won is sorely mistaken. The government of Illinois is not any less anti-gun today than it was at this time last year. Passage of this concealed carry bill has not transformed Illinois into Texas by any stretch of the imagination. While the concealed carry bill has left gun owners feeling lukewarm, the gun control movement is boiling mad. You can expect the gun controllers and their friends in the legislature’s anti-gun caucus to come back at us with a vengeance. You better believe that the gun-grabbers will make sure that the road to concealed carry implementation a rocky one. You better believe that the gun controllers will redouble their efforts to make private firearm ownership too expensive and too impractical for the average citizen.
As I write this letter to you, the ISRA’s team of attorneys and legislative analysts are pouring over the concealed carry bill to evaluate both the obvious and the more subtle ramifications contained in the bill’s language. I will not speak to the details of the bill until that analysis is complete. However, it is important that you understand that the bill affects all gun owners – whether they decide to apply for concealed carry or not. There is no illusion that this legislative solution to the court order was arrived at in an atmosphere of trust. Therefore, at this juncture, we are not entirely sure whether the concealed carry bill is an honest effort to enhance your security, or a gun control Trojan Horse that endangers your right to keep and bear arms. When we have a better understanding of the bill and its implications, I will issue further communication with you.
I’m sure you can appreciate that it’s been a long road from where we were a decade ago to where we are today. Once a decision in the Heller case was reached, we all knew it was just a matter of time before an opportunity would arise to bring the concealed carry issue to a head in Illinois. The McDonald and Shepard cases laid the groundwork for the final push to compel Illinois to allow average citizens to carry defensive firearms for the protection of themselves and their families. Although our job is far from over, I am very proud of the ISRA’s leadership role in forcing Illinois to implement concealed carry.
In closing, I would like to recognize the efforts of our Executive Director, Richard Pearson and the rest of the ISRA lobbying staff. Without their diligence and tenacity, the legislature could have easily passed a very restrictive concealed carry bill yet still meet the requirements of the court order. Thanks to our lobbyists’ hard work, the concealed carry bill was passed without being encumbered with gun bans, or magazine restrictions.
I would also like to thank our many local partners who got behind this fight for the long haul. Among them are Illinois Carry, Second Amendment Sisters, Chicago Firearm Safety Association, Guns Save Life, and the McHenry County Concealed Carry Association. It goes without saying that, at the national level, the help Illinois gun owners got from the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation was invaluable in helping us join the 49 other states that allow good citizens to defend themselves. We are also very grateful for the moral support lent by our fellow NRA state affiliates from across the nation.
So, until you hear from me again, I ask that you sit tight and be prepared to respond to our calls for support. I cannot overemphasize the fact that passage of concealed carry is not the end of the war to preserve and protect your gun rights. We have merely opened a new battlefront where success will require a vigorous defense of what we have accomplished and an aggressive push to achieve what is right. The ISRA draws its strength from its members. I know I can count on you all to step up and face the challenges that lie ahead. Those future challenges will be great, but not insurmountable. Preservation of the right to keep and bear arms is an American cultural imperative. I am confident that the cause of the righteous will prevail over those who seek to diminish the principles upon which our great nation was founded.
Sincerely,
Don Moran
President
Illinois State Rifle Association
Abstinence is imperative.
Age appropriateness is also important.
It is best that this subject be left unspoken until you are old enough to know better.
You must make sure that no one is watching (especially children).
You must be very discrete when preforming this act.
Of course you have the right to do this, but it is best that you never do it in public.
You must use every safety precaution available when performing this act.
People should not be doing this without proper supervision.
————————————Sarah Brady against guns.
What? You thought I was talking about sex??? Good Lord “NO”. If it were sex they would have said:
Abstinence is stupid.
We need to start teaching masturbation in 3rd grade.
This needs to be presented in public school just like math.
Children should be taught at an early age.
Dogs, Cats, Goats, snakes, toys… just as long as you don’t talk about something illegal like “husband, wife, God, monogamy, marriage, and responsibility”.
Safety? Use a condom… here take a few extra for the weekend.
Don’t tell your parents, it’s none of their business.
That’s an awesome retort. It’s exactly the double-speak that these gun control pushers perform. Freedom for some, not for others.
Citation, please.
Otherwise I call shadow boxing on Tom.
“Sit tight and be ready” sounds like good advice for all of us wherever we live. The gungrabbers and enemies of the people will never be finished until we finish them. They’re more dangerous than ever now, with that little fvcking Napoleon out of New York buying up states like they were monopoly pieces.
Get ready for a good fight. In fact, a lot of good fights.
Quinn will veto it. I said that before on the original post thread. I stand by that. Once he does the Chicago thuggery will make those senators rue the day they were born and there will be no over ride in the senate. It is as plain as day or put another way, SOP for the antis. Now does that mean that all of Illinois will instantly become CCW. Nope. The state will ask for more time to implement more rules. The judge will grant it. Since they are adjourned, don’t expect anything til next season.
