GunENews - GSL Daily Blog

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

Seattle’s unlawful gun bans struck down

Seattle (KING) - A King County Superior Court judge ruled that the city of Seattle ban on guns on city property is illegal, effectively ending the ban.

The Second Amendment Foundation, the National Rifle Association, and sev­eral individuals, including a gay rights activist and a Department of Corrections worker, sued the City of Seattle and former Mayor Greg Nickels in Octo­ber. They demanded the city repeal a controversial ban on guns in places like parks and community centers.

 

Virginia set to dump gun rationing

Richmond, VA (Forbes) – Virginia’s ban on buying more than one handgun a month would be repealed under a bill that passed a House committee on Friday. 

The Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee voted 15-6 to advance Del. Scott Lingamfelter’s bill to a vote in the GOP-controlled House, where it is likely to pass

In both stories, branches of the state government are doing things that advance the cause of gun rights – which expands the rights of the people, which expands liberty. 

What has our Illinois government done for us lately?  Why not take some time to go to IGOLD and give them some suggestions…

In football, the term “three and out” does not have a positive meaning.  If, after gaining possession of the ball, you can’t move it 10 yards for a first down in three tries, it’s time to punt. 

Punting regarding keeping an eye on your elected officials can be disastrous. 

Example:  Have you called your Illinois House Representative about HB 180? 

This is bad legislation for gun owners.  It has passed out of committee and can be voted on any time the anti-gunners in the House think they have the votes. 

“But I called about [subject] last year” or

“I know my Rep would never dare vote for this” or

“I’m pretty busy; I’m sure someone else will take care of it” 

Three and out.  Punt.  If the other team runs the punt back for a score, or slowly grinds down the field to score, you’ve put the ball in their hands, and can now only now play furious defense and hope to cause a turnover. 

Call.  It’s not hard.  It’s needed.  And you can do it, probably in less than two minutes. 

If you think your Rep is already in your corner, your Rep will appreciate the support anyway.  His or her receptionist will tell them “you got x number of calls today opposed to HB 180, and x number in favor of it.” 

Silence is assent.  Don’t assent to bad legislation. 

Call (does more good than an email) and tell them you oppose HB 180. 

Plan to go to IGOLD, March 10.  (19 days from now!)

Invite someone to go with you. 

If you do now know who your state representative is, go to the web site of the Illinois State Board of Elections and follow the directions for looking up your legislators.   

John Naese

Guns Save Life was started, in part, to give individual members ampble opportunity to be involved.  It’s not just the President or the Board.  It’s individual members, doing small and not so small things to make it happen. 

I don’t know who it was this month, but one of our members traveled to Jacksonville, IL, today to pick up the March issue of GunNews from the printer.  Someone from Springfield traveled there as well, to pick up the several thousand Sangamon County Rifle Association members distribute each month.  THANK YOU to both these people. 

I traveled through Danville yesterday, and was gratified to see that one or more of our members had put out IGOLD flyers at several sites.  Thanks to Ray O’Herrons, Big R (south) and Gross Burgers, and to those who have them but I didn’t stop at their establishments yesterday.  And thanks to the GSL member or members doing the heavy lifting there. 

We now have the big job of distributing bundles of GunNews papers from Champaign, and mailing individual copies to members and bundles to distant sites.  If you can help with this (even on an irreglular basis) let me know, or email Warren Drake at wgdrak@mchsi.com. 

Remember, if you can help us by going to IGOLD, or recruiting others to do so, that would be the biggest service you can render in the next three weeks.  If you want reservations on the Danville, Urbana, or Decatur busses, email me, johnnaese@comcast.net.  If you want to catch a bus from elsewhere in the state, go to www.igold.isra.org. 

And remember, if you’re not a member, join Gunssavelife.com and help become our “boots on the ground” in the service of freedom. 

John Naese

Illini Country

Contact:

John Clayton

Phone:(217) 621-3161

Email: longhonker@mchsi.com

or pick up your tickets at the March 9 Guns Save Life meeting.

