IL: Dictator Daley at it again -- Assault Weapons ban going to committee vote

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Knowing southern IL like I do, I imagine every LEO there are just cringing to think that this bill would ever pass. Firearm confiscation would be the LAST thing they would ever want to do.
 
OK, a few thoughts:

1. CALL CALL CALL CALL!

2. The lack of ISRA publicity makes me nervous. They could get donations out of this, so the fact is they're essentially turning down money. ISRA simply does not do that. Last year, one of the anti-gun bills (though a fairly minor one) passed because the antis moved it to a different committee at the last moment and held the vote at the same time that we were all debating the other bills in Judiciary. :fire: The same kind of thing could go on this year.

3. WHM, I think you're being overly optimistic. I, for one, am not going to get into a shooting war just for the privilege of living in Illinois. If the SOBs want people like me gone that badly, I'll move my guns out of state and follow them.

4. THEY LEFT THE "affirmative defense" IN THERE! How stupid can these people be? When you call, mention to your elected things that a police officer or a soldier in the National Guard can be arrested, arraigned and tried under this bill simply for possessing his issued rifle!
(I know that's a little silly to those of us who believe we have the same rights to the same weapons as any soldier, but it will resonate with legislators. It did last year.)

5. If you do come up, try to take the whole day and come up in the morning. Bring a book. They WILL change the time and place of the hearing.

It's also a good idea to try to get here before 10:00 so that you can park in the Visitors' Center Parking Lot. It's across the street (to the West) from the Capitol parking lot. The VCP is free and unlimited, but you will be towed from the Capitol lot. Everything else in the area is expensive paid parking.

I'd love to meet as many of you as possible!

Oh, BTW, Senate dress code requires a shirt and tie, jackets are encouraged. But last year they didn't have the guts to tell all the gun owners in flannel and polo shirts to leave, so wear what you think appropriate. Camouflage, t-shirts (unless they carry messages) and dirty jeans are not good ideas.
 
Illinois comrade-subjects --

I have called all Senators on the list and politely made my voice heard to them.

I have sent this info to all the shooters I know.

I hope you have luck putting together a groundswell of people at the Capitol next Tuesday. I unfortunately will be in France all of next week on business (ugh, first France and now a critical day towards whether a major liberty I have is abolished) so won't be able to physically join you.

Molon labe!
 
Oh, shoot -- mods -- I just saw you changed my original title. I was making a play on Daley's first name...Richard...versus the "other" interpretation of that word. Let that one slip by my Art's Grammaw filter.

Sorry :uhoh:
 
Called everyone on the Judicial committee last night and left messages, will continue to do so up until Tues evening. Called I$RA, said I didnt see anything on their sight about this. Was informed that only members get alert services and they do not post alerts on their website. I guess the money is more important than letting the general public know. Was told that a I$RA rep is in Springfield lobbying.

I may be wrong but Obama may be able to brought to our side if only temporarily, if I understand he wants to run for the senate, and he may figure that if he appears pro gun he can get the downstate dem votes, worked for Blago.

Keep up the phone calls and lets shut down the phone system like we did last year
 
It will not matter if they go collect them or not - that is secondary.

Its just another bit of leverage they can use on unsuspecting people when they pull them over or search their home for some other reason.

Expect that they make examples out of a few people to get most people to turn the guns in. If they get 30-50%, they will consider it success - the rest they will get here and there.

Now it will be a crime to own any EBRs - so if you dont give them up, they can offer $1000 rewards to rat people out - so who knows you have EBRs but considers $1000 worth handing you over?

C'mon down to Texas :)
 
As mentioned in a previous post, I'm reading The Turner Diaries for a terrorism course. The plot of the story deals with a group of people trying to hide their guns from the Political Police when they banned all private ownership of firearms in the United States in a bill known as "The Cohen Act." Remember, this is a work of fiction -- and largely racist work of fiction at that...but it goes on to say that once these gunowners are caught:

"The Constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial, of course, has ben "reinterpreted" by the courts until it no means no more than our Constitutional guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms."

One of the first things my father asked when I told him what was happening was "How is that legal? What about the Second Amendment?" Yeah -- what about it. This is the same country that would put Rosary beads in a jar filled with urine and call it "art," protected by the First Amendment and promoted by the National Endowment of the Arts.....

What's next? Would you fight for your guns?
 
Calls made and office visit at lunch today

I made the calls to the committee people, wrote e-mails to my State Senator (R) and Rep about this foolishness, and dropped the hard copies off at their office at lunch break (both close by) Lemont and Mokena, IL.

The receptionist/office manager noted my visit and the subject in her log and promised to give the letter to the Rep/Sen. She said their staff was not currently working on any position paper or response to this proposal that she was aware of.

I printed out and brought the proposal along and highlighted the confiscation component. That got her attention when I said that means Illinois State Police units coming to my house and taking my collection by force; "you know they way Daley does it in Chicago".

Sounds kind of like they kept the sponsorship small to keep this as under the radar as they could.