The compromise bill was voted on with just a couple hours of review. In a couple days, we just may be wishing Quinn will veto this bill. Let’s hope I’m wrong, but these folks pull that kind of crap all the time. One comma or parenthesis in the wrong place can have a dramatic affect and the anti-s knew they were getting a cram-down, so I’m afraid they may have an Easter egg waiting for us in this bill.
Whether Quinn vetoes it or not does not really matter as enough votes were garnered to over-ride a any gubernational veto. The best he can do is sit on it for 60 days which is the amount of time he gets to either sign or veto. However, the court will not grant any extension. Lisa Madigan has tried and it’s been denied.
If I recall correctly, the court denied Madigan’s request because the bills were being worked on when she petitioned the court. Once again, for clarity, it doesn’t matter how many voted for the original bill, once it’s been vetoed the over-ride vote is tougher to accomplish. I am betting that the senate will not vote to over ride due to that Chicago thuggery that I spoke of.
My impression has been that the anti-gun crowd considers going to SCOTUS specifically with the Illinois “no issue” situation as pretty high-risk.
Justice Kagan surprisingly granted Madigan an extension to file for certiorari, but that doesn’t mean that the Court will actually grant cert. More likely than not, it won’t (I think that SCOTUS is done with 2A cases for a while). So little Lisa has her t1t in a wringer.
As far as the 7th Circuit is concerned, it gave IL six months to do something. And it did. If the governor chooses to veto, I don’t think that the Circuit Court is likely to back him with more time. Why would it? The legislature has spoken.
Let’s hope so. Now, Illinois also appears to have something called “amendatory veto”, so I wouldn’t put it past the Governor to try having some more “fun” before it’s all over. We should know soon enough.
If he doesn’t sign it by June 8 (I think that’s the drop dead date), the Circuit Court will issue its injunction because the terms of the stay, enactment of a concealed carry law, will not have been accomplished. That injunction against enforcement will remain in effect until Quinn signs; and if he vetoes, it will remain n effect indefinitely. I am not sure Rahm wants to go over the “anarchy” cliff. My 2cents.
This.
My question is “So they have approved a concealed carry bill. What about us poor souls of this slave state that want to take advantage of it? What means of concealed carry will be in effect come June 9th? If you have not approved the courses and all, then you have not approved it. In that case, don’t we default to the idea of ‘There is no legal concealed carry law’ and we can start to carry a concealed weapon on the 9th?”
This.
My question is “So they have approved a concealed carry bill. What about us poor souls of this slave state that want to take advantage of it? What means of concealed carry will be in effect come June 9th? If you have not approved the courses and all, then you have not approved it. In that case, don’t we default to the idea of ‘There is no legal concealed carry law’ and we can start to carry a concealed weapon on the 9th?”
I wish IL well. Chicago, not so much. I’d love to see the state go “shall issue.”
At the very least I’d like to see the entire country shall issue. Not being able to exercise your rights because of your mailing address is wrong on so many levels. Ideally, I’d like to see the entire country constitutional carry. Well things have gotten better since I started this fight and here’s hoping they will keep getting better.
Dan –
ISRA’s team of attorneys is “poring” over it, not “pouring” over it.
Just sayin’….
Oops. Sorry, Dan.
I meant “Don”.
(heh-heh-heh)
No problem, HBirsh. 🙂
Well I guess I can use the money I’m not spending on ammo for GOA and SAF. I pisses me off that I have to spend money to off set the portion of my money that is paying for the elected grabbers efforts.
Inside scoop: ISRA’s trying not to antagonize the governor.
Governor might just use his amendatory veto to re-write the bill and completely fornicate this bill up and leave a(nother) mess for the General Assembly to clean up come the fall veto session.
John
And now the AG wants 30 more days – http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-madigan-asks-for-30-more-days-on-concealed-carry-law-20130603,0,6700777.story
How likely is the judge to say, “30 days? I gave you 180. Snooze you lose”?
Well, if any common sense is applied, that’s what will happen. So, she probably gets what she wants, cuz there ain’t much common sense in any branch of the government anymore.
But why do they want this delay? What’s in it for them?
What’s in it for the gun grabbers to get another delay?
1) More time to do damage to any headway.
2) Keep things as they are… gun free (except for the gang bangers and the fuzz)
I look forward to the day in which Illinois has not only concealed carry for its residents but also has reciprocity with my home state of Michigan. Hopefully, it won’t take too long.
As an Illini, we made countless calls, wrote letters to the editors (like it much good with the Chicago papers, even the so called ‘conservative’ Tribune whose editorial boar railed against it), and lobbied our legislators hard on this one. Lets hope Quinn does the right thing here. Ol man Madigan is for this bill and he has a lot of sway.
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