Felixd

Well....bye!

Wow! JaBa the Putz is upset! My, my. When will this corpulent and corrupt politician from the patrician class learn that he is not the dictator, but rather the housekeeper. When someone’s biggest claim to fame is pulling toilets from their mansion to avoid paying property taxes they need to understand that they’ve lost all the moral authority that they assume they had.

I concur. By letting them know they have alienated a sizable and vocal portion of the electorate it will present them problems they never assumed. Let them be concerned with civil disobedience in whatever form that might take. Let them be worried about facing state and Federal litigation. Let them consider that our vocal dissent could spread to other issues they prefer not to discuss. Allow the “spinning wheels” to make smoke and foul smells that attracts attention. Let them worry about the growing fissure they created between the northeast and the rest of the state.

I posit that a primary reason we, shooters/gun owners, lack political power is because nothing is done to attract anyone to our cause. We should not be satisfied with our organization saying that “we do not the numbers to do anything “, but then presume they have the power to negotiate legislation. We need forceful leadership to preserve our civil rights and to regain what we’ve lost. Perhaps it is time to swing assets from range building and competitive shooting to fighting the political fires that attack us all.

As stated I believe the ISRA, of which I am a member, has advanced to the point that actual leadership is required for it, and us, to be successful in stopping unconstitutional legislation. The organization needs someone to constantly make members and the public aware of the degradation of everyone’s civil rights by state government. To explain in detail what is happening frequently with respect to proposed law and regulations. To build the organization into a large and rapidly responsive group of educated voters who understand the importance and totality of not opposing onerous legislation. Merely relying on members to read a website or know what is happening in Springpatch is insufficient to counter the well oiled machine of our opponents. Additionally, my comment was aimed specifically at the useless weekly messages from Mr. Pearson who seems happy to report news from other countries and states and his obligatory history lesson. That is not leadership. That does not satisfy the needs of the membership or our problems at hand.

Once again Mr. Pearson's weekly missive is void of the sense of reality necessary to lead a civil rights organization in the struggle against government overreach. No direction, no ideas, no inclusion of members. Nothing to indicate how we can best serve to stop obviously biased and useless legislation. Just the usual news report and historical references. ISRA needs new leadership.

My thanks to Mauser and Molly for their continuing efforts for us. Your work is appreciated.

With respect to the question broached by Randy, I think you will find that if someone is actually charged in Illinois with the possession of a reportedly stolen firearm the charge is frequently dropped. It requires the offender to knowingly possess the item. Possession does not automatically prove intent. As to returning stolen firearms it is frequently unlikely as to the effort the police or a court have to take to return it. In Cook County they are mostly confiscated and destroyed. This is not a level playing field we are on. Re: Mauser question. My position is that these laws were part of a reaction to crime at two periods of history with a naive idea that collecting serial members would magically deter crime. I do not support government mandating anything that does not support the public good. Most manufacturers had serialized their products well before 1934. If a gun was taken in a crime the serial number could, and were, provided. Some makers chose not to number their products. Inexpensive guns remained that way until 1968. Government has no right to collect personal information about citizens. We do not belong to the government, but government belongs to the people.

I argue that serial numbers have no beneficial effect for society. They serve no law enforcement purpose. Crimes are not detected, cleared, or prevented by having serial numbers. The only purpose is to identify what person owns what gun. The rhetorical question then is, to what purpose does a government need this? While the answer is obvious to everyone, leftists refuse to honestly answer the question. Answering the question would betray their true intent. The good citizens, who find it so hard to vote in person, are foolishly or deliberately naive. They refuse to confront government, wanting to believe that it will just go away if you comply with it. The time for compromise is over. We must attack with every legal means and challenge this state in Federal court every time state government oversteps its defined limits. Force them to articulate in court reasons for bad laws. Expose them to even the most complacent citizens. Attack every tax increase. Speak openly against politicians who seek your control. Our legal resistance needs to open a broader front against the usurpation of our civil rights.

ISRA sent an email this afternoon talking about witness slips. No links, no substantive conversation. Nothing in it expressed urgency.

Thanks for the replies.

Life can sometimes carry one away from current events. The last month has been a blur of personal responsibilities preventing me from following political activities in Springpatch. I am thankful for the email alert sent several days ago concerning the need for witness slips regarding HB5855. This leads mo to my question, has the ISRA done anything to notify members about the need for witness slips?

Thank you Mauserme for the email alert yesterday. I may have missed the call without it. IllinoisCarry is the only reliable source of knowledge we have in defending ourselves in Springfield.

I love it when the left causes more confusion by trying to place layer after layer of controls and regulations on things that never needed it. It brings me even more joy when I believe the thing in question is protected from the left by the Constitution. They absolutely hate the idea of one exercising a civil right that they think doesn’t really exist because they don’t like it and can’t comprehend why it exists. They think civil rights are privileges. They live to control the lives of others who they assume are incapable of knowing right from wrong. They are the patrician class. We’ll see on Tuesday how they respond to the rebelliousness of the great unwashed.

Beyond the confusion, I’m impressed that the county sheriff would take the time to address the matter to shooters. He seemed concerned and even gave references to the written document. That’s actually quite rare in Illinois. I hope the initial reporting of this by the ISRA doesn’t leave a bad impression with someone who appears to be interested in wanting us to know what is really happening.

From the tape it sounds as if compliance with police orders have been spotty. How were the “compliance checks” conducted without a search warrant? The infomercial at the end of the presentation on how to denounce your neighbor was interesting. Orwellian, but interesting.

If I read this correctly providing information to ISP is an option currently. It simply removes criminal liability from the record keeping requirement. But, a question, what is the current time that a transfer must be retained? It is not specified in the quote. Also, it looks as if anyone buying any gun from a dealer must retain the transfer information, not just guns transferred from a private party. Laws and and regulations such as this only serve to remind me of the unwillingness of governments to actually suppress crime. But, that would mean governments would have to arrest and prosecute their voting block. Instead they create convoluted and vague regulations that are meant to be enforced on those who are the most compliant. They scream about “gun violence”, whatever that is, and do nothing about actual crime. Government’s deflection from reality and their unwillingness to do anything other than cast blame on those least likely to have anything to do with the problem has become so excessive that real people, who live real lives, will soon ignore their petty rules. And why not? When actual accountability for anything is absent no one will willingly obey. Additionally, we need to remain united as people who are very concerned about a particular civil right and our relationship with government. Being united means that the denigration of those who practice a branch of our passion we don’t appreciate doesn’t mean they are less concerned or even less active in our defense. This practice of denying others in our ranks an equal place because they are different only serves those who want us fractured and complacent.

The ISRA has abdicated its position as the defender of our civil rights. They pick and choose proposed laws that only they assume are best for us. They do that for hidden, unarticulated reasons and then claim they do it because we, the members, could never understand the problems of Illinois politics. No one selected or elected them to do that. They appear to act only for their own benefit. They have never solicited opinions and have scoffed at those who have tried to contribute ideas. They have created a closed administration for the association and plan to keep it that way. This is the second incident of their usurpation of the member's desires. It is time for change at the ISRA.