ISRA Thursday Bulletin

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ISRA Thursday Bulletin<br />
8/22/2013<br />
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE <br />
Recently, Governor Quinn signed HB1189 as amended into law. HB1189 was a sex offender bill which had been passed by the Illinois House of Representatives back in March 22, 2013 and had nothing to do with firearms. On May 31st, the day of the legislature’s adjournment, the ISRA lobbyists got word that there was going to be a bill presented by Senator Kwame Raoul that dealt with lost and stolen firearms and background checks for private sales. <br />
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HB1189 came up for a vote in the Illinois Senate but instead of passing the bill as it was, before the vote, Sen. Raoul stripped the sex offender language out of the bill with a Senate Floor Amendment and the bill was then was passed. The bill with the new language immediately went back to the House of Representatives for concurrence. The time between the passage of HB1189 as amended in the Illinois Senate and the bill’s presentation in the House was just short. In that time, ISRA lobbyists fought against the passage of the bill by reaching out to every legislator possible, unfortunately there was not enough time to reach every legislator, and the bill passed. From the moment word was received about the amendment until HB1189 went to concurrence, your ISRA fought hard to defeat the bill. Tactics like these are all too familiar in Illinois politics. <br />
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The fight goes on. Thank you for being member. <br />
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Richard A. Pearson <br />
Executive Director<br />
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How do I get to Carnegie Hall?<br />
By: Richard A. Pearson <br />
There are currently a large number of people thinking about applying for an Illinois Concealed Carry License (CCL). We are all waiting around dry mouthed to see how all of this is going to play out. Indeed there are many questions to consider: Where will I get training? How much will everything cost? What kind of gun do I want to carry? What size does it need to be? What caliber should I get? How will I carry it? These are all common questions that will be answered in due time, and may be different for each person. <br />
There are several things you can do while you’re waiting to receive your Illinois CCL. Taking shooting classes, whether they apply toward your Illinois CCL or not, make the biggest impact when using your firearm. Being a good shot requires more than practice; it requires perfect practice, and shooting is a perishable skill which makes continuous repetition even more imperative. There are many people wanting to do no more than what is required – and that is the end of it until requalification in five years. I believe this is a big mistake. <br />
I am reminded of the story of the girl who asked her teacher “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The teacher’s reply was “There are two ways to get to Carnegie Hall. One is to fly to New York City and take a taxi to 8817^th Avenue, where Carnegie Hall is located; the other way is to practice, practice, practice!” The problem in a self-defense situation is this: you don’t have time to practice practice, practice right before you become involved in a self-defense situation. This is no place for “on-the-job” training! The end result has a lot to do with your training, cool headedness, and luck. The more training you have, the more likely you are to stay in control, thus requiring less dependence on luck. We all know about luck right? If you don’t have bad luck, you won’t have any luck at all. The key here is to minimize reliance on luck, period. <br />
Choosing your instructor is something that needs to be well thought out. Your instructor should be specialized in training civilians. Some instructors are excellent at training the police and military, but this includes a different mindset. In most cases, a civilian’s mindset is a defensive one while the police and military mindset is an offensive one. The civilian wants to be able to defend him or herself, their loved ones, and/or other innocent people until the police arrive. The police and military work at seizing and controlling the situation to achieve a desired end. They are not the same. I am not saying that there are not police and military instructors who can’t teach civilians, because there are. I just want you to be aware of the differences. <br />
You should start out with a basic fundamental training course. I wouldn’t get too excited about doing the advanced stuff just yet, not until you have a good grasp on the fundamentals. Great athletes all have one thing in common—they execute the fundamentals well. You should work with the basics until they are engrained in you. There are those who teach what I call “handgun workout” classes, which are skill building classes done under the watchful eye of an instructor. These classes help the students discover and correct errors and the instructor then makes sure you’ve corrected your errors. I am mostly opposed to self-practice in the beginning stages because if you aren’t aware of your errors, you will probably be practicing making errors. The more you practice errors, the more difficult they are to correct. If you practice alone, stick to the basic marksmanship skills; advanced classes should be taken after your basic skills are well developed. <br />
Beyond the classes, I recommend you get into a shooting league, because it is the best way to keep you shooting on a consistent basis. You are also surrounded by all types of shooters, many who are very knowledgeable. Nearly all of them will share their experiences with you. Shooting in a league also adds just a little pressure, which is good because when using your gun in self-defense, pressure is a major factor. <br />
When shooting in leagues or matches, most people think that the pressure comes from the competition of shooting against the clock or other competitors. It is more than that; it is getting used to noise and commotion that goes on while being able to successfully manipulate your firearm. This is great training should you ever get into a confrontation. You can read endless articles, books, and watch videos about Concealed Carry and self-defense, but the fact is, that your hands on experience is what your mind calls on to handle the situation. If you don’t have experience to call on, panic may ensue; sitting in your easy chair does not prepare you for bad situations. Shooting in full-fledged leagues and competitions adds another level of pressure and helps prepare your mind. <br />
There many different types of handgun shooting leagues and competitions, which should enhance your shooting abilities. The oldest of the leagues is a Bullseye League. Bullseye requires one handed shooting at 50 feet, 25 yards and even 50 yards. If you are able to learn to shoot bullseye, you will be successful at any type of pistol shooting you engage in. Glock Leagues, Springfield Leagues and Police Pistol Combat (PPC) Leagues are on the introductory end and it goes up from there. Combat leagues are always attractive to pistol shooters. In general, Combat Leagues introduce drawing and movement into your skill set. Take your time—leagues help reinforce and perfect the skills you have already acquired. <br />
There are advanced classes taught at higher levels by Massad Ayoob, Rob Pincus and others, which are always fun. Aside from being fun, they produce higher level skills, and you will learn to handle pressure in numerous other situations. Whatever you do–get started! Predictions are that 300,000-400,000 people want an Illinois CCL. With the required 16 hours of training, it amounts to somewhere between 4.8 and 6.4 million hours, which will put quite a strain on instructors and ranges. So, get started. If you end up on stage at your Carnegie Hall, it may be the last performance of your life if you haven’tpracticed, practiced, practiced. <br />

