Thursday Bulletin – June 22, 2023
Executive Director's Message Richard Pearson |
This week has suddenly gotten very busy on the litigation front. The ISRA, Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, Marengo Guns, C4 Gun Store and Dane Harrel, have filed a response brief in the lawsuit challenging the Illinois
so-called “assault weapons” ban. The Illinois law bans “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines”, and is known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA). Our case, Harrel et al v Raoul et al, has been combined with other cases. As Distinct Judge McGlynn noted, “A constitutional right is at stake. Some plaintiffs cannot purchase their firearm of choice, nor can they exercise their right to self-defense in the manner they choose. They are bound by
the state’s limitations.” This law is clearly unconstitutional. (Here is a link to our response.) Oral arguments will be held on June 29, 2023. We don’t expect a decision for several weeks.
On Tuesday, June 20, 2023, two rulings came down on ISRA involved cases. Both were very favorable.
The first case is Atkinson v Garland. The Seventh Circuit remanded this case back to the lower court for reconsideration. The case is a restoration of rights case. The case involves a 25-year-old mail fraud conviction. This is a nonviolent situation. Restorative justice includes all rights, including Second Amendment rights. Hopefully, this will lead to more citizens having their rights restored after paying
their debt to society. The ISRA supports the case.
The second ISRA supported case is Levine v UL LLC. The Illinois First Appellate Court ruled that the termination of an employee for proper storage of a concealed carry firearm in their vehicle, is a violation of public policy, and lead to a wrongful
termination suit. Under Illinois law, a properly licensed concealed carry holder can store their firearm in their vehicle, if done in accordance with Illinois law.
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The Summer Solstice is here, and summer is definitely here. I saw a couple of deer killed on the road, and they have already developed a red tint to their
fur. The wheat is turning and will be out of the field in a couple of weeks, or so. That means it is time to prepare for hunting season! I know so many of you had trouble finding rifled slugs, particularly 20-gauge sabots, last year. I hear a few places have them in stock, so I would start looking for them now. You might ask when they will
be in stock if they are not on the shelf.
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Deer Permits:
June 30 is the deadline for applying for the second lottery for deer permits. July 11 is the deadline for the third lottery.
In Randolph County, where Sparta, Illinois is located, a Black Bear has crossed the Mississippi and is wandering around someplace. Avoid the bear. Don’t leave food in your car or your camper – or anything they can smell that might be yummy. I am told by some of my acquaintances
from Wisconsin, they love donuts.
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Range Classes & Events
The ISRA is pleased to announce the Sig Sauer Academy will be teaching classes at the ISRA Range. The first two classes will be held on July 15 and 16.
On July 15 we will be offering the Sig Sauer P365 Armor’s Class. The cost is $550.
On July 16 we will be offering the Sig Sauer P320 Armor’s Class. The cost of this class is $550.
Both
classes will be held in the. ISRA Range Clubhouse. The ISRA Clubhouse is air conditioned and fully handicap accessible. Coffee and donuts will be provided each morning and lunch will also be provided each day. If you have special dietary needs, please bring your own lunch. The classes are from 8am to 5pm each day. No
range time is required for these classes.
Please arrive 15 to 30 minutes early.
To register and pay for
these classes, please call Shirley at the ISRA office. That number is 815-635-3198. Major credit cards accepted.
If you are staying overnight, please click here to see the preferred hotel and motel listings on our website. The accommodations in Bourbonnais, Illinois have
the most variety of restaurants available.
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Sporting Clay Fundraiser for the ISRA, hosted by Jack Miller of the X-Line Shotgun Club, will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, from 2 – 6 pm. Cost is $30 ($15 for targets; $15 for ISRA donation). Hamburger soup and homemade bread, provided by Big Jack! There will be all kinds of prizes, and split-the-pot raffles, during the event. The ISRA would like to thank Jack Miller and X-Line for this help.
X-Line Shotgun
Club is located east of Kankakee, Illinois. The address is 4800 east Exline Road. Kankakee 60921.
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Coming up this October 5, 6, 7 and 8, we will have Massad Ayoob back teaching his renowned MAG 40 class. I consider this class a must for every person concerned about self-defense, concealed carry license holder, and concealed carry instructor. Please go to the ISRA website for details on how to sign up. This is a four-day class.
I would sign up now. It will fill-up fast!
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There are many great instructors that teach at the ISRA
Range and ISRA Academy. I have already mentioned Massad Ayoob, but there is also John Farnham, Phillip Hemphill and the Sig Sauer Academy instructors, to name a few. We
have many great local instructors, also: David Diller, Mandi Ehler and many more.
