On Wednesday afternoon we once again witnessed how fast legislation can move in Springfield.  HB 1092 was passed out of committee and was called for a vote on the House floor within two hours.  The lobbying team got word of this possibility and the ISRA administrative staff put out an Action Alert immediately asking everyone to call their State Representative asking them to oppose HB1092.  The bill did pass 69-43-0.  HB1092 now moves to the Senate.  Please call your State Senator and ask them to oppose this bill.  We are down to 16 legislative session days before adjournment at midnight on May 31st.  Please stay tuned for these important Action Alerts.

The long anticipated crunch time is upon us in Springfield.  The Illinois State Legislature adjourns on May 31st at midnight.  The next few weeks are going to be filled with sudden action and tedious waiting.  One never knows when one or the other of these things will begin or end.  It is just how legislatures work.

Only a small number of pistols appear to be affected, but Ruger is asking owners of Ruger-57 pistols to perform a routine function check of the safety lever.

Thanks to all who purchased raffle tickets for Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day (IGOLD) 2021.  The drawing was held May 4, 2021, at ISRA Headquarters.  The winning ticket numbers are below:

I want to thank everyone one who filled out witness slips of opposition to HB1091 HFA#1.  You all did a great job on short notice.  This time of year we are on what is known as “24 hour posting notice“.  That means bills being called in the committee have to be posted 24 hours before the committee or it can’t be called.  What happened with HB1091 HFA#1 is a great example of how the system works.  HB1092 HFA#1 was posted to committee at 1:22pm for hearing the next day at 5pm.  We were alerted at about 2pm that the bill was posted to committee.  We got the alert out calling for witness slips shortly after that.  Then the time of the committee was changed back to 2pm the next day, just making the 24 hour posting notice.  This gave the Second Amendment side as little time to react as possible.  Of course, the anti-gun side knew all this was going to happen so they had the advantage.  Still, with your help, we won that round. 

Chatsworth, IL – White County Resident Judge T. Scott Webb has ruled Illinois’s FOID card law unconstitutional, paving the way for the Illinois Supreme Court to take up the issue, according to Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association.

The case is The People of Illinois vs. Vivian Claudine Brown. In March of 2017, Brown was accused of possessing a firearm without a FOID card. In dismissing the charges against Brown, Judge Webb also ruled the FOID card unconstitutional.

Executive Directors Message

Richard Pearson

The anti-gun crowd always advances their anti-gun agenda by touting some situation which, of course, can only be solved by more restrictive gun control measures.  It doesn’t seem to matter that what they are proposing won’t work or, even worse, will have deleterious effects on law-abiding gun owners. They are purposely misleading people with legislation that is supposed to do one thing when they know it does something else.   One great example is the Red Flag laws that swept through the Illinois General Assembly a few years ago.  Red Flag laws were introduced in almost every state legislature and passed in many of them.  In Illinois, the Red Flag law passed with veto proof majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.  The Biden Administration is now pushing them in Congress.