• ASK for a vacation day, or otherwise get the day off of work or school.
• PLAN how you’re getting there. MAKE a bus reservation.
• SPREAD the word. GET some flyers (from the FOP lodge or call John Naese) and POST them up and hand them out.
• INVITE someone to go with you. TALK to the women and teenagers in your life and ASK them to come along.
• GET an IGOLD T-shirt or sweatshirt. You can pick one up when you
• ATTEND the Guns Save Life.com meeting the night before IGOLD.
• TRAVEL to Springfield on March 10; either catch one of the busses from around the state, drive, or take the train. Just GET THERE. Elected officials understand the language of huge numbers.
• COME TO the noon rally at the Prairie Capital Convention Center. You’ll get a legislative briefing, you can pick up palm cards, and you’ll get PUMPED.
• MARCH to the Capitol, along with thousands of your closest gun-owning friends.

Things deteriorate.

That’s the natural order of things. Left alone, with no intervention, things begin to break down, fall apart, rot, or die.

If you do no maintenance on your roof, it will eventually leak.

If you leave your guns wet and dirty, they will rust and become inoperative.

If you neglect your spousal relationship, that relationship will fall apart.

If you don’t take care of your body, you’ll probably die a lot earlier than you might have otherwise.

If you do maintenance on your community, your state, and your country, they will deteriorate. They will rot. They will die.

Gun owners are famous as people who just want to be left alone. We don’t WANT people, or governments, to do things FOR us, we just want them not to do bad things TO us.

Sorry, folks. That just won’t cut it, long term.

The natural order of governments, as with all other things human, is deterioration. When this country was founded, individuals had lots of liberty, and governments had severe restrictions on what they could do.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the rest of our lives. As we enjoyed the fruits of our liberty, bought at a tremendous price by Revolutionary Patriots, by the greatest generation, by the cold warriors - our liberty deteriorated.

While “progressives” tried to devise new ways for government to make us do the right thing (because of course we can’t be trusted to do the right thing on our own) we were busy living our lives, raising our families, worshipping our God, and generally trying to stay under the radar and out of people’s business.

To keep things from deteriorating, you have to take an active role. You have to fix the roof, clean your guns, buy your spouse flowers. And you need to do something about your government and your society.

Don’t just vote. Vote proudly, and let people know why you’re voting for or against certain politicians.

Educate others. Don’t avoid discussions of issues important to you; embrace and encourage those discussions.

Do something about letting the powers that be know where you stand. A tremendous opportunity to do this is coming up March 10. Go to IGOLD. Take someone with you who’s never gone before. Tell people why you’re taking the day off work; use the opportunity of your attendance to educate them.

If you do nothing, the other side wins. The march away from liberty and towards control by those who think they know better will continue - witness the resurrection of House Bill 180. It will continue unless and until YOU - every one of you reading this - DO something.

Pick up the phone. Get on the bus. I’ll see you at IGOLD.

John Naese

HB 180 - a terrible bill designed to register guns and put gun dealers out of business - has risen from the dead in the Illinois House. 

Do you suppose that there could be any relationship to McDonald v. Chicago, due to be argued before the Supreme Court in March? 

If Chicago loses, they lose their handgun ban, and more.  But if they could implement HB 180, they could use the power of the state to spite the Supreme Court, making it virtually impossible for law-abiding Chicagoans (and the rest of the citizens of Illinois) to legally buy a gun. 

Not that I’m suspicious or anything, but isn’t Mike Madigan, the Czar of the Illinois House, from the suburban Chicago area?  Aren’t he and anti-gun loon Richie Daley, Mayor for Life of Chicago, like two peas in a pod? 

Just wondering. 

John Naese

You’re busy.  We know that.  So are we here at Guns Save Life.  We are all volunteers, we, like you, have lives. spouses, kids, jobs, in-laws…

How many times do you see appeals for donations and / or volunteers, and say to yourself, “I wish I could do more…”

IGOLD IS YOUR CHANCE. 

Take one day off work.  (March 10, 2010, a Wednesday).  Catch one of the busses from around the state.  Drive to Springfield instead if you want, but make sure to take a carload of people.  Attend the rally, march to the State Capitol, go see your legislators, and more important, let them see you.  It’s easy for them to ignore, make light of, or dismiss a phone call or an email.  It’s hard for them to ignore you in their office, especially with thousands of other gun owners in IGOLD T shirts and sweatshirts roaming the halls of the Capitol. 

For reservations on the Danville, Champaign-Urbana, or Decatur busses, email me:  johnnaese@gunssavelife.com

For info or reservations on other busses from around the state:  http://igold.isra.org/buses.shtml