NRA Training Counselor, Davis Lombardo, can certify instructors in almost every discipline.
The ISRA Range is the home of marksmanship in Illinois. A day at the ISRA Range is always a great day!
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Tidbits
June 22, 1941
Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union begins. Adolf Hitler was about to make the same mistake Napoleon made 148 years before -almost on the same date. There is a theory, actually several theories, called Continental Theory. The most common one deals with the drifting continents and tectonic plates moving on the surface of the planet. There is another one
that applies to large countries and where they place their strategic defense and critical infrastructure. Simply put, the further from any coast or border, the better.
Both Hitler’s attack on the Soviet Union and Napoleon’s attack on Russia, stretched supply lines so long, that armies could not get to critical battles
before depleting their resources and manpower. Hither underestimated the depth of the Soviets Union’s manpower. The German army was better than the Soviet army, but the Soviets had more of them. The Germans could handle two,maybe three Soviet Armies. The Soviets had five armies, and could have made more. Throw in a couple of Russian winters, and the show is over and with devastating loses.
June 22, 1944
Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill. The G.I. Bill helped 20,000,000 veterans by getting them into higher education, home loan guarantees and unemployment insurance. The number of people in colleges went from 150,000 in 1939, to 500,000 in 1946.
Most of the teachers I had, both men and women, were educated using the G. I. Bill.
They brought the attitudes, experiences and insights of the greatest generation to the classroom. Too bad we don’t have
that today!
June 22, 1945
The Battle of Okinawa ends. The battle began on April 1, 1945. The United
States losses were 12,500 killed and 35,000 wounded. The Japanese losses were 120,000 killed. Japanese Kamikaze planes sank 36 United States warships. Both American General Simon Bolivar Buckner and Japanese General Ushijima Mitsuru did not survive the battle. General Buckner was killed in action and General Mitsuru
committed ritual suicide. This is the only battle during WWII in which neither commander survived.
The Battle of Okinawa made the United States commanders understand the losses they faced when they invaded Japan. Another solution had to be found. The answer came in the form of the atomic
bomb. As strange as it may seem, it saved lives on both sides.
June 23, 1812
Napoleon Bonaparte invades
Russia.
June 25, 1876
The Battle of the Little Big Horn, aka Custer’s Last Stand. Custer forgot some lessons
here. First, don’t attack on an open plain when you are outnumbered 15 to 1, especially when reinforcements were only three days away, and second, don’t leave your Gatling guns at home.
June 25, 1942
Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed Commander of small forces in Europe. Like many great generals, Eisenhower was not a star at West Point. Out of the class of 1915, he was 125th in discipline and 61st in academics, out of 164 graduates. As I recall,
General Grant had the same problem, but they both understood how to lead, and what war was all about. Eisenhower had to be a diplomat. He had to deal with a bunch of prima donnas, like British General Montgomery and French General de Gaulle.
June 26, 1917
The first United States troops arrive in France to fight in WWI. The American troops were not trained or well enough equipped. Pershing took four months to train them and would not allow the British and French to simple use them as “cannon fodder”.
Most think of the 1903 Springfield Rifle as the rifle of WWI, but it was the P17 Enfield that was the most supplied rifle. There weren’t enough Springfields to go around. The Enfield was adapted from the British P14 Enfield design, which were already in production in the United States. We also had no helmets, airplanes, or other stuff. What we did have, was the will to fight.
June 27, 1985
U.S. Route 66 is decertified as a U.S. highway. The end of an era.
June 28, 1953
The first Chevrolet Corvette is assembled at the GM plant in Flint Michigan. The car cost $3490. It was six cylinder and could go 0 to 60 in 11 or 12 seconds. Not astounding. It would not be till 1955 that it would get a V-8 engine. A kid in my hometown, Chatsworth, Illinois had one of the first Corvettes. Six cylinder or not, it was cool at the time. Girls loved it, which was the object of course!
June 29, 1967
Jayne Mansfield, a
blond bombshell like Marylyn Monroe, is killed in a car accident in Louisiana. She was to appear at a local supper club near New Orleans, and a driver had been sent to pick her and her entourage up. On the way to the club, a truck spraying a fog of mosquito insecticide, had obscured the road.
She and some of the others were killed, when they hit the rear end of the truck, and slid underneath of it. It was pretty ugly. Her children were asleep in the back seat, and they survived.
Thank you for being a member!
