|
Richard A. Pearson, Executive
Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), is the CCRKBA Gun
Rights Defender of the Month for July.
In nominating Pearson for the Award, John Michael Snyder, CCRKBA Public
Affairs Director, said that, “as the gun rights movement more and more
begins to show increasing legislative and political strength at the
national level, the gun grabbers are pouring more and more of their
resources and concentrating more and more of their attention towards
promoting their cause at the state level. This is especially so in those
particular states where the gun grabbers believe they have a greater
opportunity for promoting their anti-gun ideas.
“One of these states is Illinois, long a battle ground for preserving the
individual civil right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. With
a number of activist anti-gun politicians holding public office, including
that of the Governor, Rod Blagojevich, the battle to preserve citizens’
rights is a tough and ongoing one. Fortunately, there are a number of
pro-gun activists in Illinois who are hard working, perceptive and
articulate in promoting Second Amendment rights and in countering the
nefarious efforts of Blagojevich and company. One of the leaders of these
activists is Richard Pearson, who has given unstintingly and tirelessly of
himself in this fight. He certainly is most deserving of the CCRKBA Gun
Rights Defender of the Month Award.”
Pearson understands full well what is at stake. In a recent message to
Illinois gun owners, he wrote that, “the average guy or gal sitting in a
duck blind or in a tree does not understand there are lawmakers just
waiting for the chance to wipe out their way of life. They do not
understand that their son or daughter that their son or daughter may never
be able to enjoy the freedoms or experiences they have had. What could
change all of this that we have taken for granted as our birthright? The
answer is insidiously simple-just a few words changed here and there in
the laws of Illinois. Over time, if allowed to happen, we would be amazed
at how quickly our freedoms would disappear.
“To keep from losing our freedoms, somebody must attend every committee
hearing on gun legislation; somebody must talk to almost every legislator
before they vote; somebody must read every bill with the foresight to
understand every word, every sentence, and every nuance, and be able to
comprehend short and long-term consequences. Someone must attend every
committee hearing, give testimony, and represent the gun owners and
sportsmen in this state. Someone must meet every day, that week, and that
month…
“Who is there to make sure that next year we will be able to see our kid
or grand kid climb into a shooting stand for the first time? That our
spouses will be able to defend themselves in their own houses? That they
will be able to go target shooting? So, who do you think is fighting for
you?”
Pearson says that someone is ISRA. He, as ISRA Executive Director,
actually is the individual who does much of it not in fact most of that
work.
Recently, Pearson commended citizens in Wilmette, Illinois for risking
their own safety to defend a teenaged girl who was under a savage attack
from an ex-wrestler former boyfriend. Noting that Wilmette is one of a few
municipalities that prohibits its citizens from possessing handguns,
Pearson said that he and ISRA are fighting against legislative proposals
designed to put an end to lawful firearm ownership in the state. He said
that in the Wilmette situation, “an armed citizen could have turned the
tables in a hurry.” What happened there, though, was that “one would-be
rescuer, a 69 year old man, was severely beaten while also another of the
men was reportedly beaten and choked by the attacker before police could
step in and save him from further harm.”
Richard is an insurance broker and was owner of the Shafer-Pearson
Insurance Agency in Chatsworth, Illinois from 1978 through 2001. He was a
geography teacher at the Bloomington, Junior High School in Bloomington,
Illinois from 1976-1978 and a cooperative work training instructor there
from 1970 through 1977.
His prior career also includes service as a teaching assistant in the
Department of Geography and Geology at Illinois State University in
Normal, Illinois, as a teacher for the Illinois Youth Commission of the
Illinois Department of Corrections at Kankakee, Illinois, and as a social
studies teacher at Bradley-Bourbonnais High School in Bradley, Illinois.
|