I left my name and home number if they have any questions or want any reference material from DOJ etc. At least a couple of people know what they are doing now.
 
I just called everyone on the list, including my own Senator, Rick Winkle, a good man. I also mentioned Obama's Senate race when I called. I asked some of the people if they knew what their respective senators were planning to vote, the only one who gave a definite, he will vote no, was Winkle's office. So if you are calling don't forget to let him know he is very much apreciated. Jim.
 
Please, guys, if you can make it, be there. I do have to caution everyone--I have requested Tuesday off, which according to the immutable laws of time and space itself, means that the hearing will be moved.

I also want everyone to remember that you don't have to stand up, speak out, or spend money at the Capitol. All you need to do to help save your rights and the rights of your children is SHOW UP. Please do it.

As you've surely gathered by now, I get a REALLY bad feeling about the ISRA's silence on this. I hope they're working behind the scenes, but we shall see. If they don't show up, whether because they make a deal or because they're just too deep in disarray, I'll stand up and tell the Senators that buying off the ISRA or giving their lobbyist a concession for his motorcycle clients does NOT mean they're off the hook with Illinois gun owners. Then I'll have to pray it's true. :(

You won't be able to miss me. I'm the big fat guy with the bright red beard. Much as it pains me to do so, I'll probably wear a tie. If you see me, introduce yourself.
 
Does anyone know if companies such as Armalite, Springfield Armory and such have been notified by this?? I know that last year Armalite was blindsided by this and shut down production and had their employees calling all day. If anyone knows how to get into contact with someone besides a salesman at these companies I think it is important that we do so.
 
Got to remember it isn't the state of Illinois it is the state of Chicago. Unless that stops it can only get worst for the gun owners. I lived in Joliet for over 50 years and since moved to Arizona Like going from hell to heaven
 
This may explain the ISRA's relative silence

The Senate Rules committee discharged for consideration a pair of anti-gun bills. SB-2561 is a reincarnation of SB-1195 from last year. And SB-2562 is another magazine ban. Both bills will be up in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. While supporters of the gun bans had some luck in moving SB-1195 out of committee last year, the tide may have changed as gun owners flooded the capitol with calls in protest to such a trampling of rights.
Click to expand...

This from an ISRA e-mail alert I received today. It's not time to think the fight's won though. Pour it on, keep the phones ringing in the capitol until after the vote.

Jeff
 
DON'T believe anything you hear about SB2561 fading away! If you are an Illinois resident, make those calls! I waited until today, because the committee was supposed to process this bill tomorrow (2/24/04), and then I hit them all with a call. But they could be playing games and deferring a vote, and we all may have to call AGAIN! There is no limit to the deviousness in Springfield.
 
Don't forget to follow up and call again when you get the mailbox full message. I got two mailbox full messages today. Hopefully that's a good sign, but don't let up. Keep the calls coming.

Jeff
 
I have had everyone that I could get a hold of calling including my mother, Gods Bless her, my wife has called and I also had her fax over a copy of the alert to Armalite, Springfield Armory and others. Keep making the phone calls and let them have it with both barrels.
 
Anyone have any idea of what happened today downstate? I was not able to attend.

Any info would be better than none.

thanks for any help given.
 
The little RATS decided to hold the bills. I have a bad feeling about that, because the Republican who was proposing to change the age for FOID cards from 21 to 18 held his as well. I hope a trade is not in the works.

The same sort of thing happened last year, and they later claimed that a death in the Machine had forced several witnesses on behalf of the bill to miss the original hearing date to attend a funeral (since the deceased and all the pro-ban witnesses were part of Daley's Machine.)

I have no information about what is actually going on, only that I took the day off work and stood in a packed, sweaty hearing room for half an hour only to be told it was for nothing. On the other hand, we have that much more time to continue calling and faxing our Senators. I need to get out of the workplace and get home now, but I'll post more detailed thoughts in a bit.
 
Mr. Gwinn,

Thank you for your reply. If I can I will try and make it downstate to the next hearing.

In the meantime this is a good thing somewhat to give us more time to write and call the right people and possibly make a difference.

We really cannot let them win this. A full blown police state is (if not already) on the horizon.

~L
 
I wouldn't be surprised if they moved it to another comittee. IIRC they had to move one of last years antigun bills out of judiciary to get it to the floor.

In any case, the delay works in our favor, people were tied up on the federal side. If we get past the US Senate in the next day or two we can put all the more fight in at the state level.

Who's going to the ISRA convention in April. It's close to home for me. I'll even host a THR shoot on my little range that weekend.

Jeff
 
OK, here's how I see it. There are several possibilities, and at the moment I don't have the information to decide what's going on. Here are three, ranked from the most likely to the least.

