by John Boch
The 2018 midterm elections brought a surprisingly high turnout nationwide, including right here in Illinois. With the votes tallied, Illinois’ Michael Madigan gained a Democrat supermajority in both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly. And JB Pritzker as governor.
Land of Lincoln residents and business will get more taxes and fewer services from state government. Count on more gun control bills as well. Just like death and taxes.
On the bright side, we got rid of at least one turncoat – Pretty Boy Peter Breen. Pretty Boy won his seat standing with gun owners. This year, he sold us out and now he’s out of a job. We proved that in a close race, gun owners can and will hold Quislings accountable. In some other races, we made candidates like Sleazy Marty Moylan spend a lot of money – millions, in fact, to hold his seat.
In the end, did Pretty Boy’s Republican colleagues learn that they can’t sell-out gun owners and expect to keep their seats, even in the suburbs? Time will tell. This would make a good question to ask Senate Minority Leader Bill Brady and House Minority Leader Jim Durkin when you see them.
Is this the end of gun rights?
Meanwhile, everyone wants to know: Does this election spell the end to gun rights in Illinois?
Not likely, thanks primarily to the courts. And not if we can help it. But gun owners will need to bring their A-game this year and not count on the NRA, GSL and ISRA to do all the heavy lifting. If Prairie State gun owners don’t take action to fight for their rights, then Democrats will legislate our rights away just as they did for Chicago’s residents decades ago. And we all see how well that has played out.
Yes, JB Pritzker will make headlines blaming law-abiding gun owners for Chicago’s cesspool of violence. No, he won’t ever blame his fellow Democrats and their failed policies from the last 87 88 years.
In our favor, the gun grabbers in Illinois have a well-deserved reputation for attempted legislative over-reach. Where they could easily get a bump stock ban, they try to ban not only bump stocks, but trigger jobs, and even the parts involved.
And other dynamics will play out. The Black Caucus will not want legislation that will put even more young African-Americans (“People of Color”) in prison – not for guns, drugs, thefts, violent crime or anything else.
And even if Fat Cat JB signs sweeping gun bans, the U.S. Supreme Court under President Donald Trump will likely swat them down. In fact, there are cases out there right now that might percolate up to SCOTUS even before an Illinois ban might take effect. Read the latest issue of GunNews for an explanation of how a Pritzker gun ban might spell the end to all semi-auto gun bans, nationwide.
You can count on Guns Save Life, along with the NRA and other gun rights groups in Illinois to fight like we’re the third monkey on the ramp to Noah’s Ark on gun legislation and in court – and brother, it is raining cats and dogs.
Lastly, don’t go out and rent a U-Haul just yet. Illinois has a lot going for it including some outstanding people. We have our work cut out for us to educate those who don’t know of the proven benefits of firearm ownership.
Join or renew your membership in Guns Save Life. Ditto for the National Rifle Association. No doubt we have a difficult times in our near future, but we have weathered plenty of ugly storms before. With hard work and dedication, we’ll outlast J.B. Pritzker just like we outlasted Rod Blagojevich and Mayor Richard Daley, Jr. In fact, given Pritzker’s history of shady dealings, he might just end up in federal prison just like his predecessors Governors Ryan and Blagojevich.
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