Dear Illinois Politicians:

Remember Debra Maggart?

Probably not.

She was the chairman of the Republican Caucus in the Tennessee House.

She stiffed gun owners in Tennessee.

She then met with the wrath of gun owners in her district the next primary election.

She lost.

Is your picture the next one to go up on that billboard?

Cordially,

Illinois Gun Owners.

(Washington Post)  – As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association with an “A+” rating for her voting record in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Debra Maggart never imagined that her political career would end this way.

Maggart, who chaired the Republican caucus, killed an NRA-backed bill that would have permitted Tennesseans to keep firearms in their parked vehicles wherever they went — work, school or the neighborhood bar.

Months later, Maggart was stunned to see NRA-sponsored ads on billboards in her district. Her face was next to a picture of President Obama. The ads proclaimed: “Sure, Rep. Debra Maggart Says She Supports Your Gun Rights. Of Course, He Says the Same Thing.”

The NRA threw its support behind a newcomer in the Republican primary. By summer’s end, the woman who had been one of Tennessee’s most powerful Republicans and ardent supporters of gun rights was done in by hardball tactics.

“As a pro-Second Amendment person and a life member of the NRA, I was just shocked they did this to me,” Maggart said in an interview. “They did this to send a message: ‘If you don’t do what we want, we will annihilate you.’ ”

The message has not been lost on lawmakers across the nation, including those in the U.S. Senate, where a proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases died April 17 in the face of the NRA’s staunch opposition.

Call.  Call.  Call.

Email. Email.  Email.

And call again after lunch.

Call your Senator and the following three Illinois Senators in addition to your own.  Yeah, it’s going to take five minutes of your day, but if you want law-abiding Illinois residents to be able to protect themselves without arbitrary restrictions, then it’s a small price to pay.

Tell them “No magazine bans!”

Senator Christine Radogno (R)

Springfield Office:
Senator 41st District
108 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL   62706
(217) 782-9407
(217) 782-7818 FAX

District Office:
1011 State Street, Suite 210
Lemont, IL  60439
(630) 243-0800
(630) 243-0808 FAX

Senator Matt Murphy (R)

Springfield Office:
Senator 27th District
108E Capitol Building
Springfield, IL   62706
(217) 782-4471
(217) 782-7818 FAX

District Office:
1 E. Northwest Highway, Suite 109
Palatine, IL  60067
(847) 776-1490
(847) 776-1494 FAX

The above voted for it out of committee yesterday.

Senator Michael W. Frerichs (D)

Springfield Office:
Senator 52nd District
124 Capitol Building
Springfield, IL   62706
(217) 782-2507
(217) 558-6006 FAX

District Office:
45 E. University Avenue, Suite 206
Champaign, IL  61820
(217) 355-5252
(217) 355-5255 FAX
Additional District Addresses

Don’t know your senator’s numbers?  We can help.  Click here.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is spinning the violence on Chicago’s Gold Coast is if it doesn’t happen.

We’ve seen comments that suggest yesterday’s article about the wilding arrests on Michigan Avenue (Teen mobs run wild in downtown on Drudge) over the weekend weren’t as tame as claimed in the mainstream media.

Here’s the article:

Eleven juveniles and one adult were arrested last night after a large group converged near the Gold Coast and were blocking traffic, police said.

The people were arrested and charges were pending, said Chicago Police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.

The youths were part of a group that had caused a “minor disturbance” in the area, Ursitti said. She said the group members were not being violent and there were no reported injuries.

The group was made up of several dozen members who roamed from Michigan Avenue west on Chicago Avenue to LaSalle Street and witnesses said they were between the ages of 14 and 19 years old.

Comments suggested the teens were pushing, shoving and beating tourists and local citizens – targeting Caucasians in very racially motivated attacks.

Obviously, Mayor Rahm is very sensitive as those high-end stores on the Gold Coast depend on tourists and affluent locals for their livelihood, hence his creative re-write of history from the weekend.  From Second City Cop.

• Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy reiterated Monday that his department has safety and security under control in the North Michigan Avenue area.

  McCarthy spoke to reporters at his weekly news conference held to showcase the amount of illegal guns seized in the city.

• McCarthy says its being blown out of proportion by the media, creating a perception that there’s a problem.

