Never a dull moment

It's been an interesting January for gun owners in America and things are likely to stay that way for awhile. We've had new, nasty gun laws passed in NY, Executive Orders from the White House and Feinstein's newly tweaked AWB trotted out for our perusal. It's enough to make your head spin!

Let me start by saying that some gun owners in New York are standing up to say "NO!" and I applaud them for it, they don't want to register as they know that registration only leads to worse things down the road. You can read about it here and here if you'd like to know more. (I have no affiliation or experience with either place linked)

I have to admit that I'm curious just where the state legislators in NY think they'll house all those citizens that they're threatening with a year in jail for non-compliance. That could be a very large group to feed and shelter. It's also worth mentioning that, in their haste to pass new "feel good" laws, they failed to exempt police from them. I wonder how the NYPD feels about being limited to 7 round magazines? Then again, with the recent shooting record of the NYPD, that may make citizens a bit safer.

I should state that I am not really bashing the police here, but they are continually held up as "the people that are trained in firearms use" by some legislators and the media. It's my opinion that police aren't allowed enough range time to keep themselves proficient and I probably have more live fire training than most police do.

On to those Executive Orders.....frankly, only a few of them have any real merit:

#13 Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
Makes sense right? If the courts would quit plea bargaining so much and actually punish some criminals instead of sending them back out, we might get somewhere. Notice how they slipped "gun" in there a couple of times? Couldn't we just as easily have said "violence" and "crime"?

#18 Provide incentive for schools to hire resource officers. 
Sounds good at first really, but I wonder what possible incentive is better than "keeping children safe"..... But hey, if they want to help pay for it I'm OK with it. I should think that the resource officers are to be armed though. (and didn't they say that it was un-affordable when the NRA suggested some security?)

#20, 22, 23 all deal with mental health issues and I think this is extremely important as we can link most every mass killing to mental health and some drugs used to treat such. I'm no expert on mental health so I'll leave it to others to decide if these actual proposals are worth anything.

In short, most of the 23 suck and a couple will absolutely rip apart health care privacy while others won't do squat to curtail any determined criminal.

Oh! Guess who supports these measures/EO's? The Communist Party! Seriously.
Read the story at that link and tell everyone you know. Why on earth would any American support a damned thing that the Communist Party backs?

That leaves us with Feinstein and her new 1994 AWB on steroids. What planet is this woman even from? This bill is so nuts that it shouldn't even be given a look....but it will because emotions are high.

Here's my fear: She purposely made this bill so restrictive that it can never pass, once she "realizes" this, she will back off a bit here and there. Pretty soon, those gun owners that are a bit squishy start supporting it because of all the compromise she's made and then it becomes law. Ugh.

What we need to do is absolutely melt down the phones, faxes and emails of every elected official we have and tell them to let her know we said "Pound sand!". Do it DAILY. Those elected should be so in fear of losing their jobs that they help this woman get on a plane back to San Francisco where she can retire and basically just go away. While they're helping her, they might consider retirement for themselves as some are seriously out of touch. 

For further discussion on these items and other things gun related, be sure to visit IllinoisCarry.com

IL Legislation update

The two bills that we are concerned with passed through committee today and are very likely to come to a floor vote tomorrow MORNING (Thursday, Jan. 3).

Please! Call and tell your senator and Senate President Cullerton to vote "NO" on these bills:

HB1263 which is a very far reaching semi-auto ban

HB815 which, among other things, would require registration of magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds and whatever rifles and handguns can hold them....

Now, I have no idea how they would really expect to register a magazine, what with no serial number and all. Stupidity in action.

So, first thing in the morning, start calling your senator and then fax them too. In the meantime, send them an email.

There's also some folks saying that during the committee meeting, their names were read off as "proponent" of these, when in fact they are an "opponent". Is it a mistake or some really dirty pool? I hope we can find a way to hold their feet to the fire on this for sure!

Please see yesterday's blog post for links to contact your elected reps, I'm back to work and have an early morning tomorrow. I'll be calling senators on the drive in.

IL Legislators looking to ram gun control thru NOW

I regularly joke about the three people that read this, but today I seriously hope that MANY are reading and I can help get the word out.

NRA-ILA has learned that anti-gun legislators backed by Gov. Quinn intend to introduce legislation on January 2, 2013. The idea is that, with the support of anti-gunners that won't be back after losing elections, they can exploit the lame duck session and pass some very ugly regulations.

The known language attacks public gun ranges and would put them under control of the ISP and also ends any training of non-FOID holders even if properly supervised. So non gun owners that wish to learn more about firearms would be required to first undergo the FOID process just to touch a gun.

The usual magazine capacity and so called "assault weapons" bans are included, as well as a ban on pump action rifles.... No, really. This is said to be the most draconian gun language ever put forth in America and if you think dad's old shotgun that you hunt birds with is safe, think again.

Even though some of this could be found to be unConstitutional, it could also take years for courts to reverse it...and they know this.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE... call your IL legislators tomorrow and call every day after that, tell them that we don't want ANY of these whacko ideas to become law.

(217) 782-4141 is the number to find out who your legislators are (if you don't know)

(217) 782-2000 is the main number for the IL General Assembly

Or you can also go HERE to plug in your address and get the contact info you need.

