FOIA is your friend. These documents come directly from the second in command in the Land of Lincoln, the Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s office (when she’s not waiting in line to buy marijuana). First, let’s set the stage.
October 28, 2019
The Lt. Governor‘s office reached out to Sara Knizhnik, who is with the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. She’s also an organizer with the Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition.
The subject: R3 grants (more on that later).
“…looking forward fo speaking with you and hearing about (what) the coalition (ILGVPC) is doing“.
Moving on.
October 30 to November 5, 2019
A bunch of planning to chat via phone.
November 7, 2019
Email sent from Emily Harwell of the Lt. Governor’s office discussing an opportunity to participate in the grant-making process.
November 8, 2019:
Sara Knizhnik forwards the message to members of the Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition:
Who are the members of the Illinois Gun Violence Prevention Coalition that are part of this? Who is Sara encouraging to “have a say in how the new state level funding for violence prevention will be implemented”?
You can see them all here. They include . . .
Openly partisan groups
Michael Bloomberg’s moms who demand gun control…and Giffords, too
A political action committee with the sole purpose of lobbying for gun control
Meet G-PAC
You may be wondering, what funds these grants? Refer back to those R3 grants mentioned in the first email and also what Sara Knizhnik encourages the ILGVP Coalition to get involved in.
That brings us to January 13, 2020:
Twenty-five percent of the tax revenue raised from legal weed sales will fund the R3 grants. So when you buy weed in Illinois, you’re helping fund gun control groups (or the programs they support…and those that support them).
Is anyone surprised, though, that gun grabbers would use vice money to further their cause?
From USA Today:
The marijuana industry in Illinois could eventually bring in $1.69 billion to $2.58 billion in annual revenue, according to a study by Colorado consulting firm Freedman and Koski. That would mean an additional $440 million to $676 million in annual tax revenue statewide, the study said.
That’s between $110 million and $169 million going to support gun control operations if the projections pan out. Annually.
How many ACTUAL gun safety groups do you think will be invited to participate in the ICJIA grant review process?
Here’s Illinois Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton doing her (25%) bit for gun control in the Land o’ Lincoln:
This post was originally published at Mom-At-Arms.com and is reprinted here with permission.
All FOIA document images courtesy Mom-At-Arms.com.