On Tuesday night, the Naperville City Council met to consider and hear comments from the public regarding the proposed ban on the sale of so-called assault weapons in the City of Naperville.  The room was packed, and the meeting lasted until 11:00pm.  The Naperville City Council plans to make the following changes to the ordinance according to news broadcasts.  They plan to place exemptions in the ordinance for police and military and remove references to handguns and handgun ammunition.  Nothing is in writing yet.  At present, the plan is to vote on the ordnance at the next Naperville City Council meeting.  More as we get it.

Reports are starting to trickle in from the National Championships.  Congratulations to Mike James on becoming High Grand Senior High Power Service Rifle National Champion.  The Central Illinois Precision Shooters, an ISRA affiliated Junior team has done a great job at the National Matches.  The team achieved two Second place finishes.  They received a Silver Medal in the USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championship and a Silver Medal in the Civilian Marksmanship National Match.  Hats off to these young marksmen.  Hats off to CIPS Coach Joe Miller and the rest of the coaches and support staff for their dedication and excellent coaching abilities.  These volunteers are dedicated to making sure these young people are the best marksmen they can be.

Last week produced a couple of concealed carry heroes in Indiana and Missouri.  In Greenwood, Indiana, a 22-year-old concealed carry permit holder stopped a would-be mass shooter in his tracks.  The Greenwood Park Mall is of course a Gun Free Zone, but that sign didn’t stop a killer with a rifle from shooting people in the Mall’s Food Court.  Fortunately, Eli Dicken who was carrying under Indiana’s new Constitutional Carry Law, was there.  The shooter began firing at 5:56:48 pm.  Mr. Dicken fired ten shots at 40 yards, hitting the shooter eight times at 5:57:03 pm; only 15 seconds had elapsed.  The Greenwood Chief of Police hailed the Concealed Carry holder as a hero and a “Good Samaritan”.  A local TV reporter whined that the hero should have not been called a “Good Samaritan” because he killed the killer.  What was he supposed to do, let him keep shooting so the lame stream media could have a story more to their liking?  The media loves dancing in the blood of victims.

In Missouri, a concealed carry holder stopped to use the restroom at a gas station in St Louis.  As he was getting in his vehicle, he saw an SUV pull up and a man running into the gas station and putting a knife to the throat of the lady cashier.  He followed the guy into the station and, of course, saw the lady in dire straits.  The would-be robber came around the counter to attack the permit holder.  Before he got to the permit holder, he had four slugs in him.  He was DRT (dead right there).  He saved the cashiers life and probably his own.  The SUV the guy pulled up in was stolen and was full of stolen goods.  Who knows what other crimes this guy had committed.

These two concealed carry heroes saved innocent lives and saved the taxpayers millions.  Soft on crime prosecutors and judges are largely to blame for this, in my opinion.  I don’t foresee anything changing for a long time.  As you can see, both of these situations happened very quickly.  Unless you are trained, you may not be able to respond in time.  Get yourself trained. 

Midwest Training Group (MTG) which will be holding an Advanced Handgun Skills Course at our range in Bonfield, Illinois, on August 6^th and 7^th.  Designed by Bob Houzenga and Andy Kemp as an addition to Massad Ayoob’s LFI curriculum and originally taught as LFI Advanced Handgun Skills, this two-day course is fast paced and demanding, focusing on high-speed drills designed to build the optimum blend of speed and accuracy.  Ideal for the advanced shooter who wishes to hone and fine-tune his techniques.  Novice shooters move up to the next skill level.  Emphasis on individual diagnostics and the subtle nuances used by six-time National Champion, Bob Houzenga.  From fast and furious, up-close shooting, to accuracy work at 25 yards, this program offers students of any skill level, an opportunity to take their skills to the next level.  Recoil management for super-fast follow up shots, rapid first shots from the holster, swift engagement of multiple targets, strong and weak hand techniques, “catching the link”, and shooting “out of the notch” are just some of the topics covered. Many students find their speed doubles or triples with better accuracy.  1200 rounds required.  Prior formal instruction is a pre-requisite.  Contact Andy Kemp at 208-771-3413 or Andy1911@imaxmail.net or visit www.midwesttraininggroup.net

The Massad Ayoob MAG 80 Course, September 8^th-11^th at our range, is an intensive study of defensive firearms that teaches extreme speed for hits, and includes shooting at greater distances, and management of such contingencies as weak hand draws, one-hand only reloads and malfunction clearing if wounded, etc. Students receive several hours of hands-on training in handgun disarming, and in countering attempts by an attacker to disarm them. Shooting while moving, and the use of long guns for defense, are among the areas covered. Round count: 500 handgun, 100 long gun. Prerequisites: MAG-20/Classroom plus MAG-20/Live Fire; MAG-40 or LFI-I.  Contact Andy Kemp at 208-771-3413 or Andy1911@imaxmail.net

As you read this, Congress is trying to pass new anti-gun legislation.  House Resolution 1808 (H.R.1808) is scheduled to be heard next week.  If passed, this Resolution would ban semi-automatic rifles, many semi-automatic pistols, magazines over 10 rounds, barrel shrouds and threaded barrels.  Below is a list of Illinois Congressmen.  Please call them and ask them to oppose H.R. 1808.

