GunENews - GSL Daily Blog

The regular monthly meeting of

GUNS SAVE LIFE.com

Is TONIGHT, March 9, 2010

Knights of Columbus Hall

1001 N Ohio

Rantoul, IL.

Take Rte 45 to north edge of Rantoul, turn west on Campbell Ave (Ott’s Restaurant corner) to Ohio, which is just west of the railroad tracks. Follow Ohio Avenue north out of town to the REAL north edge of town. Knights of Columbus is on the hill, and on your right.

Doors open at 5:00pm.

Dinner, conversation, exhibits starting at 5:30 p.m. Meeting at 7 p.m.

Come on out and join us!

The public is encouraged to attend!

Good food and good friends.

It’s fun too!

ALWAYS ON THE SECOND TUESDAY.

Tomorrow, March 10…

IGOLD! 

Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day

Springfield

12 Noon

Prairie Capital Convention Center

Still room on some busses from around the state, including the Guns Save Life busses from Danville, Urbana, and Decatur.  Keep scrolling down to find out more. 

Gun Owners = Terrorists

That’s the formula espoused by the esteemed Mayor for Life Daley of Chicago.  I heard him on the radio yesterday, yammering that we don’t have enough gun control laws.  Something to the effect of how horrible it is that we have to take off our shoes in airports, and people are STILL able to buy guns, and possess guns. 

In a week when his beloved Chicago handgun ban took a beating at the Supreme Court, Mayor Doofus started (again) pushing his one gun a month and other schemes. 

Nice week to start that push, Mayor – with thousands of gun owners showing up tomorrow on the steps of the Capitol. 

You see, Mayor, it’s OUR House, and OUR Senate.  They are, or are at least supposed to be, OUR representatives, not yours.  They are supposed to listen to OUR voices, not yours. 

We’ll be talking to them tomorrow.  Lots of us.  Men, women, children.  All professions, all ages.  Gun owners, who aren’t asking the government for ANY tax money.  They are simply asking the government to leave them ALONE. 

If you can get there, do so.  Go to IGOLD – Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day.  Let’s remind those in state government who they work for.  If they value re-election, they just might go our way, instead of following the Mayor off the gun-control cliff. 

John Naese

WE NEED OUR SIGNS! 

Last year at the end of IGOLD, our busses ended up with a few hundred protest type signs from IGOLD.  I asked people on the busses then to step up and take a bundle with them when they went home, and store them until we needed them again. 

WE NEED THEM AGAIN! 

If you have some of the signs and are coming to IGOLD, bring them with you.  We have room on the bus to transport them in the cargo area.  If you have signs and are driving on your own, bring them with you anyway.  Look for the Guns Save Life table and we’ll store them there until the march to the Capitol begins. 

IF YOU HAVE SIGNS, but are not going to IGOLD this year, and you ARE coming to the Tuesday night Guns Save Life meeting in Rantoul, bring them with you then and we’ll take them. 

IF you have signs, and are not going to either the Tuesday meeting or the Wednesday IGOLD event, contact me at johnnaese@gunssavelife.com and I’ll see about getting them from you. 

ALSO for the TUESDAY NIGHT MEETING: 

One of our guest speakers will be championship trap shooter Mike Westjohn from Monticello, who will talk about the “mental management” of shooting.  In other words, the mind game that makes your shooting game better. 

ALSO for IGOLD - WEDNESDAY:  We have four busses going.  We have three filled, and we’re working on the fourth.  If you haven’t made the committment yet, come on out; we’ve got about 30 seats left.  Reserve one (or more!) by emailing johnnaese@gunssavelife.com, or calling him at 217-684-2602. 

If you’re coming from elsewhere in Illinois, see www.igold.isra.org. 

John N. 

There’s more to life than politics.

Politics (unfortunately) is important.  As gun owners, we’ve found that we can not just sit by, live our lives, not get our hands dirty in politics, and hope for the best.  We HAVE to be involved.  Otherwise, we lose. 

Politics is important.  IGOLD is important.  Short of family emergencies or medical issues, I can’t think of anyplace more important for Illinois gun owners to be next Wednesday than in Springfield in large numbers, telling the politicians what we think. 

But there are other things that are important.  This weekend, for example, 45 or 50 shooters and about 20 instructors will gather at Aurora Sportsman’s Club in Waterman for an Appleseed shoot.  The shooters, experienced and new alike, will learn or review the fundamentals of rifle marksmanship, and will review the fundamentals of American Heritage.  The Heritage of the Rifleman.  The American Rifleman, who used to be able, with a regular rifle and conventional ball ammo, to control “the Rifleman’s Quarter Mile” by hitting any target he could see for 500 yards.  The Heritage of a Nation of Riflemen, which we once were. 

