It looks like things might actually be happening in Ilinois:
“It’s heating up. We think we’re close,” said Todd Vandermyde, a National Rifle Association lobbyist who has pushed the concealed-carry proposal in Springfield before. “You’ve got 48 states that have this. That’s a statement.”
Gun control advocates are firing back with bills to create new restrictions on the sale and transfer of those guns, while trying to stop the concealed-carry movement.
There are a lot of anti-gun bills in the Illinois legislature too, and a good offense is often the best defense. They will have to expend energy to defeat this bill, which makes some of the other bad stuff take a back seat. The Bradys are already worried about it.
Mannard, of the gun-control group, says that argument clashes with common sense. “If I’m walking down the street, and the neighbor across the street is carrying a loaded 9 millimeter with a 15-round clip, that doesn’t make me feel safer.”
A 9mm with a 15 round magazine? Why, that’s exactly what I carry. I’ve never noticed any of my neighbors giving me worried looks. Apparently these people don’t quite grasp the definition of the word concealed.
like this post, concealed carry permits are becoming a hot issue everywhere. like you – 9 with 15mag
To be honest – if someone had a 15 round ‘clip’ in their 9mm – i might be a little worried too.
Aren’t magazines with capacities above 10 rounds already illegal in Ill-annoys? Being from FL, I wouldn’t know.
I don’t believe IL has any kind of assault weapons ban statewide, or any kind of magazine restrictions.
You would be correct. All statewide AWB and mag cap bans have so far been successfully defeated. C(r)ook County has however.
IGOLD. March 11th
Never thought I’d see this coming in my lifetime.
Get on board, Folks.
Head over to Illinois Carry dot com and get on board with this.
This movement is gaining serious traction.
A friend from Illinois mentioned this to me in an email a couple of months ago but I never responded. I thought he was joking, being sarcastic, whatever. But didn’t for the life of me think he was being serious, and so I never responded. Might warrant a belated response.
Contertop:
There is serious and stimulating energy in Illinois right now, and that energy is driving an equally serious effort to move forward a sound carry bill. It is the combination of several factors.
1) The shakeup among Illinois democrats, that has involved Blagojevich and allies, Roland Burris, etc., and has people Rahm Emanuel and Jesse Jackson, Jr. laying very low. It’s just a general sentiment that the system (the Chicago Machine), is corrupt to the core.
2) The replacement of virulently anti-gun rights Blago with a much more moderate Governor Quinn. While we have not received a straight answer on whether he would sign a carry bill, he’s perceived by many in the know as being much more open-minded about the issue.
3) The Heller decision. What more can I say. It is said that even the hardest opponents of gun rights in this state are asking themselves “how are our hands tied by this decision”, and “what can we get away with that will still pass constitutional muster?” These questions were never before seriously considered by those wishing to deny our rights.
4) For the first time in history, the Illinois Sheriff’s Association has come out in strong support of a citizens’ carry bill. This has bent the ear and the eye of many people that were “borderline” in their earlier views. I cannot overemphasize how much the ISA’s support of carry have buoyed the likelihood of passage.
5) FOUR … count them, four carry bills have been introduced into the house alone. Three of them are pretty similar, varying mostly in the licensing agency. The fourth bill is different … and in many ways much better and less restrictive. In a way, this bill reflects much of the wisdom and experience gained by the many states that have carry bills, and some of the subsequent issues they have faced (and in some cases, had to address legislatively).
6) The overwhelming response of county-level governments to second amendment issues. As of now 88 of the 102 Illinois counties have passed formal resolutions stating their commitment to second amendment rights, and effectively stating that they do not support any more state-level infringments that are pushed annually by the Chicago anti-gun contingent (including Chicago mayor Daley). This grassroots movement has had tremendous effect in stimulating people’s interest, understanding of the issues, and the fact that county boards send these resolutions to state legislators. These legislators are seriously getting the message.
7) The massive and pervasive effects that state gun rights groups are having, and are activating their membership to call and write legislators, write gun blogs, write letters to the editors, etc. The Illinois State Rifle Association, IllinoisCarry dot com, Champaign County Rifle, Sangamon County Rifle, etc. are all stepping up to the plate to help move a good carry bill through the legislature.
Given that we now have the most anti-gun rights president in history … and given that he came up through the Chicago Democrat Machine system … and given that Chicago is home to the deepest anti-gun rights pockets in the nation (the Joyce Foundation, funding anti-gun groups and scholarship to the tune of more than $12 million in the past 5 years alone) … we cannot be more proud of the pro-gun movement that is growing like wildfire, despite all these obstacles.
We shall overcome.
I forgot to mention that outside DC, Chicagoland was home to more outright bans on handgun ownership than anywhere in the US. As of last year, handguns were strictly banned in the cities of Chicago, Oak Park, Morton Grove, Evanston, Willmette, and Winnetka. As of now, only Chicago and Oak Park remain and are fighting a costly court battle to retain their unconstitutional laws. The latter four cities have repealed their bans.
This gives us the message … YES WE CAN destroy unconstitutional laws and gun bans. Two lawsuits challenging Chicago and Oak Park (on 14A grounds) are now in the 7th circuit court of appeals. And as suspected, these cities are stalling progress in these cases as much as allowed by law.
“Arming this state is going to make more and more people feel that they need to protect themselves, and it could escalate all the handguns that are out there,” — Rep. Harry Osterman, D-Chicago
Dummies like this want to run the banks and hospitals.
Think about that.