Executive Directors Message

Long-time Chicago Alderman, Edward Burke, has been charged with corruption by the United States Attorney’s Office after an FBI investigation.  Burke has been an Alderman for 50 years, taking the position after his father died in 1968.   No one has to slip two nitroglycerin tablets under their tongue when they hear a Chicago Alderman has been charged with corruption.  The fun part of this situation is that for gun owners, it is a little retribution for what Burke and former Mayor Jane Byrne did to gun owners in the 1980s.  If you owned handguns or long guns, each one had to be registered each year.  It was a loathsome process that took three months, was expensive, and if anything went wrong and the time period was not met, the gun could never be registered in the city ever again - even if it was the city’s fault.  This actually also applied to muzzle loading firearms.  Every person needed to take a handgun safety course even if they were registering a muzzle loader.  The Chicago handgun registration scheme was wiped out when we passed the Concealed Carry Act in 2013.

When Burke’s office was raided, the FBI found 23 firearms in his office and more at his homes.  Burke has to dispose of them but that isn’t the point.  Burke’s hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of the entire anti-gun left is spotlighted by this incident.  This is elitism at its finest.  Not only do I hope they throw the book at Alderman Burke but the entire library as well.  Alderman Burke’s wife, Anne Burke, is a Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court.

Laavion Goings Jr. was quite familiar to the Chicago Police Department.  He had been arrested along with his father, a habitual criminal, on drug charges.  Goings had been out of jail two months when he tried to hold up a woman on the street in Chicago on Monday.  The woman had a concealed carry permit and fired at Goings before he could use his illegally obtained and possessed gun.  Goings was hit in the chest and died Tuesday morning.  Goings had previously assaulted a police officer but those charges were dropped.  This guy should have never been out of jail.  This time he got dropped before the “soft on crime system” could drop the charges.  Good.

As expected, Senate President John Cullerton removed his motion to reconsider SB337, the gun dealer licensing bill.  This is a draconian dealer licensing bill which will drive many small dealers out of business. The Senate now has 30 calendar days to certify the bill and send it to the Governor.  Governor Rauner will veto this bill if he gets a chance but he won’t get the chance.  It will land on newly elected Governor Prtizker’s desk and he will sign the bill.  This means SB337 will be signed by a Governor who was not in office when the bill was passed; the idea of sine die is in danger in the Illinois Constitution.  This could be a problem in the future.  If this smells like a beach full of rotting fish to you, you are not alone.

Fighting for gun owners’ rights in a state like Illinois is tough enough but it gets geometrically tougher when you have to fight an irredeemably corrupt place like Chicago.  This is why gun owners have to unite and stay united.   Join the Illinois State Rifle Association today.  Whatever the outcome of this shenanigan, the ISRA will fight on.

Reminder: Winter Wars XV, sponsored by the Tuesday Night Irregular Rifle League, will be held this Saturday, January 12^th, at the ISRA Range, from 8:00am-Dusk.  If you plan on attending, you must be there, on the line and ready, at 8:45am for the safety briefing – or you won’t be able to participate.

Thanks for being a member.

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

January 11-13, 2019
2019 ISRA State Championship – Central Illinois Precision Shooters

Saturday, January 12, 2019
Winter Wars
ISRA Concealed Carry Renewal Class

Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Air Rifle League & Practice

Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Air Pistol League & Practice

Thursday, January 17, 2019
Illinois Concealed Carry Renewal Class

Saturday, January 19, 2019
New RSO Orientation

Illinois Gun & Trade Shows

Peoria Gun Show
Peoria, IL – Exposition Gardens
Dates: January 12 & 13, 2019
Hours: Saturday: 8:00-4:00
             Sunday: 8:00-2:00
Admission: $6.00

Kane County Sportsman’s Show
St Charles, IL – Kane County Fairgrounds
Date: January 13, 2019
Hours: Sunday: 7:30-1:30
Admission: $5.00

Champaign Gun Show
Champaign, IL – Hilton Garden Inn
Dates: January 19 & 20, 2019
Hours: Saturday: 8:00-4:00
             Sunday: 8:00-2:00
Admission: $6.00

McHenry County Gun Show
Woodstock, IL – McHenry County Fairgrounds
Date: January 20, 2019
Hours: Sunday: 8:00-1:00
Admission: $5.00

Kankakee Gun Show
Kankakee, IL – Kankakee County Fairgrounds
Dates: January 26 & 27, 2019
Hours: Saturday: 8:00-4:00
             Sunday: 8:00-2:00
Admission: $6.00

Galesburg Gun Show
Galesburg, IL – Knights of Columbus
Dates: January 26 & 27, 2019
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-5:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: $5.00

Sauk Trail Gun Show
Princeton, IL – Bureau County Fairgrounds
Dates: January 26 & 27, 2019
Hours: Saturday: 8:30-4:30
             Sunday: 8:30-3:00
Admission: $2.00

Crown Point Gun Show
Crown Point, IN – Lake County Fairgrounds
Dates: January 26 & 27, 2019
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-5:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: $5.00

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