The Illinois General Assembly officially started the Spring Session yesterday, January 8th.  We will not see much activity until the last week of January.  That does not mean there will not be a lot going on behind the scenes.  We can expect the introduction of many bills but nothing will actually happen until early February.  Over the last 20 years, there have been many changes in the lobbying world.  The ISRA Lobby Team has been preparing for this Spring Legislative Session.

For years, we have been reminding everyone that when things go bad you have between three to five seconds to respond.  The shooting at the West Freeway Church of Christ proves the point.  The shooter was dead in six seconds.  Still, he was able to kill two people.  Nevertheless, many people were saved by the quick response of the volunteer security guards.  In such situations you have to be accurate and decisive.

In the New Year there will be a bevy of new laws facing Illinois Citizens. One new law that Gun Owners should pay close attention to is PA 101-0027, the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. This new law allows Illinois citizens over twenty-one the ability to purchase and consume cannabis recreationally. Illinois citizens have had the ability to purchase and consume cannabis for medical reasons for five years. There is a difference between the purchase and use of Medical Cannabis and Recreational Cannabis as it relates to your lawful rights to own and possess a firearm in Illinois. 

On this day in 1944, citizens all across the United States were holding their collective breath.  The war in Europe was not over but it seemed to be winding down.  The allies were at ease, sort of.  It was winter and Germany had not launched a winter military campaign since Frederick the Great in the mid-1700s.  On December 16th, that all changed.  Hitler had quietly gathered his forces and sent them plunging though the Ardennes Forest to carry the fight to the allies.  It worked and what was to become known as the Battle of the Bulge was on.  The weather was cloudy and miserable and that made it impossible for allied air power to protect ground troops.  Many American ground troops still had summer uniforms and were suffering.  European winters are mild by Midwest standards but the winter of 1944-1945 was the worst in years.  Americans knew our troops were in trouble.  The town of Bastogne, Belgium was held by the 101st Airborne but they were surrounded, outgunned and running low on everything but courage.  Bastogne was important because it was a crossroads for the major roads in the area.

Like most of you, I have been watching the FBI investigation of President Trump and the other poor folks that got swept up in it.  The central figure on the FBI side was, of course, former FBI Director James Comey.  Comey is one of those guys that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up whenever I see him.  In his latest interview with Chis Wallace, Comey seems to want us to believe he was not the leader of the FBI but just a spectator.  He falls into the standard bureaucratic line: I can’t tell a lie, someone else did it.  Sorry James ole boy but I saved my program and it has you listed as the coach.  Your chances at fame are not lost yet, they still have not nominated Worm of the Year.  Your chances are looking better every day.

The recent revelations regarding fund sweeps of monies from the State Police Firearm Services Fund and the State Police Services Fund are a travesty against law-abiding gun owners in Illinois [refer to the Headline News on our website, www.isra.org and please share our FB post].  These revelations are the work of the Illinois State Rifle Association lobbying team.  The idea to check out what was happening to gun owners’ money became a discussion in April 2019 when the highly organized and well-funded anti-gunners began pushing the so- called FOID fix bill, which turned out to be a guise to crush firearm ownership.  The project to find out what happened to the FOID funds was led by ISRA lobbyist Ed Sullivan.  The ISRA has five lobbyists and each one brings different skills to the table.  When added together, the ISRA has one of the best, if not the best, pro-gun lobbying teams anywhere.  Ed Sullivan is a former Republican Floor Leader and was on the negotiating team when we passed the Illinois Concealed Carry Act in 2013.  Remember, we had to override Governor Quinn’s veto to get that done.  Ed Sullivan is an example of why experience matters.