Representative Bobby L Rush                                      Dist # 1                 (202) 225-4372
Representative Robin L Kelly                                       Dist # 2                 (202) 225-0773
Representative Marie Newman                                 Dist # 3                 (202) 225-5701
Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia                         Dist # 4                 (202) 225-8203
Representative Mike Quigley                                      Dist # 5                 (202) 225-4061
Representative Sean Casten                                        Dist # 6                 (202) 225-4561
Representative Danny K Davis                                    Dist # 7                 (202) 225-5006
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi                       Dist # 8                 (202) 225-3711
Representative Janice D Schakowsky                       Dist # 9                 (202) 225-2211
Representative Bradley Scott Schneider                 Dist # 10               (202) 225-4835
Representative Bill Foster                                             Dist # 11               (202) 225-3515
Representative Mike Bost                                            Dist # 12               (202) 225-5661
Representative Rodney Davis                                     Dist # 13               (202) 225-2371
Representative Lauren Underwood                         Dist # 14               (202) 225-2976
Representative Mary E Miller                                      Dist # 15               (202) 225-5271
Representative Adam Kinzinger                                 Dist # 16               (202) 225-3635
Representative Cheri Bustos                                       Dist # 17               (202) 225-5905
Representative Darin LaHood                                     Dist # 18               (202) 225-6201

It’s hard to believe the first day of the Hunting Season is only a few days away.  August 1^st begins squirrel season throughout the state.  Dove season starts September 1^st and before you know it, the other hunting seasons follow.  If you haven’t prepared, you should get started.  Don’t forget to clean those guns you put away last year.  Even if you did clean them, check them again.  It wouldn’t hurt to practice a little either, I’m just saying.

Soon gun shows will start up and the quest for that prized old gun or parts for it will begin.  I was talking to a friend of mine last weekend, and he is looking for a set of original grips for a Colt 1880 Single Action Army.  This is the stuff collectors talk about and of course, related stories.  This brought to mind a story I read a few days ago.  Many people who have antique firearms don’t know what they have and because of that they ruin them. This particular story involves a fellow who had a Winchester Model 62A Galley rifle in .22 short.  Not the rarest of firearms, but somewhat rare and collectible and affordable for the average collector interested in such a firearm.  This person did not know what he had.  Ammunition for this rifle has gotten hard, or at least harder, to get.  He decided to have the rifle re-chambered for .22 Long Rifle because it is easy to find and less expensive than .22 short.  He had the rifle converted to .22 Long Rifle.  He found out a couple of things.  The rifling, in at least some of the Gallery Rifles, is made for .22 short only.  After he converted the rifle, it lost all its accuracy.  The second thing he found out was he took a rifle that was worth about $4000 and turned it into a rifle that wasn’t worth anything.  The point is that if you have granddad’s old gun or Uncle Fred’s old gun, before you start tinkering with it, find out what it is worth.

While I am on the subject of being careful with old firearms, the CMP has come out with a warning for those who have M1 Garand rifles.  Be careful what you shoot in them.  They are made to shoot ammunition that generates a maximum of 50,000 copper units of pressure.  I realize most people do not know what that means.  More than that is harmful to the firearm.  I am guilty of this mistake myself.  When I got my M1 Garand, I couldn’t wait to shoot it.  Off to the gun show I went.  I bought some 30-06 reloads (first mistake) from someone I didn’t know.  They were 180 grain hunting loads (second mistake).  They were way over pressure for a Garand Rifle.   The third shot blew the operating rod off the side of the rifle.  I went through 13 operating rods before I got one to work properly.  If you have an M1 Garand, buying ammunition from the CMP is a good idea.  Hornady makes 30-06 ammunition for the M1 Garand.  Several other companies also make ammunition for the M1 Garand.  That was not so when I bought my Garand.  Reloading books also specify loads for the M1 Garand.  It is hard to give more specific advice because powder and bullets vary in their results.

