Richard Pearson

As most of you know by now, the ISRA has filed the Luce v. Kelly case for the failure of the Illinois State Police to issue new Illinois Concealed Carry Licenses in the time prescribed by law.  The case was filed on Friday in Federal Court in the Northern District Eastern Division.  It will take some time before the State of Illinois answers the complaint.  The plaintiffs in the case are Nicholas A. Luce, Joseph R. Stacho III, David M. Rice, Jerry J. Robinson, Illinois State Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation.  We will keep you posted.

In the FOID card case, we are still waiting for a date for oral arguments.  Yesterday, the Illinois Supreme Court heard another ISRA case, Evans v. Illinois State Police.  This is a restoration of rights case.  It will take a few months for a decision.  Once again, we will keep you updated.

On the legislative front, we are following 176 bills and resolutions.  Right now all the hearings are being done virtually using Zoom, despite these hearings being conducted using Zoom, bills and resolutions can be passed out of committee.  I personally believe this is not the right way to handle our issues or any other issue.  For now, that is the way it is and we will just have to deal with it.  You can watch the hearings by going to the Illinois General Assembly website (ilga.gov) and signing in.

The ISRA is in the midst of producing videos for our website. Some will be interviews and some will be instructional videos.  One that is on the website right now is an interview by Vice President David Lombardo, Bill Potts and I on how the legislature works.  This is an introductory video.  If you have time, please take a look.

It was a year ago this week that COVID-19 struck and shut everyone down in Springfield as well as most other places in the Country.  Things are improving but at a slow rate.  If things keep going the way they are, we should be back to somewhat normal by July.  There are those who love the unbridled control they can exercise over the citizens of the United States with impunity.  That is a hurdle.

Sometimes in the flurry legislation, lawsuits, Executive Orders, fake news, nutty government officials and the never ending clatter surrounding the pandemic, it is nice to think about the “good old days“.  Recently I acquired a copy of the 1940 edition of the “Shooters Bible”.  The “Shooters Bible” was published by Stoeger Arms Corporation.  Just the location of Stoeger Arms tells you how much things have changed.  Their address in 1940 was 507 5th Avenue, New York, New York.  The cross street is 42nd Street.  The Columbia Bank Building is now at that location.  Most of the people who work there now have never seen a firearm let alone learned to shoot.

The “Shooters Bible“ was really a 510 page catalog of everything available in shooting in 1940.  A person could order everything in the catalog.  There were articles by the shooting luminaries of the time, the history of various firearm manufacturers, identifying proof marks, stories about hunting dangerous game, water fowling, you name it.  You could buy everything from blank pistols to elephant guns, ammunition, gun parts, sights, gunsmithing tools, reloading equipment, powder, primers, bullets, hunting boots, and clothing.  They were also gunsmiths.  You could buy a new Peerless front sight for your rifle ($2.00) and if you couldn’t mount the sight yourself, you sent them your gun and they would do it for an extra $.75.  Of course we have to look at the prices in the context of 1940 not 2021, but still they are fun to think about. Many of the gun powders we use today were made in 1940.  Unique was a powder I used a lot.  A keg of Unique was $26 for 15 pounds; Red Dot was sold in 23 pound kegs and that was $41.40.  The best trap and skeet loads made were $.94 for a box of 25.  A new Winchester Model 21 was $116.25.  A Winchester model 12 was $42.50.  Anything over $30 you could put on a payment plan.  If you ever have a chance to buy pre WWII edition of a “Shooters Bible” buy it and look through it.  It is worth spending a little time and step back into shooting history.

Tidbits:
March 11, 1779 - Congress establishes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

March 13, 1942 - The U. S. Army K-9 Corps is launched.  During WWI all sides used dogs mostly to carry messages through the trenches.  Over a million dogs were utilized during WWI.  In 1918, a German Shepherd puppy was found abandoned in France.  The puppy was named Rin Tin Tin.  In 1922, Rin Tin Tin was in a silent movie entitled “The Man from Hell’s River”.  German Shepherds were mostly unknown in the United States at the time.  The heroic Rin Tin Tin changed all that and German Shepherds are very popular all over the world.  My mother had a German Shepherd, Roxie and it saved her life once.

March 14, 1879 - Albert Einstein is born in Ulm, Germany.  In 1905, he published five scientific papers in one year that changed physics and lead to the development of nuclear energy and the atomic bomb.  He was once asked what amazed him most.  He replied compound interest in his savings account.

March 15, 44 BC - Julius Caesar is assassinated by 60 conspirators who believed getting rid of Julius Caesar would restore the Roman Republic.  It had the opposite effect and actually destroyed the Roman Republic because the death of Caesar started civil wars, ripping Rome apart.

March 15, 1767 - Andrew Jackson is born in a back woods area on the border between North and South Carolina.  During the Revolutionary War, Andrew Jackson’s family was all killed by the British except for one relative.  Jackson became an American soldier fighting the British.  When Jackson was 13, he was a prisoner of war held by the British.  A British officer ordered young Jackson to polish his boots.  When Jackson refused, the officer struck Jackson in the head with his sword, leaving a painful scar that bothered him his entire life.  Needless to say, Jackson hated the British.  He squared his account with them at the Battle of New Orleans.  Jackson was a tough man.  He fought a number of duels which was the way things were settled in his day.  In one duel, a man by the name of Charles Dickinson got the first shot off hitting Jackson near his heart.  Jackson stopped the blood with one hand and killed Dickinson with the other.  When Jackson was President, an assassin attacked him and tried to kill him.  Jackson, armed with only his walking stick, beat the perpetrator to the ground.  There was a reason his nick name was “Old Hickory“.

March 17, 1601 - The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in America is held in Boston.  We have been eating corned beef and cabbage ever since.

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

Saturday, March 13, 2021
2021 Illinois State Standard Pistol & Air Pistol Championship - Streator, IL

Saturday, March 13 & 27, 2021
NRA Range Safety Officer Course – CLASS IS FULL

Sunday, March 14, 2021
CCW Range Recertification

Monday, March 15, 2021
2021 Illinois State NRA Indoor Pistol Championship – Junior Shooters Only-Plano, IL

Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Glock Armorer Course

Thursday, March 17 & 18, 2021
Glock Operator Course

Tuesday, March 16 & 23, 2021
Tuesday Afternoon Indoor Air Gun Open Practice
ISRA Indoor Air Gun Practice

Saturday, March 20, 2021
Hard Dog Junior Kickoff Meeting

Sunday, March 21, 2021
Marksmanship League
CCL Range Qualification
2021 Illinois State NRA Indoor Pistol Championship – Highland, IL

Wednesday, March 24, 2021
ISRA International Air Pistol League

Saturday, March 27, 2021
The Well Armed Woman

Gun & Trade Shows

Kane County Sportsman’s Show – St Charles, IL
Kane County Fairgrounds
Date: March 14, 2021
Hours: Sunday: 7:30-1:30
Admission: $7.00

Peoria Gun & Knife Show – Peoria, IL
Exposition Gardens
Dates: March 20 & 21, 2021
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-5:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: $6.00

McHenry County Gun Show – Woodstock, IL
McHenry County Fairgrounds
Date: March 21, 2021
Hours: Sunday: 8:00-1:00
Admission: $5.00

Belleville Gun Show – Belleville, IL
St Clair County Event Center
Dates: March 27 & 28, 2021
Hours: Saturday: 9:00-4:00
             Sunday: 9:00-3:00
Admission: 7.00