We can get there again.  That’s what Appleseed is all about.  We’ve got lots of Illinois Appleseeds this year; the Waterman shoot this weekend is the first, but it won’t be the last.  You can come to an Appleseed, cheaply and easily.  If you can’t afford to shoot 400 rounds of centerfire ammo, bring a .22 rifle and a brick of .22 ammo. 

Politics is important.  But so is learning marksmanship, learning Heritage, and most importantly, passing these things on to others, both of your generation and the younger generation. 

Go to an Appleseed.  Bring someone with you.  With pre-registration at www.appleseedinfo.org, the cost for men is only $45 for one day or $70 for two days.  The cost for women (of any age):  free.  The cost for those under 21 years old:  free. 

It’s too late to pre-register for the Waterman Appleseed this weekend, but it’s not too late to plan to go.  Walk-ons are welcome, up to the capacity of the firing line.  The firing line this weekend can accommodate up to 80 shooters.  The cost (for those who have to pay) for walk-ons is only $5 a day more than for pre-registered.  There’s room; if you can make it this weekend, come on out.  You’ll be welcomed, you’ll be educated, and you’ll have fun, being an American, practicing that most quintessential of American pastimes, shooting. 

Next Wednesday, I hope you attend IGOLD, because politics is important.  But I also hope you rediscover your Heritage, and help someone else discover or rediscover it too, by going to an Appleseed.  If not this weekend, then soon. 

John Naese

johnnaese@gunssavelife.com

IT’S EASY

to go to Springfield next Wednesday, March 10, for IGOLD, Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day.  It’s also a lot of fun.  First I’ll tell you how easy it is, and then I’ll tell you how much fun it is. 

You can catch a bus from any of the following cities by going to

http://igold.isra.org/buses.shtml

Aurora, Bloomington, Champaign (Urbana), Chenoa, Chester, Chicago (North) Chicago (South), Chicago (West), Danville, Decatur, Dundee, Effingham, Evergreen Park, Fairview Heights, Galesburg, Grayslake, Joliet, Litchfield, Lyons, Marion, McHenry, Mendota, Moline, Mt. Vernon, Mundelein, Normal, Peoria, Quad Cities, Red Bud, Rockford, St. Louis (Metro), Urbana, Vandalia, Waterloo, or Zion. 

Four of those busses are sponsored by Guns Save Life.com.  We’ll have two leaving from Gutteridge Harley-Davidson in Danville at 7:45 a.m.  Two busses will also leave from Farm and Fleet in Urbana at 8:30 a.m.  We’ll be stopping to pick up passengers at Sam’s Club in Decatur, leaving at 9:45 a.m. 

Suggested donation for the four Guns Save Life busses is $25, but donate whatever you can, and come anyway.  To be sure there are spots left on the busses, email John Naese at johnnaese@gunssavelife.com, or call him at 217-684-2602. 

If you don’t call or email and make a reservation, come anyway; chances are we’ll have a few spots left, and a few no-shows.  You can make your donation when you get on the bus. 

That’s how easy it is.  Now, (besides being important) how fun is it? 

The ride is fun.  Lots of talking and camaraderie.  Meet some new pro-gun friends you haven’t met before.  Enjoy the trip without worrying about driving, idiots on the road, cell phone using doofuses on the road, or parking or traffic. 

1^st stop in Springfield will be the Golden Corral restaurant.  They have a great buffet, and we’ll be arriving when they open at 10:30 am (they’re expecting us) so the food will be hot and fresh.  As part of the group, it couldn’t be easier - $10 includes meal, drink, tax, and tip.  Pay one designated person on the bus, and bypass the cashier station and go straight to the food. 

We’ll be done there by 11:30 and back on the busses for the short trip to the Prairie Capital Convention Center.  There you can pick up an info packet, buy an IGOLD shirt or hat if you don’t have one already, and listen to some legislative briefings and updates. 

About 12:45 or so we’ll start heading for the exits for the five-block walk down to the Capitol.  We’ve got a parade permit, and we’ll be shoulder to shoulder across the street, walking down the middle proudly, right up the Capitol steps.  We’ll have a couple of busses available for those who can’t walk that far or have health issues that prevent this. 