Our new website is set to go live on Monday, July 25^th.  We expect to have online memberships and donations available very soon.  Thanks for your patience while we transition.

Tidbits:

7/21/1861 - The First Battle of Bull Run.  This is the first major land battle of the Civil War.  Snobbish Washingtonians gathered their families, filled picnic baskets, and loaded up buggies to go out and watch the Union Army smash the “Southern Insurrection”.  I guess the people of Washington D.C. were just as out of touch with reality as they are today.  What they saw were 5000 men on both sides killed or wounded.  The Union Army didn’t retreat, they broke and ran along with those snobbish Washingtonians.  The sobering sight let everyone know this was going to be a long bloody war.

7/21/1899 - Ernest Hemingway is born in Oak Park, Illinois.   He became a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize winner.  He was an adventurer as well as an author.  He hated sharks, particularly after the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis.  He loved to hunt them down and had .50 caliber machine gun mounts on his boat in the Caribbean.  He died by his own hand in 1961.

7/22/1933 - Famous American Aviator Wiley Post completes the first solo flight around the world.  The flight, which began and ended in New York, took 7 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes in the single engine monoplane.  The plane had an early autopilot which greatly helped.  Wiley Post and Will Rogers were killed in 1935 when they crashed at Point Barrow, Alaska, on the way to the U.S.S.R.

7/23/1885 - Former President and General of the Union Army Ulysses S. Grant dies.  The Grant family owned a tannery in Galena, Illinois, young Ulysses did not like the business and was accepted to West Point in 1839, graduating in 1843.  He served in the Mexican War even though he was opposed to it.  Grant was a family man and long deployments meant he was away from his wife and children.  He turned to drinking for solace but in 1854 he was asked to resign because of his alcoholism.

Grant was generally a failure at everything he did.  The only thing he was good at was the military and he really didn’t like that either.  When the Civil War broke out, he reenlisted.  Grant was not at the top of his class at West Point.  General Sherman noted that he knew more about military history, tactics, supply, and every other aspect of military service than Grant, but Grant had some unique talents that others did not have.  Grant had a photographic memory.  He could look at a map and within a few minutes he knew every aspect of that map and he never forgot them.  He had a total understanding of where the weak and strong points were for both armies.  He could also take seemingly isolated and unrelated facts, to most people, and put them together into a coherent picture.  One example comes from the Battle of Chattanooga.  No one seemed to know where the Confederate Army was or what they were doing.  Grant called in all commanders and sat there like a “Sphinx” while officers gave their reports, according to one of those present.  After all reports were given, Grant asked a series of questions of the commanders.  Still, no one understood, all except one, Grant.  After all reports were done, Grant began writing dispatches.  Grant had a complete understanding of the situation and how to handle it.

Civil War Generals were the rock stars of their day.  After Grant’s victory at Fort Donaldson, he received 10,000 boxes of cigars.  Grant was also one of those military characters that didn’t fit the spit and polish mold.  He didn’t like walking around in his general’s uniform.  Instead, he wore a private’s coat with his rank stitched on it.  His boots were always muddy and he had a disheveled look about him.  Be that as it may, he and Lincoln saved the Union. 

7/24/1847 - Brigham Young and 128 of his followers from Nauvoo, Illinois, reach the Great Salt Lake valley in Utah.

Thanks for being a member!

Upcoming Events:  ISRA Calendar
For more information, visit www.isra.org

Saturday, July 23, 2022
ISRA Academy NRA Basic Pistol Class
Locked & Loaded

Sunday, July 24, 2022
ISRA Bullseye Match

Monday, July 25 & August 1, 2022
Military Bench Rest League

Tuesday, July 26 & August 2, 2022
Tuesday Night Irregular Rifle League

Wednesday, July 27 & August 3, 2022
F-Class Rifle League
Bench Rest League
Paper & Steel League

Thursday, July 28 & August 4, 2022
ISRA Smallbore Prone/F-Class League

Saturday, July 30, 2022
Armed Women of America

Sunday, July 31, 2022
Glock Summer League

Saturday & Sunday, August 6 & 7, 2022
MTG Advanced Handgun Skills

Saturday, August 6, 2022
Range Work Day
ISRA Steel Challenge

Sunday, August 7, 2022
Bonfield Muzzle Loaders
ISRA 3Gun

Gun & Trade Shows

Bloomington Gun & Knife Show – Bloomington, IL
Interstate Center
Dates: July 23 & 24, 2022
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-3:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: $6.00

DeKalb County Sportsman’s Show – Genoa, IL
Genoa Veterans Hall
Date: July 31, 2022
Hours: Sunday: 7:30-1:30
Admission: $5.00