  “So far to date, there’s been no major incidents, but what’s getting reported is mayhem, and it’s patently false,” McCarthy says, claiming there’s been no robberies, thefts or property damage.

Call your Illinois State Senator.  Right now.  Tell him “NO” to magazine bans.

MELT those phone lines.  Call their district offices and their Springfield Capitol offices.  Even if you *thought* they were pro-gun in the past.  There are a more than a couple who were formerly pro-gun who are going soft with their aspirations of higher office.

This goes for Senate Republicans as well!

Tell them “NO MAGAZINE BANS!”

If you have a chance to go to Springfield and tell them this, face to face, all the better.

Write them a short email and then mail a one-minute letter, right now.

Right now.

Do it.

Don’t know your senator’s numbers?  We can help.  Click here.

Chicago’s ruling political class seems especially proud of all of the “layers of security” their strict gun control offers their residents.  We see it as keeping the law-abiding good guys from being able to defend themselves from violent, predatory criminals running free without any deterrence in the form of knowing a victim might shoot back.

Who is right?

Well, without Chicago-style gun control, most of Illinois had a fairly uneventful weekend.  With Chicago style gun control, Chicago had a bloodbath.

We predict shameless Chicago politicians will point to the violence this weekend as a reason for more gun control.  For low-information politicians, why not double down on failed policies once again?  Sadly though, they will agitate for spreading Chicago-style gun control throughout Illinois to keep us all safe, just like the residents of Chicago are safe.

Also, it’s Hip Hop Against Violence Week.  That’s sure worked out well for Chicago’s Hip Hop culture, has it not?

As part of those events, there’s the HIP-HOP 4 PEACE PROGRAM:

The purpose of this project is to improve the image and unity within the Hip-Hop Community while reducing crime and violence in our schools, home and community. Celebrities, elected officials, community and business leaders will educate our youths about the consequences of illegal firearms, gang violence, criminal activities and war.   Celebrities will produce PSA’s, visit schools, youth centers, prisons and housing projects to reinforce our message and offer incentives to participants that help us in our efforts to reduce gun crimes, war and violence.  There will be support from our Artists & Student Mediation Board and Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Gang Violence Prevention.  Participants that are incarcerated, recently released from jail, on parole, probation or a work release program will have an opportunity to volunteer their time towards mentoring at-risk youth and mediating disputes that could lead to violence.

Why are we just a little cynical?  Because it was a bloodbath in Chicago this past weekend.

Chicago (Sun-Times) – Five people have been killed and at least 15 others wounded — including a 12-year-old boy left in critical condition — in shootings around the city since Friday night.

The most recent fatal shooting happened about 2:10 a.m. Sunday in the 300 block of South Cicero in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side, police said. Edward Jordan, 53, of the 4900 block of West Lexington, was shot in the neck and later died at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Including this triple shooting in a park in the Englewood neighborhood (not even listed as one of American’s worst 25 neighborhoods, by the way) that occurred in a “memorial park” named after a tragic crime twenty years ago, according to Second City Cop.

Chicago (CBS Chicago) – About 9:15 p.m. Saturday, a shooter or shooters opened fire at a group of people at Ryan Harris Memorial Park in the 6800 block of South Lowe in the Englewood neighborhood. Shaneda Lawrence, 30, of the 9600 block of South Peoria, was shot in the head and pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m. at Stroger Hospital. A woman in her 20s was shot in the wrist, and a 24-year-old man was shot in the back.

United States
Rifleman’s
Association
INTRODUCTION TO
DEFENSIVE HANDGUN

USRA’s Intro to Defensive Handgun course is an intensive one-day course which introduces skills necessary for the safe and effective use of a handgun for personal defense. For those looking to get the training necessary to obtain an Florida (or someday, Illinois) carry permit in a single-day format, this course is a good choice and a grand bargain.

by John Boch

I’ve known about the United States Rifleman’s Association (USRA) “Introduction to Defensive Handgun” class for well over a year now and heard plenty of good things about it from both fellow instructors as well as non-instructors.

This weekend, I had a chance to put on my USRA instructor’s cap (fair disclosure, I’ve been a non-practicing USRA instructor since January 2012) at the Illinois State Rifle Association’s splendid ISRA Range near Bonfield, IL to check out this class and help teach. In short, I was impressed.