At the Capitol steps, we’ll hear from a couple of pro-gun lawmakers and others for brief speeches and a pep rally.  Then it’s into the Capitol complex to visit the House and Senate chambers and legislative offices and committee rooms.  There are three buildings in the Capitol complex, each with several entrances to pass through security.  You can head for any one of those entrances, because once inside, all three buildings are connected by underground passages.  In other words, you only have to pass through security once, as long as you’re in the three-building complex.  We’ll have IGOLD hosts and guides there to help direct you to specific destinations, such as your representative’s or senator’s office. 

After a couple of hours to lobby your representatives and see the Capitol, walk back to the Prairie Capital Convention Center for a wrap-up starting at 4 p.m.  At 5 p.m., we’ll board the busses for home.  That will put us home in Decatur at about 5:45 p.m., Urbana about 6:30 – 6:45 p.m., and Danville about 7:15 – 7:30 p.m.

The trip home should be fun as well, as folks can swap stories of the best of the day, the weirdest of the day, etc. 

Think about the last time you saw a news story of some group showing up in Springfield to lobby for their cause (it’s usually to ask for taxpayer money).  How may people did you see in the pictures?  Three?  Four?  Half a dozen, or maybe even up to a couple of dozen? 

Now think about being part of THOUSANDS of Gunowners in Springfield next week.  Think the politicians can ignore that? 

Join us for IGOLD. 

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear McDonald v. Chicago, in which plaintiff McDonald will ask the Supreme Court to overturn Chicago’s handgun ban. 

Wait a minute – didn’t the Supreme Court decide the Heller case a year and a half ago, stating that the right to bear arms is an individual right?  Yes, they did. 

Which demonstrates yet again why we always have to be vigilant about our rights.  Mayor Daley of Chicago is spending millions of taxpayer dollars defending his city’s handgun ban, thumbing his nose at the Heller decision. 

When left to their own devices, politicians will do whatever they want to do, instead of following the Constitution. 

They need constant reminders. 

If Mayor For Life Daley loses the McDonald case, as I suspect he will, don’t think for a minute that Chicago will just repeal the ban and life will be great.  They will continue to be as restrictive as they can get away with. 

Senators and Representatives in Springfield need to be reminded that we demand that our rights be respected.  They work for us, not for Mayor For Life Daley. 

IGOLD.  Nine days from now.  If you believe in the second amendment to the Constitution; if you are tired of Illinois citizens being treated like criminals just for exercising their second amendment rights; if you want to send a LOUD and CLEAR message – plan now to come to Springfield on March 10. 

Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day.  One day can make all the difference. 

John Naese

Something else interesting will be happening on IGOLD day, March 10, and the timing is particularly interesting for gun owners. 

Gov. Pat Quinn, after barely beating his Democratic opponent in the Feb. 2 primary, asked the Legislature to give him an extra few weeks to get his budget address ready. 

They gave him until March 10. 

That is, the same day thousands of gun owners will go to Springfield to let their legislators know what they should do and should not do about gun laws, Gov. Quinn will address the legislature on Illinois’ budget mess. 

Which means: 

1.    All the legislators will be in town that day (at least for the morning, when I believe the address will be scheduled). 

2.    A bunch of constituents will show up (us gun owners) without asking for ANY money. 

3.    In fact, we can offer them a new revenue stream – license fees for permits to carry.  All they have to do is pass a permit to carry law, and that will actually make money for the state, instead of costing the state money.  As a side benefit, crime rates will drop.  (It’s been documented; read More Guns, Less Crime by John Lott, or any of two dozen other similar studies.) 

If you haven’t yet made plans to go to Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day, IGOLD, please do so.  Ask for the day off work or school, get a reservation on one of the many busses or plan to drive down.  YOU CAN MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD THAT DAY. 

John Naese

When is enough enough?

Don’t they GET it? 

I’m talking about the politicians and sending them messages.  I imagine some of you went to IGOLD last year, or the year before, and saw thousands (last year, between five and six thousand) of your fellow gun owners there, and thought:  “That’s it.  Now the politicians understand.  NOW they’ll leave us alone.” 

It’s NEVER enough.  They NEVER get it – for long. 

Bad legislation never dies; it just recedes into the background until the politicians think enough people have forgotten about it, at which point it comes back.  Witness the current federal health care debate, or the current push in the Illinois House for HB 180. 

THAT’S why we need to go to IGOLD again this year.  And not just those who went last year, but 5,000 more.  The politicians need CONSTANT reminders. 

Please be one of those reminders on March 10 – Go to IGOLD.  Scroll down here for more info. 

John Naese