At The Range (Upcoming)

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The Sight-In Day at the ISRA Range scheduled for Aug 24 has been cancelled. <br />
This event will return in the future.

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Smallbore League

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Glock Pistol League

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Bench Rest League

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F-Class League

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In the News

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Vernon Hills: No guns in new Dave & Buster's<br />
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Spokane schools revelation affirms NRA recommendation<br />
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Repeat the Lie till it becomes the Truth<br />
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Further Proof the Background Check Issue is a Red Herring<br />
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The New IL Anti-Gun Bill Kerfluffle<br />
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5 Wounded In Uptown Shooting<br />
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Legislative<br />

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SPECIAL ALERT – YOUR ATTENDANCE REQUESTED<br />
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WHAT: Special ISRA Town Hall Meeting to discuss status of Concealed Carry, gun bans, and grassroots campaigns to defeat anti-gun mayors. <br />
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WHEN: Thursday, August 22, 2013, 7:00 PM <br />
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WHERE: Diplomat West Banquet Hall, northwest corner of Route 83 and North Avenue, Elmhurst, Illinois<br />
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WHO: ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson, will be hosting a special Town Hall meeting to discuss the status of implementation of concealed carry. The discussions will include the current status of the legislation along with possible excuses and dirty tricks that are being used, and may be used in the future, to derail implementation of the law. Also subject to discussion will be upcoming gun control legislation and renewed attempts to ban your guns. The town hall will also serve as a nucleus for organizing grassroots efforts to unseat mayors who belong to Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns.” <br />
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ADMISSION IS FREE – ALL GUN OWNERS AND 2^ND AMENDMENT SUPPORTERS WELCOME! BRING A FRIEND OR TWO! BRING A NOTEPAD AND A PEN OR PENCIL <br />
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Municipal "Assault Weapon" Ban results <br />
District/Official Search Page <br />

Gun Shows<br />
(Check our calendar for more details!

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Belleville Gun Show Aug 24-25 Belle-clair Expo Belleville, IL <br />
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Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) Highlight

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Illinois State Rifle Association To Turn Heat Up On Suburban And Small Town Mayors<br />
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Bloomberg’s MAIG has made major inroads in Illinois. Check to see if your mayor is on the list of members. Our Illinois Mayors need to be informed of the allegations against MAIG, its obvious divergence from its stated agenda and encouraged to withdraw their membership.<br />
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Remember to be polite and professional. Present them with the facts that MAIG has nothing to do with 'Illegal Guns' and everything to do with making gun ownership illegal.<br />
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Please forward on any correspondence you receive regarding this matter to the ISRA. <br />

Skokie, IL<br />
Mayor George Van Dusen<br />
george.vandusen@skokie.org<br />
847/933-8269<br />
http://www.skokie.org/Mayor.cfm

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South Holland, IL<br />
Don A. De Graff<br />
Email: admin@southholland.org<br />
Phone: (708) 210-2911<br />
http://www.southholland.org/index.php?page=contact

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Notices

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