Do you have a Democrat State Senator in downstate Illinois?
If so, it’s time to start calling them.
Ask them, “Why is Senate President holding pro-gun and pro-hunting bills from getting heard in committee, and then a free and fair vote on the Senate floor?”
They will him-haw around.
Ask them again.
Why? Because we can’t get an answer out of Todd Vandermyde, the NRA-ILA’s man in Springfield. Frankly, we don’t think he’s got an answer to give us.
So we want you to call your senator and ask him or her. And post their answers here in comments if they are notable.
We’re not alone wanting to know.
We’re not the only ones asking this question. The Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources, which represents about 125,000 users of the great outdoors in Illinois, is asking the same question. “Why are they holding pro-hunting bills hostage?” Scotty Bryant, the IFOR president, said Saturday at the group’s annual banquet. “Why are they trying to play politics with hunting issues instead of listening to the IDNR’s wildlife biologists?”
Mr. Bryant also noted that those of you who live in Senator Scott Bennett’s district in East Central Illinois (in parts of Champaign and Vermilion Counties) should contact him. Bennett is the new senator appointed to fill the seat of Michael Frerichs who was elected Illinois Treasurer. Urge Senator Bennett to support the Bobcat bill. While you’re on the phone with him, we at Guns Save Life encourage you to also urge him to support the suppressor bill as well.
Springfield Office:
Senator 52nd District
218B Capitol Building
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 782-2507
District Office:
45 E. University Ave, Suite 206
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 355-5252
(217) 355-5255 FAX
Additional District Addresses
What’s going on behind the scenes?
Last year, everyone agreed on a one-year moratorium on gun bills, good and bad and we’ll tell you why: there was agreement that we needed to let the dust settle on concealed carry before tweaking on it – and we proved that we had the votes to stop anti-gun bills from passage.
The only bill that passed was a wildly popular bill that would sentence Illinois concealed carry instructors to mandatory jail time for fraudulently certifying individuals as having passed the required training. Guns Save Life supported this bill, by the way. Our view mirrored the vast, overwhelming majority of Illinois residents: If you can’t train without committing fraud and perjury on official documents, you need to be in jail, not in a classroom.
This year the moratorium is over. We’ve got a slim majority of pro-gun votes in both the Illinois House and Senate and an ostensibly pro-gun governor. Senate President Cullerton is blocking the pro-gun and pro-hunting bills from being called in committee.
Why? “We gave you concealed carry in 2013,” he and other anti-gun legislators will say. “You should be happy.”
They – including Cullerton – are conveniently overlooking the federal court order requiring them to pass a concealed carry bill or risk everyone with a firearms owner ID card being allowed to carry.
We won concealed carry through the courts. As for the concealed carry bill that passed: I can count on one hand the number of people made happy by the concealed carry bill they passed in the final hours of the final day of the spring session. Nobody on either side of the bill liked the final product, but almost all held their nose and voted for it anyway.
This year, Cullerton is trying to run the clock out on the spring legislative session, leaving all of the pro-gun and pro-hunting bills to die.
There will be consequences if this happens.
We are inclined to continue our push in the courts to take more if Cullerton won’t act to give us free and fair votes. Furthermore, downstate Democrat Senators who have enjoyed gun owner support and endorsements, including those from the NRA, shouldn’t bank on continued support if they are going to vote for an anti-gun obstructionist as Illinois Senate President.
What are we asking for? The list isn’t terribly long for now, but it starts here:
Concealed carry reform. (Why should law-abiding good guys be made easy marks for bad guys as “gun free locations”? Why should criminals have easy access to guns inside of cars parked in “gun free location” parking lots?)
Waiting period reform. (Why should you be forced to wait to take home your gun when you’ve got one on your hip?)
Suppressor legalization. (Banning suppressors for guns makes as much sense as banning mufflers for cars and trucks.)
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