Call to Action - HB4290 Certified Firearms Instructor

[mauserme]

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Call to Action - HB4290 Certified Firearms Instructor

Witness Slips Needed

Witness Slip Instructions

HB4290 Certified Firearms Instructor is a bill which has concerned us for some time, both in its extreme penalties and lack of safeguards. Having passed out of the House last month, it is now scheduled to be heard in Senate Judiciary on 4/29/2014.



Today's Call to Action is in 2 parts.

Step 1 - File Witness Slips Opposing HB4290

Log on to the ILGA Dashboard or Create a New Account first, then file as an OPPONENT at the link below.


HB4290 Certified Firearms Instructor = OPPONENT
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Step 2 - Contact the Sponsor

In an effort to ensure that the sponsor, Senator Michael Connelly, is aware of the many criticisms leveled against this bill, we ask every member to contact his offices immediately in order to share the information that follows. Please make a special effort to copy and paste our talking points into the body of an email, and fill the Senator's inbox at senatorconnelly21@gmail.com. Voice mail and fax are also options.

> Under HB4290 an instructor charged with falling short of the required training for a class of 20 students will face revocation of credentials, up to 1 year in prison, and a maximum $62,000 penalty

> An instructor who was the subject of a recent Illinois State Police press release, under HB4290 language, would face maximum fines and surcharges totaling $1,021,875 in addition to revocation of credentials and prison.

> HB4290 does not explain how charges against out of state instructors will be handled. Will they be extradited for trial and sentencing, or will they face nothing more than revocation of credentials with only Illinois instructors being subject to the full brunt of these outrageous penalties

> HB4290 offers no guarantee of restitution to the aggrieved students, making them the potential victim of both the instructor's and the State's indifference to their rights

> There are no safeguards against false allegations, whether made by disgruntled students, instructors in competition with the accused, or overzealous prosecutors.

> There are no safeguards against charges being leveled for the most minor misunderstanding or slight variation in length or content of training.

> HB4290 fails to differentiate between incompetent instruction, and dishonest instruction.

> In removing the possibility of court supervision, those promoting HB4290 seek to relieve the Judiciary of its Constitutionally mandated power and authority, vesting them instead in the single branch of government under their direct control

> The ISP already has the authority to revoke an instructor's teaching credentials

> The ISP already has the authority to deny or revoke a concealed carry license

> With revocation procedures already in place the purpose of HB4290 is retribution, not safety. If safety was the issue this bill would have been offered in the Fall Veto Session. If safety was the issue this bill would not have languished in the House more than 2 months in the Spring Session before debate. If safety is the issue this bill would not now be sitting idle in the Senate more than 3 weeks.

Senator Connelly can be reached as follows:


District Office

1725 S. Naperville Road,
Suite 200
Wheaton, IL 60189

VOICE: 630-682-8101
FAX: 630-682-8108

Springfield Office

M103C State House
Springfield, IL 62706

VOICE: 217-782-8192
FAX: 217-782-9586

E-mail
senatorconnelly21@gmail.com



Do remember that all contact should be respectful and business like. If you choose to call his office do recognize that you will speak to office staff who will likely know little about the bill. Make your position known in a polite and friendly way.


A pdf of out HB4290 opposition points is also attached. These can be dropped of at, or faxed to, the Senators offices at your discretion.
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HB4290.pdf

[Elmer Fudd]

I launched a missile

[jagt48]

Done.

[AFA]

Done

[TRJ]

Anybody else having trouble signing in....my password won't work.

[Chief Illiniwek]

Witness slip filed, e-mail sent.

[Mr. Jim]

Done

[spec5]

I launched a missile

I launched a bigger missile. Done

[TRJ]

Anybody else having trouble signing in....my password won't work.

Never mind, I'm in. Done.

[mauserme]

 

Anybody else having trouble signing in....my password won't work.

Never mind, I'm in. Done.

 

 

Don't forget the email.

[Tango7]

Witness slips filed and this e-mail sent:

 

 

 

Senator Connelly -

A am a Certified Instructor for the IL Firearm Concealed Carry program, the holder of a concealed carry license as well as a sworn officer for a local municipality. I wish to object to HB 4290 for several reasons.

Under HB4290 an instructor charged with falling short of the required training for a class of 20 students will face revocation of credentials, up to 1 year in prison, and a maximum $62,000 penalty. An instructor who was the subject of a recent Illinois State Police press release would face maximum fines and surcharges totaling $1,021,875 in addition to revocation of credentials and prison under the language of HB4290.

HB4290 does not explain how charges against out of state instructors will be handled - will they be extradited for trial and sentencing, or will they face nothing more than revocation of credentials with only Illinois instructors being subject to the full brunt of these outrageous penalties?