Also remember that on January 9, 2013 you may get a new legislator based on the last election and redistricting, so check those numbers or the link on the 9th for properly updated info.

As a last word, I'd also like to let you in on their tactics. One thought is that they KNOW this won't fly but it gives them room to back off but still implement lesser controls while looking reasonable. It's like a child asking for a new car but really only wanting a new bicycle...when the kid backs off a bit, the parent doesn't think the new bike seems like such a bad idea.

As always, join the discussion at IllinoisCarry and learn more.

Got that flu going around? Catch up on reading!

Yep, that's what I'm doing anyway and I've barely got a touch of it compared to some folks I've talked to. I just have a generally "blah" feeling and am scared to eat anything...just in case.

Sitting around the house all day has given me time to do some reading though and I want to point you good folks to a blog posting that is lengthy but a very well thought out piece and could give you some arguments to use when talking with anti gunners. You can find it over at An opinion on gun control and I encourage you to set aside 15 or 20 minutes and give it a look, it really is very well done.

Many have also heard about Chicago trying to hide its 500th murder for the year by reclassifying one as a "death investigation". Where I come from, we call that lying. It's little surprise really, they don't even comply with the FBI methodology for reporting rapes. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-6  (scroll all the way to the bottom and look for footnote #2)

It's been a tough year to be a gun owner but some good has come about as well. Don't forget to visit IllinoisCarry to stay up to date on the status of concealed carry in IL. That link is just the main page BTW, be sure to visit the forums as well.

Here's hoping for a bright new year for all of us in 2013.

How important are your kids?

Most have heard by now about the NRA's suggestion that we place armed personnel in every school in the nation. Many are outraged at this and many others are in favor, you can count me in the second group.

We're regularly reminded of school "gun free zones" so the sick individuals that commit these horrible acts don't even have to wonder if they'll meet opposition...they know they won't, with a few exceptions of course. The Harrold Independent School District in Harrold, TX is one that has armed teachers right now, still others have armed security guards like the LAB school on the U of C campus (Chicago)...guess where Mayor Emmanuel's children attend school.

It would appear that the Sidwell Friends school in DC has armed security, though I haven't been able to confirm this. Scanning their faculty and staff roster reveals 11 security folks, several are listed as Police.  Of course, since the President's daughters attend Sidwell Friends, there is definitely a Secret Service presence there and all students benefit from that.

NBC's David Gregory also sends his children to Sidwell Friends, which is very hypocritical given his treatment of the NRA's suggestion that schools have armed security.  Mr. Gregory pretty much blasted Wayne LaPierre and said that arming school security or teachers wouldn't be effective but I guess he just means my kid, since his are protected. I tend to take offense to the idea that I and my child are not elite enough to enjoy security, while others are.

In Utah, any adult that has a Concealed Weapons Permit can carry a weapon on any state run college campus. This is actually called out by legislation: Utah Code 53-5a-102 (6) (a)
23 other states leave the decisions about carrying weapons on college campuses up the individual schools. (We'll soon see how Illinois handles this)

It would seem that a large amount of those "outraged" can afford to be. They know that their children are protected at school already but they want to deny you that same piece of mind.

Just think, if the next potential murderer knows (or even suspects) that a school may have an armed response that could deprive them of their fifteen minutes of fame...they might just skip it. If they don't skip it, wouldn't it be much better if a good guy or gal could meet force with force and end things quickly?

Even though some are screaming "NO" to arming folks in schools, many others are saying "YES".
I urge you to go to your school board and politely demand that they get to work implementing a REAL security plan. Don't wait for the debate to be over, take action now for the safety of all the kids. If you get the brush off, don't give up... not even a little bit. Attend every board meeting that you can or ask someone that is like minded to do so if you can't. Write, phone and email your elected officials and demand the same of them too.

The folks committing these atrocities aren't going to be stopped by another gun law, it's up to us to stop them.

Tragedy

Tragedies occur every day but ones like the recent grade school shooting in CT are especially vile and we should pause and remember those lost and their families rather than politicize it.

Sadly, many people jump onto the airwaves and sensationalize what has happened, often with a political agenda. I try very hard not engage in that practice and as such chose to wait a few days before posting anything at all. I'd rather be called insensitive than be blamed for using this blog as a tool to further my agenda using the deaths of innocent children.

My heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of those lost in CT. I can't imagine the horror and pain that they must feel and I hope that they can find a way to continue on after this horrible event.

Finally!

Yes, I know I'm a day behind....it's finals week and I have been grading projects and exams, so perhaps the readers (all three of you) will forgive me.

For anyone just coming out from under their rock:

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Illinois' total ban on carrying a handgun is un-Constitutional and has stayed this opinion for 180 days to allow the legislature to get a law in place.

Rep. Phelps had warned his fellow Reps that if they didn't accept HB148, the courts would ram concealed carry down their throats. I hope he enjoyed a cold beverage of choice last night!

Now we don't have to accept some watered down mess of a bill at all, it's the "other side" of the table that has to accept what we want. If they want to try a bill that sucks, we say no and let the 180 days pass... then current laws are null and void.

To everyone that has worked with us so far to make this happen: THANK YOU!

Now let's get back to work making sure the Machine doesn't try to screw us out of this.

Special thanks to BShawn over at www.illinoiscarry.com for the timer above!