1. It's possible that Munoz knew he didn't have the votes. This is good news for us. However, it means we have to pour on the public comment. Either he gives up at this point (which I don't think is likely unless there were several antis crossing over to vote against him) or he goes all out, changes the bill, promises favors, has Daley's people call committee members and threaten them, whatever.
He may be able to pass the core of the bill (still repugnant) by removing some of the more outrageously stupid ideas (like prosecuting National Guardsmen for carrying M16's on duty.)

2. It's also possible, though there's a hint of paranoia in the idea, that the whole thing is Munoz's way (or Daley's) of "icing" us. Daley and Munoz know, this theory goes, that most of the opponents of the bill are not paid lobbyists and have to get the day off work. Some, like me, would be using up their last personal days for the year. :fire:
The pro-ban witnesses, on the other hand, mostly work for Daley or his allies and therefore can simply show up as many times as necessary. I wish I knew these people by sight; I'd have been watching to see if they showed up on Tuesday. If nobody from Daley's office or ICHV had been there, that would have been strong evidence that they were tipped off that only those stupid gun nuts would need to show up that day.

So what do we do about that? Well, those of you who couldn't make it on Tuesday will need to make a special effort to make it next time. And again, we need to use the added time to our advantage by putting even more pressure on our Senators. Do you sense a pattern here? ;)

3. Lastly, although I cited the wrong bill above, there were a couple of mildly pro-gun bills that were due to be called yesterday at the same hearing. They were held just like the ban was. Is it possible there's some kind of cheap deal going on here? Well, it's possible, but I don't think it's likely. The pro-gun bills were very minor things to be traded for something like the AWB. I can't shake the nagging feeling that our side might make that trade, though. ("We" accept the new assault weapon ban in exchange for "their" acceptance of the new bill that amends SubSection B345.6, Paragraph 7.5, Line 4 of the current ILCS to read that Illinois residents "have got the right to hunt deer and ducks" rather than that they "possess the right to hunt deer and ducks."
I hope this is impossible, but I can't be sure. I think it's the least likely of the three.
 
Had this update from ISRA in my e-mail this morning...

It looks like we may be at least holding our own.....

Capitol Commentary
By Todd Vandermyde

2-27-04

This week was the final week for committees to take up substantive bills in the
Illinois Senate. The House has another week for committee action.

Eyes we focused on the Senate Judiciary Committee for its Tuesday afternoon
meeting. At the start, the chairman announced certain bills would not be heard
and carried over to Thursday. The gun bills were among those carried over to
Thursday.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Civil Committee did not take up HB-4835 (Gun Sale Registration). An amendment is in the works and the bill will be heard next week.

On Thursday, the Judiciary Committee reconvened and took up a change to the FOID
card Act we have proposed. The change is that if you are 18 years old, and able
to join the military, vote and get married, you should be able to sign your own
FOID card application. As you would expect, The anti-gunners and City of Chicago
came out to oppose this simple change.

The bill passed on a 7 – 3 vote, with US Senate candidate Barack Obama voting
against our veterans, along with Senators Harmon and Silverstein.

The bill now heads to the floor.

SB2561 (Semi auto rifle and shotgun ban) and SB2562 (Magazine ban) were not
called for a hearing. We believe that the city saw the lack of support, and with
the looming vote in Washington over firearms legislation, did not want to show
the Senate, that the state of Illinois was once again going to reject this type
of gun control.

While the deadline for substantive bills to pass out of committee has come and
gone in the Senate, that does not mean that we are out of the woods yet. There
are many bills that could be used as a vehicle bill to have an anti-gun
amendment attached and breath life into this otherwise dead issue.

Last year, the House attached an amendment to a Senate bill that turned it into
a gun show bill. We have several months to go, and these are but the opening
rounds. According to news accounts over the last week, the City of Chicago and
the Mayor seem almost beside themselves at the prospect that their $433 Million
lawsuit against gun shops and gun makers is on the verge of being gutted by the
passage of S659/S1805 in the U.S. Senate. With little or no support in
Springfield, and facing a tough battle in congress with their lawsuit, it is
hard to guess what kind of desperate stand the Mayor might try and make. With
that, we will do what we always do, and stay vigilant.

At the same time, we would point out that we have 4 pro-gun bills out on the
floor pending. Two FOID card bills and two bills dealing with Wilmette. A
majority of our bills were held up in the rules committees, as it appears that
neither chamber is in a particular mood to deal with this issue in an election
year. But to date, only two of Daley’s have gotten out.

Right now the score is Gun Owners 4, Daley 0. We hope to increase that a bit in
the next few weeks. And maybe, the Congress will pass a clean bill to protect
the industry from all those junk lawsuits. It’s looking like it just might be a
decent year for our side.

Ed. Note: Todd Vandermyde is the NRA Contract Lobbyist for Illinois. He may be
contacted at [email protected]
Click to expand...

Keep up the pressure....it looks like once again we can relax when they go out of session.

Jeff
 
Well, there's a good argument for a paid lobbyist in the legislature. I knew they had a deadline around this time of year, but I thought it was in March. I didn't even bother to check.

That IS good news, but as he says, we still have to watch for riders.
 
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