The 2015 Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day event was held Wednesday, March 18th in Springfield.
Roughly 1500 gun owners from throughout Illinois turned out to spend the day as full-time gun rights activists, rallying, marching, lobbying and making themselves known to the members of the Illinois General Assembly.
The event started off at the Prairie Capital Convention Center, and then we marched through the streets of Springfield to the State Capitol complex. Springfield police escorted the group, blocking traffic and helpfully ensuring everyone made it safe and sound.
We rallied at the Capitol steps at the Lincoln statue, and then went inside, saturating the entire complex in a sea of gun owners there to communicate their demands for easing the concealed carry law’s prohibited locations, to legalize suppressors and to say “NO!” to any anti-gun proposals.
Here are some of the sights. Click on the photos to see a higher resolution version. Permission is granted to reproduce these photos in other pro-gun websites, with credit.
Permission is specifically denied to anti-gun websites, including the bed-wetters at Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
Inside the Prairie Capital Convention Center…
Steve Davis is behind bars!
Say “hi” to Valinda Rowe (of Illinois Carry). She is the spokeswoman for the IGOLD event.
Lots of people, all happy. Here’s our new GSL Secretary Lois Morton behind a GSL banner.
There were LOTS of groups participating. It’s truly a credit to ISRA’s leadership for opening it up to all organizations to promote and participate in an event that benefits us all while at the same time allowing the respective organizations a share of ownership in a way.
It is this spirit of inclusiveness, fostered by Gene Martin some years ago, which has allowed the event to grow exponentially and with that growth, IGOLD’s influence upon legislators. It’s also made ISRA one of the most notable state NRA affiliates in the nation, and proves that working together, we can accomplish so much more than working apart.
Tom Shafer gets the crowd warmed up.
That’s Rhonda Ezell holding the banner at the end. She’s responsible for killing Chicago’s draconian ban on shooting ranges.
Valinda with Third Power’s daughter.
Getting underway.
It seemed like the throng of people just went on, and on, and on…
The people were upbeat and in great spirits, despite the chilly weather.
The march went on, and on, and on.
The Springfield Police, as always, did a great job blocking traffic and making the march safe and fun.
Note that this parade is about 100% more orderly and well-behaved than those in Ferguson.
Lots of people stopped to see what the big crowd chanting and marching through the city streets was all about.
Three generations of Burma sign program chairmen: Tom Menner (center) was first, then John Naese, left and now Rachel Puckett.
Comments are closed.