The content was packed with information and touched upon the major areas of defensive shooting and tactics as well as legal considerations. For the students, it was probably a bit like drinking from a firehose. Firearm safety was the first item of business and from there, the students were shooting right away and probably fired close to 200 rounds over the intense day of exercises.

The USRA teaches the Weaver Stance, but nobody’s knuckles got rapped with a ruler for using other stable stances. The course covered drawing from the holster, malfunction clearing, reloading and movement as well as assessing and more. Again, it was an intense day of exercises.

Tuition was a steal at $75, and the ladies were $65. Most NRA Basic Pistol courses, in comparison, offer nothing in the way of defensive pistolcraft and are typically twice the money or more. Even the non-shooting Utah classes are almost twice the money and offer zero training on the tactics of actually fighting with a gun.

A couple of friends of mine paid $200 for a 4-hour, non-shooting Utah class from a Wisconsin-based Utah instructor that was really a 2.5 hour class, including time for eating donuts, getting fingerprinted and rag chewing. For an additional $75 the same instructor would take students to a nearby range and watch them shoot a few rounds and sign off on the “live fire” training portion for a Florida carry permit.

For that same $75, these seven USRA students got no donuts, yapping or fingerprinting. Instead they were busy firing their guns, practicing on the fundamentals of how to defend their lives with their handgun and come out on top should they ever need to use deadly force, thanks to plentiful, quality instructors.

Usually, at most handgun classes, you’re lucky to have an instructor for every five or six students. At this USRA event, with seven students there were eight instructors – four experienced veterans and four newly certified in recent months. Anyone who needed assistance got as much assistance – or more – than they could have ever wanted.

Fair disclosure #2: I teach similar classes for GSL Defense Training, LLC and this USRA class is “competition” of sorts in terms who it’s tailored to. Having said that, if you don’t want to devote two days to securing the training Florida requires before getting your carry license, this USRA class is an good one-day class which will equip you with the fundamentals needed to defend yourself and your family from a predatory criminal attack.

As a prospective student, you are free to choose whether or not you want to cut corners on training necessary for getting a carry permit. It’s your life, after all. Sadly, there are no shortage of new instructors here in Illinois who excel at cutting corners and provide the bare minimums (or less with a wink and a nod), such as one group in Central Illinois offering five-hour Florida classes where students fire five rounds total.

That brings the old expression penny-wise, pound-foolish to mind. Good training will be priceless for your loved ones if it allows you to prevail in a life-threatening encounter. This USRA course, at a paltry $75, is good training and affordable too.

The USRA is offering this Defensive Handgun class again at Bonfield this summer, as well as at Waterman and Chillecothe. This course is likely to satisfy Illinois’ training requirement as currently proposed, in addition to Florida’s.

My advice? If you want a one-day class, sign up for this one before they become filled. At this price, for this quality of training, it won’t take long for that to happen now that I’ve let this cat out of the bag.

Their website: usrifleman.org

There’s a story over at Townhall.com about the sheriffs in Colorado, who don’t like the new Colorado gun laws. 

The VAST MAJORITY of sheriffs in Colorado – 54 out of 64 – have filed a lawsuit challenging the regulations as unconstitutional. 

Let’s hope they have some success. 

Sounds a lot like Illinois, where over 90 of the 102 counties are markedly pro-gun, and the triumvirate of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton impose their will on the rest of us. 

Colorado sheriffs sue over new gun restrictions

DENVER (AP) — Colorado sheriffs upset with gun restrictions adopted in the aftermath of last year’s mass shootings filed a federal lawsuit Friday, challenging the regulations as unconstitutional.

The lawsuit involves sheriffs from 54 of Colorado’s 64 counties, most representing rural, gun-friendly areas of the state.

The sheriffs say the new state laws violate Second Amendment protections that guarantee the right to keep and bear arms. Opponents are criticizing the lawsuit as political maneuvering.

The filing targets Colorado laws that limit the size of ammunition magazines and expand background checks. The regulations passed the Legislature this spring and are set to take effect July 1.

It isn’t yet clear whether the sheriffs’ challenge will delay or jeopardize the laws. The filing, however, guarantees the renewal of a fierce debate over gun control…

You can read the whole article here.