What of guarantee of restitution to the aggrieved students... or will they wind up victims of both the instructor and the State's historic indifference to their rights?

Unlike the regular process of the Criminal Justice system, there are no safeguards against false allegations, whether by disgruntled students, competing instructors in competition or overzealous prosecutors. Additionally, much of the language of the Act has been subject to debate and interpretation (as shown by the latest "update" issued by the ISP. This bill provides no safeguards against charges being leveled for the most minor misunderstanding or slight variation in length or content of training, and fails to differentiate between incompetent instruction, and dishonest instruction - becoming a kind of "zero tolerance" with the corresponding absence of common sense that those policies promote.

Also unlike the normal judicial process, by removing the possibility of court supervision, those persons promoting HB4290 seek to relieve the Judiciary of its Constitutionally mandated power and authority, vesting them instead in the single branch of government under their direct control, a violation of the separation of powers.

The ISP already has the authority to revoke an instructor's teaching credentials as well as a concealed carry license; with these procedures already in place the purpose of HB4290 is retribution, not safety.

If safety was the real concern this bill would have been offered in the Fall Veto Session, and not languished in the House more than 2 months in the Spring Session before debate, much less now sit idle in the Senate more than 3 weeks.

I hope you will reconsider your sponsorship of this bill.

Sincerely,

 

Kept all the "points" but condensed it into a more conversational format.

[C0untZer0]

So, Senator Connely is a senator - how is this a house bill instead of a senate bill?

 

Shouldn't we be talking to our supposed good buddy Brandon Phelps? It seems to me his sponsorship lends more credibility to this bill than anyone else's

[C0untZer0]

Oh never mind - I see, it is in the Senate Judiciary committee now and Connelly signed on as a sponsor.

[wtr100]

cross-posted over on The High Road

[bobapunk]

So, Senator Connely is a senator - how is this a house bill instead of a senate bill?

 

Shouldn't we be talking to our supposed good buddy Brandon Phelps? It seems to me his sponsorship lends more credibility to this bill than anyone else's

 

What??

 

Witness Slip Filed

Email Sent

 

Lighting up the fax as soon as the print the PDF.

[Tinytunes]

Done.

 

[paulgl26]

Done

[Hawkeye]

Mission accomplished, Sir!

[Mr. Fife]

Only 38 slips filed, doesn't seem to be much support for us.

[wtr100]

Only 38 slips filed, doesn't seem to be much support for us.

 

 

thats 38 in two hours

 

[r lee ermy] now drop and give me 20 maggot [\r lee ermy]

[stargate]

Done - e-mail sent

[potomuss]

+3 from my family.

[riverbend]

Email sent - Witness Slip filed

[freedoms@1791]

Done

[GT1]

Acted

[Fido]

Done!

[C0untZer0]

This bill went to a third reading in the house on March 27th

 

http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47322

 

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/98/house/09800HB4290_03272014_013000T.pdf

 

Now we're being asked to write to the Senate sponsor of this bill, and all I'm saying is if we were going to do that we should have started writing to the house sponsors in March ESPECIALLY when Brandon Phelps signed on to it.

 

http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45984&page=1

[C0untZer0]

John Boch, President of Guns Save Life is a proponent.

 

 

 

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[mauserme]

This bill went to a third reading in the house on March 27th

 

http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47322

 

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/votehistory/98/house/09800HB4290_03272014_013000T.pdf

 

Now we're being asked to write to the Senate sponsor of this bill, and all I'm saying is if we were going to do that we should have started writing to the house sponsors in March ESPECIALLY when Brandon Phelps signed on to it.

 

http://illinoiscarry.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=45984&page=1

 

I won't detail all that came before House passage but can say we included this bill in several Calls to Action after exhausting what we believed to be productive outreach. In the end we were, unfortunately, reminded of the difference between word and deed.

 

 

 

John Boch, President of Guns Save Life is a proponent.

 

 

 

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I'm aware of that.

 

I can only guess that he supports the concept of personal responsibility, but perhaps not the details currently presented.

 

You would really need to ask him, though. Maybe he does support $1 Million penalties for failing to speak a sufficient number of words.

[Trent]

Well the thing is, many of the rules are so ambiguous, who KNOWS if they are really running afoul of them. Example: If I allow students a 5 minute restroom break each hour; is that time tolled against the 16 hours I have to teach? If so I have to keep students in class an extra hour and a half (17.5 hours) to make up for the 5 minute bathroom breaks.

The thought of going to prison over allowing a student to go take a piss is amusing, and frightening, both.