ISRA IGOLD Rally

Snidely Whiplash

I hope everyone who could go to this year's IGOLD rally is planning on attending. It's on Wednesday, March 18th, and I see they now have the sign-ups for bus tickets from various cities (buses leaving Rockford at 7:00 am, $25 ticket).<br />
http://isra.org/Even...ents/iGOLD.aspx<br />
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You might already know why I'm going, but even if you have an Illinois permit you should go to show support, and while you are there, you might visit your representatives and tell them to pull their thumbs out of their asses and reintroduce and vote for or reintroduce and vote for a bill like<br />
http://www.ilga.gov/...83&SessionID=85<br />
which will end the prohibition of carrying concealed in a DOT highway rest stop.<br />
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If you don't want to go from representative office to office, just buy a gold cap at the rally, join the march, and head for the basement cafeteria once you get into the Capitol, buy a beverage and sit there reading your newest issue of American Rifleman or Soldier of Fortune. That will tag the anti-gun politicians who avoid their own offices on rally day when they come out of their closed sessions to eat or drink.<br />
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It's fun being part of a IGOLD Rally crowd, knowing that between everyone attending, we probably have more guns than all the Illinois police and sheriff departments combined. The walk from the Prairie Capital Convention Center to the Capitol building is about 8 blocks, but they move at a nice slow pace, the better for the TV news cameras to see a sea of gold caps, t-shirts, and hoodies. They do have buses for those who might not be able to make that long a walk.<br />
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Snidely Whiplash

Snidely Whiplash

Just a reminder, it's getting closer to the date for the annual IGOLD Rally - Wednesday, March 18th<br />
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Event Info: http://isra.org/Even...ents/iGOLD.aspx<br />
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Ride the bus: http://isra.org/Port...dota-Normal.pdf<br />
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$25 from Rockford (Northern edge of Cherryvale Mall across from Petland) - buses available from other cities as well.<br />
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You might want to show up and give the legislators an earful about the laws being pushed this year, such as allowing you to protect yourself in the crapper at an IDOT (that always looks like it's missing a vowel) rest stop:<br />
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http://ilga.gov/legi...sionID=88&GA=99<br />
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http://www.ilga.gov/...83&SessionID=85<br />
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Help prevent the bill to flip flop the law from the current requirement to post 'No Guns' signs to prohibit carrying concealed, over to requiring 'Guns Allowed' signs to be posted to allow you to carry concealed into a building:<br />
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http://ilga.gov/legi...sionID=88&GA=99<br />
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Figure out this new prohibited carry places:<br />
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http://ilga.gov/legi...sionID=88&GA=99<br />
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"Amends the Firearm Concealed Carry Act. Provides that a licensee under the Act shall not knowingly carry a firearm into any building, real property, or parking area under the control of (1) a licensed establishment as defined and licensed under the Video Gaming Act, or (2) a licensed fraternal establishment or licensed veterans establishment as defined and licensed under the Video Gaming Act, where alcoholic liquor is drawn, poured, mixed, or otherwise served for consumption on the premises. Provides that a licensee under the Act shall not knowingly carry a firearm into any building under the control of a licensed fraternal establishment, licensed veterans establishment, or licensed truck stop establishment, as defined and licensed under the Video Gaming Act, and alcoholic liquor is not drawn, poured, mixed, or otherwise served for consumption on the premises. Provides that any person (rather than the owner) lawfully in possession and control of private real property of any type may prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms on the property (deletes under his or her control). Provides that if the property is a private residence no sign need be posted and it shall be presumed that the carrying of concealed firearms is prohibited in the residence and a violation of the Act. Effective immediately."<br />
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It seems to read that either the owner or a tenant of a property, like say a jewelry store leasing their building, could prohibit concealed carry. And if that weren't enough, it looks like it flip-flops the requirement to post private property as prohibiting concealed carry over to requiring the property be posted to allow concealed carry.<br />
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Other bills are listed at: http://isra.org/Advo...egislation.aspx<br />
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Snidely Whiplash

Snidely Whiplash

A brief overview of the 2015 Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day rally:<br />
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The weather was good for mid-March, a light breeze, no precipitation and warm enough for my light winter jacket. The ISRA is focusing this year on reducing the number of No Gun Zones (the Cook County Forest Preserves was cited as a specific example) and removing local ordinances from the books of municipalities that have been invalidated by the court rulings and subsequent CCW law. Reciprocity was briefly mentioned as an additional goal (it seemed to be a more important topic for a number of the grassroots attendees I talked to than the IGOLD organizers). Otis McDonald's family (Otis died last year) was presented and the book written about his story, "An Act of Bravery: Otis W. McDonald and the Second Amendment", was mentioned.<br />
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The attendance was down from last year - this was alluded to by a couple of the rally speakers when they told the audience that there was a lot of work still to be done on the CCW law. It appears that a lot of gun owners believe that since Illinois now has a pro-gun Governor, they can relax. One of the new gun control attempts is to have a law regarding social media. A rally speaker referred to this as the "Facebook" bill. If someone reports your Facebook page or Twitter account has something "threatening to the public good" or shows a potential threat of violence, then your carry permit could be revoked and you would have to prove (at our expense and time) your mental stability to get it reinstated. It wouldn't be R. Lee Ermy or Clint Eastwood narking on you, it would be your friendly community organizer (aka the libtard mafia).<br />
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One big difference this year was that the Governor's office door to his reception area were open to the public today, the first time in IGOLD rally history. We were greeted by several smiling faces in the foyer, rather than met by the sourpuss that was standing outside the closed door collecting IGOLD cards the previous 2 years I attended.<br />
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I had a brief chat with Sharee Langenstein, https://www.rnla.org...p?MemberID=7434 one of the guest speakers at the rally, about the ISP's discrimination against the residents of 45 states who are not allowed to apply for Illinois non-resident ccw permits.<br />
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Late last night I was going through IGOLD's previous year's information packet and came across the preprinted cards they distribute to attendees and I had the brilliant idea to make my own cards. I didn't have time to print very many, but I managed to distribute most of them in the time we had at the Capitol building before the pre-departure rally in the rotunda. I printed my cards on heavy stock and cut them to the same size as the IGOLD cards, but mine didn't have the red and green ink that IGOLD's do. I got a few double-takes from the staffers collecting them for their Reps and Senators.<br />
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In addition to the Governor's Office, as well as Madigan and Cullerton's offices, I also stopped in the Lieutenant Governor's office and left a card. Her assistant seemed surprised about that. I got the impression that the Office of Lieutenant Governor gets less traffic than the Maytag Repairman's workshop. <img src='http://www.goodguysposse.org/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /><br />
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The pre-departure rally in the rotunda had the usual 15-20 minutes of highlights of the meeting at the convention center and finished with the de rigueur chant. This year the chant was "Gun Free Zones are Killing Zones!"<br />
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Please try to attend next year's rally: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.<br />
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News links<br />
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http://www.chicagotr...0318-story.html<br />
http://chicago.sunti...ority-gun-group<br />
http://www.sfgate.co...gun-6143546.php<br />
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Snidely Whiplash<br />