GSL President John Boch.

by John Boch

President, Guns Save Life

After weeks of watching Illinois Democrat House Speaker Michael Madigan play the political games he’s famous for, we are no closer to a good carry bill today than we were on the first day of this session of the General Assembly.

Yes, we’ve fought tooth and nail to push back against highly-restrictive carry bills, the most “reasonable” of which was a leftists’ dream “may-issue” carry bill which in effect is a Jim Crow law to keep two-thirds of law-abiding African-Americans in Illinois segregated from their right to have a gun outside of their Cook County homes. This and other similar bills in both the House and Senate would also leave Illinois gun owners to navigate a mish-mash of local ordinances, leaving many to conclude the risk of inadvertent arrest is just too great.

We lost on our “shall issue” carry proposal by seven votes, as a number of Chicago Democrats negotiated more restrictive changes to our initial “shall issue” bill. In the end, these Windy City Democrats didn’t deliver on their end of the bargain, instead voting “present” or not voting at all despite their negotiated pledges to vote “yes”. Thanks guys.

As you might imagine, that vote left us disappointed and cynical, as though there’s not enough reasons to be cynical about politics in the Land of Lincoln.

There’s been plenty of other machinations by gun-grabbing leftists. The good news is we’ve proven time and time again we have the votes to stop bad bills. The bad news is some squishy legislators are defecting, notably couple who aspire to higher state-wide office.

So, what’s going to happen next?

Your calls are tipping the scales our way as the other side tries to saddle us with bad “may issue” bills, so stay frosty and keep calling. Be ready to redouble your efforts to pound the phones if we send out an alert.

We will get carry in Illinois. “How soon” is the million dollar question.

How good the final product looks will be directly proportional to the amount of effort you put into this between now and June 9th, in particular.

If it does happen on June 9th because of a failure to come up with a legislative remedy, be cautious about strapping on your personal defense tool.

My recommendations, like those of most other trainers, would be to conceal your firearm carefully, ensuring it won’t become exposed or visible to others.

Don’t talk about it with people outside of your closest family and friends, and caution them against making comments about it in public.

Use common sense about where you carry. Don’t carry in bars, cop shops, courthouses, airports, casinos or stadiums, to name a few places.

Realize that a police officer might choose to arrest you for exercising your rights and that you will have to litigate later in a court of law.

The good news is we, as gun owners, have been under similar threats for over a decade with fanny pack carry and the arrests were few and far between and not once resulted in a conviction.

A healthy dose of common sense will go a long way towards safely exercising your right to carry in Illinois, both now and after some sort of carry system is implemented.

Be careful and stay safe, regardless if you choose to carry or not..

Senator Michael Frerichs (Democrat – 52)

(Guns Save Life) – Chicagoland Democrats, joined by a handful of downstate Democrats, are poised to give Illinois a modern-day Jim Crow law to keep law-abiding blacks and other minorities segregated from their ability to carry a firearm outside the home with the potential passage of Sen. Kwame Raoul’s Amendment 1 of HB-143 in the waning days of the spring legislative session.

Despite the long-established history of “may issue” firearms carry permit laws being widely subject to abuse, corruption, racial bigotry, and unequal application based upon the whims of government officials, Chicago Democrats are working hard cajole a few downstaters to join forces under Senate President John Cullerton to pass this new Jim Crow law.

Gun owners and civil rights supporters from the National Rifle Association, Guns Save Life and others urged Illinois’ legislators to support only a “shall issue” carry law which would prohibit local authorities from arbitrarily denying constitutionally-protected rights to residents they serve.

One of the downstate Democrats who is now expected to ignore these pleas is Senator Michael Frerichs (D-52).

Multiple calls to Senator Frerichs’ Springfield legislative office were unanswered and a voicemail message asking for comment was not returned.

In the past, Frerichs has always claimed to be supportive of right-to-carry laws provided they had sufficient training and screening of prospective license holders.

African-Americans don’t need to wait for Cook County to approve their carry license application under HB-183, because it simply isn’t going to happen. Sadly, the same can be said for most others as well.

In speaking with Frerichs personally, we believed he meant rigorous background checks such as those done by the Illinois State Police prior to issuing Firearm Owner Identification Cards.

We had no idea that Senator Frerichs’ was okay with a background check process that would effectively segregate two-thirds of the state’s African-American population from the ability to legally carry a gun outside the home, even when otherwise qualified.