ISRA Thursday Bulletin - February 22, 2018
Published: Thu, 02/22/18
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ISRA Thursday Bulletin - February 22, 2018
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Executive Directors Message
The school shooting in Florida at Marjory Stoneman High School has caused waves of emotion throughout the country. It is clear that the shooter should not have been able to get a firearm. Some have said the system failed. That is true, in part, but it goes beyond that. The National Instant Check System (NICS) did not catch the shooter because the system did not have the information. The FBI did not follow up on information they received, which cannot be excused. At the heart of it all was the school system. The school district does not report students to the police department because they reportedly do not want students arrested on the campus. After all, we must protect these precious little buttercups from the harsh realities of life. These well-meaning, but uninformed, people think that if we sit around the campfire, join hands and sing a few verses of “I want to teach the world to sing” and a couple rounds of “Kumbaya”, everything will come out just fine. That isn’t the way it works, pilgrim. There are some people who are killers; you better recognize it and deal with it as it is, not as you wish it was, or someone, maybe you, will be dead. The school district did accomplish one thing; the shooter was not arrested on campus. As I have mentioned before, the experts tell us the mentally ill people are better off in society and that we need to adapt to them. No one ever points out that we are not better off and they do not adapt to us. We are better off in Illinois than they are in Florida but to hear the anti-gunners talk, you would think Armageddon is upon us. Here are a few facts you might be surprised to learn. In Illinois, we have the FOID card. We also have mental health background checks. As of February 14, 2018, there are 2,261,593 FOID card holders. Each one of those FOID card holders goes through a background check every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter and the Fourth of July. That is 360 background checks on every person, per year. Based on the 2,261,593 figure, gun owners in Illinois go through an astonishing 814,173,480 background checks a year. There are, as of February 14, 2018, 279,955 Illinois Concealed Carry Licensees in the State of Illinois. Each one of those people goes through an enhanced background check, in additional to their FOID card background check. That is an additional 100,798,200 background checks. In short, Illinois gun owners go through a total of 914,972,680 background checks a year, based on the February 14, 2018, numbers. These numbers go up every month. Despite all of this, the anti-gunners are never satisfied. For a long time I have been warning gun owners of the dangers of Shell Bills. A Shell Bill usually starts out as a technical change or a word change to some existing law. The bill has no real language. It is passed through either the House or the Senate to First Reading, Second Reading, and then Third Reading where it just lies there like a viper ready to strike. Yesterday, that happened twice. SB337 was supposed to amend the child care act; we learned just a few minutes before the Executive Committee was supposed to meet that a Floor Amendment would be adopted and SB337 would really become part of the draconian Dealer Licensing Bill. It is now on Third Reading on the Senate Floor. The same thing happened to SB559 which started out as a technical change to the Criminal Code. It also went to the Executive Committee and through the use of a Floor Amendment, became the very dangerous Lethal Order of Protection Bill. It is also on Third Reading in the Senate. The Executive Committee is where bills are sent to guarantee that they pass out of Committee. The fix is in and there is nothing anyone can do about it. This will be a floor fight. Everyone should call their Senators in Springfield today (and next week from Tuesday through Friday). Please call them at their District Offices tomorrow and Monday and ask them to oppose SB337 and SB559. If you get this email forwarded to you and you are not an ISRA Member, you should be. Join today. To those members: thanks for being a member. Reminder: the ISRA is offering a Homeland Security Active Shooter Course on April 8, 2018. This course will be taught in our range classroom. Please check our website calendar for more information. Upcoming Events: ISRA Calendar For more information, visit www.isra.org Saturday, February 24, 2018 Project Appleseed The Well Armed Woman Sunday, February 25, 2018 ISRA Pistol Instructor Class (Day 2) Wednesday, February 28, 2018 ISRA Wednesday Night Air Gun League ISRA 10 Meter International Air Pistol League Saturday, March 3, 2018 ISRA Range Work Day Sunday, March 4, 2018 Black Powder League Illinois Gun & Trade Shows: Aledo Gun Show Aledo, Illinois – Aledo VFW Hall Dates: February 24 & 25, 2018 Hours: Saturday: 8:30am – 4:00pm Sunday: 8:30am – 2:00pm Admission: $3.00 Bloomington Gun Show Bloomington, Illinois – Interstate Center Dates: February 24 & 25, 2018 Hours: Saturday: 9:00am – 5:00pm Sunday: 9:00am – 3:00pm Admission: $5.00 Peoria Gun Show Peoria, Illinois – Exposition Gardens Dates: March 3 & 4, 2018 Hours: Saturday: 8:00am – 4:00pm Sunday: 8:00am – 2:00pm Admission: $6.00 PVSA Sportman & Gun Show Wheaton, Illinois – DuPage County Fairgrounds Date: March 4, 2018 Hours: Sunday: 8:00am – 1:00pm Admission: $5.00 Check out ISRA's webite at www.isra.org! 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