by John Boch
For a long time, gun rights advocacy existed almost exclusively in the realm of lobbying those involved in the legislative process. The gun control crowd would propose their latest crazy bill, and we would go to work educating politicians in the middle on why it won’t work and instead would only make matters worse.
We’ve done this for decades… since the Gun Control Act of 1968 in fact. I know some people will object to what I’m about to outline, but repeatedly banging your head against a brick wall and expecting a different outcome doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Today political “moderates” are extinct. What’s more, legislators who support fundamental Constitutional protections of our gun rights are deeply in the minority in our state.
The days of fighting bills in committee hearings and in floor debates is long past us. The people running the General Assembly wouldn’t let a committee hearing happen unless the outcome was already pre-ordained. And if the votes aren’t there to accomplish what the leadership wants with certainty, leadership will substitute committee members until they have the votes.
Don’t foolishly pretend political reality doesn’t exist. Or do so at your own peril.
We didn’t get right to carry in Illinois by lobbying and cajoling political leaders.
We got it by taking the fight to the courts.
We’re going to get rid of the FOID Act the same way: in the courts. Expect a decision on Guns Save Life’s lawsuit challenging the FOID act in the next month or two.
And now, radical legislators who laugh at the idea of “common sense gun law reforms” have proposed a law that effectively bans the best modern self-defense guns out there. It even effectively strips all people under age 21 of any right to possess firearms.
We know we aren’t going to convince these political ideologues that their political world view belongs in Communist China or Stalinist Russian. Only a fool would try to reason with or negotiate with these wild-eyed authoritarians. They demand obedience to government “authority” at the expense of personal freedom, period.
Convincing them of the error of their ways is akin to expecting career criminals or child molesters to suddenly reform themselves because you’ve explained right from wrong to them.
You can make phone calls, write letters and fill out witness slips until you’re blue in the face. It won’t make a difference in today’s world. Those pols who change their minds will do so, but not for the reasons you might think.
No, lobbying in the General Assembly is out because it’s simply not effective anymore. It’s like trying to treat a MRSA infection with penicillin.
Court is today’s venue to advocate for our rights. Fortunately we’ve got the Bruen and West Virginia US Supreme Court precedents in our back pocket.
A Freedom Coalition
We as GSL can’t do it alone when it comes to this all out jihad against our right to defend our families and ourselves against violent career criminals.
To fight back more effectively, Guns Save Life has joined a broad coalition dedicated to taking back our gun rights. Among the coalition are lobbyists, grassroots and online gun rights organizations, gun shops, gun clubs, gun manufacturers, trade groups, a nationally-known civil rights law firm and others who have dedicated their lives to advancing freedom for others.
Our first stop is stopping HB-5855 or similar competing bills that might emerge from the Illinois Senate next week.
To prepare for this new front in our war to defend your right to defend yourself, Guns Save Life identified and vetted over a dozen courageous, freedom-loving patriots as potential individual plaintiffs.
Others in our shared coalition have identified competent legal counsel in our state to handle the litigation. This isn’t something that a sole-practitioner law firm can handle. We need a team of experienced legal talent and we’ve got them – a couple of the very best teams in fact.
Even better, we’ve lined up one of the nation’s best firms – the Second Amendment Law Center to backstop our local legal teams.
The SALC, headed by Chuck Michele, has a proven track record of great work and big wins. They won challenges to multiple onerous gun laws in California, including the mag ban and others. And they did so pre-Bruen, too. Since then they’ve been busy racking up more wins. And the Law Center is willing to help us in Illinois.
Michele also serves as the president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, so you know he’s part of the gun culture.
We’ll need your help, too. Join our coalition team.
Here’s where you come into the mix. We need individuals, organizations and businesses to chip in to make these lawsuits happen.
Freedom isn’t free. What’s it worth to you?
Is it worth chipping in $20, $50 or $100 as an individual to the fight to stop HB-5855? What’s your family’s safety worth? Wouldn’t you do what you could to better protect your life of those of your family members?
Gun shop owners obviously have a lot riding on defeating 5855. We’ll need them to chip in too. Some have suggested $5 for every gun sold. Whatever the amount, if this bill passes and stands, gun sales will slow – at least after everyone buys their first revolver.
The bad guys out there giggle at their good fortune.
We have more bad news: we can assure you that the bad guys in Illinois aren’t going to find religion when they learn that the law-abiding good guys have been stripped of the most effective tools for self-defense.
No, bad guys will be even more emboldened and reckless.
So, make a donation or three today. Encourage your clubs and organizations to make a donation to this fight as well at their next board meeting.
Support our Illinois legal teams here.
And for those seeking tax-deductibility, a donation to the Second Amendment Law Center would be very much in order. All donations from Illinois residents will be earmarked to their firm’s experienced and priceless work backstopping our Illinois legal team.
100% of these donations will fund our legal fights. We’re not co-mingling these monies with the operating funds of any of our coalition team members. No gun rights organization staffers will be getting new Chevy Suburbans, any vacation trip(s) to the Bahamas or $20,000 suits.
We anticipate successful outcomes. Yes, we may get full reimbursement of our legal expenses from the State of Illinois. At that point, it seems logical that we’ll drive that money into new lawsuits challenging other onerous, unconstitutional gun control schemes in our state… perhaps including the Gun Dealer Licensing Scheme, Mandated Gun Registration on all new sales (both private and from gun stores), and prohibited locations. It’ll be up to our coalition team members to agree upon those legal actions. First though, we have to beat back these new proposals to strip us and our fellow Land of Lincoln residents of the most effective arms for self-defense.
And to do that, we need your help.