abolt243

Committee meetings have always been open to the public. When attending those meetings, one could, if he so chose, fill out a "witness slip", indicating your position on the issue, and whether you wished to speak personally, file a written statement or just show support/opposition by your presence. During the last session, these slips were put on line in the House so that even folks that could not personally attend could show their position on the issue. The format on the on line slip follows the same format as the physical slip that you fill out at the hearing itself. I suppose that's to allow for quicker, more accurate recording of 'yeas and nayes". The practice has expended to the Senate for this session. So yes, it's a non binding way to show your position on the issue without actually having to attend the hearing. Tim

Grey, PM sent, hope that helps.

Try the IDNR range at Sparta . Looks to be just down Rt 4, maybe miles from Lebanon. I've only shot sporting clays there at a fund raiser so I"m not sure of the "open to the public" access or hours. Nice facility that I could see, I plan to go back this August to the Grand American. Good luck.

Are they both running unopposed in the November election?

If you're speaking of the new maps, they don't go into effect until Jan '13. If you've moved, you didn't move far enough!!!! Tim

Much appreciated, Tim. Good talking to you after all this time. I've been largely absent for the last couple years, but I suspect you know I love you folks. Good to have you back. Everybody needs a break on occasion. Legislature will fire up again in a couple of weeks and we can get busy watching the bills. BTW, we love you too!

While I still think that the law adresses REVOKED foids, not lapsed ones, I'm thinking that if you had some proof that you sent in the application on time and that the ISP had been sitting on it for longer than 30 days, and you were not ineligible for a foid, you'd have a pretty good case. Might have to spend a day in court, but any state's attorney south of Cook county would probably drop charges. BTW, that's another advantage of sending in your applications by certified mail/return receipt requested as I suggest all the time. Gives you proof as to when you mailed it and when they got it. Tim

I see it kinda along the same lines you do, but then again, I'm something of a rabble rousing trouble maker . I'm more than a little embarrassed that I didn't seem to even mention it in the '09/'10 reference list. I did at least write about it here (excerpt): Please excuse the odd formatting in that article, and don't get me started on how badly I despise Examiner. OK, I see where you guys are coming from. But I don't think that was the intent, nor do I see it being used in that fashion. It does bring up a good point though, perhaps one that needs to be addressed in future legislation. And .45 Super, yes, you are a rabble-rousing trouble maker. Thank God you're on our side!! Tim

If that's it, then it doesn't seem nearly as egregious as Jrsavoie's initial description. Nothing about location. Just makes it a class 4 felony if a person is caught with a loaded, uncased, accessible firearm AND does not have a valid FOID. It spells out the penalty to be levied against people convicted of this offense. Other parts of the FOID spell out special penalties for being caught with the above firearm in schools, gov't buildings, etc. But that's not part of this bill, nor is it new. Looks like 5832 simply spells out the level of felony charges for someone that breaks existing law. I'm still betting that the SA's of Cook bargain away the charges to get a conviction on a lesser charge. Tim

I share your frustration with all the new, inane laws that our dear legislators come up with. But, having watched the legislature pretty closely last spring, I must have missed one. Can you tell me the bill number on this "law" that was passed, or give us a little more detail? Thanks, Tim Please do. I don't remember this from two years ago and can't find any bill where Dillard was the primary sponsor that affected the FOID law. Thanks, Tim

I share your frustration with all the new, inane laws that our dear legislators come up with. But, having watched the legislature pretty closely last spring, I must have missed one. Can you tell me the bill number on this "law" that was passed, or give us a little more detail? Thanks, Tim

OK, I go to my user name and click on the pull down box, before I can click on "my settings" it goes to my user profile. Clear up at the top, at thte right hand end of the address bar, click on the icon that looks like a torn sheet of paper. See if that helps. Then follow the instructions above if you can. Tim

True, but nearly every other state ( a few exceptions I know, also targets for future lawsuits) honor at least one other license that a person COULD obtain to carry in the desired state. Illinois bans it completely, for everyone. I'm thinking that a suit from a Non-resident that works/travels a lot in IL and is licensed in his/her home state might file a suit. IN, MO, KY, IA residents living near the border. After Nov 1, we can add WI. How about it Stu!?? Up for a plaintiff position?? AB

No need to apologize, Rich, and I am still keeping track, but I need a little more information. The 55th Senate District seat is indeed Dale Righter's, but that would put you in either the 109th (Roger Eddy) or 110th (Chapin Rose) Representative District (Timothy Johnson is in the U.S. Congress--not the Illinois legislature) .45 - He lists Savoy as his location, that puts him in Rose's district. And that would also be Johnson's Congressional district. AB

Should we PM Buzz and tell him to stand by???

How about Arizona? training must take place *in* AZ if memory serves....and really, AZ is pretty much going to be like a Vermont or Alaska if it isn't already. I haven't been watching the CCP/reciprocity much. The "in-state" training requirement was lifted when AZ revised thier laws recently and went to "constitutional carry". They don't require a license to carry in AZ, but make one available to residents and non residents for reciprocity purposes. Drylok and others here have applied for and recieved the AZ license based on past training, of which Hunter Safety will fulfill. Here's the link to the Statutes. Enjoy!! AB In answering Beezil and mrjam, Abolt243 could have opted to hit the reply button farther down the page and his post would have looked like this: Another way to shorten up a post is to copy and paste just the segment you want to reply to - highlight it, hit the , and his post would have looked like this: The "in-state" training requirement was lifted when AZ revised thier laws recently and went to "constitutional carry". They don't require a license to carry in AZ, but make one available to residents and non residents for reciprocity purposes. Drylok and others here have applied for and recieved the AZ license based on past training, of which Hunter Safety will fulfill. Here's the link to the Statutes. Enjoy!! AB Yeah, but some of us just want to drive Buzz crazy!!!!! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Nice job Molly!! Certainly I and most everyone else could help the situation by watching how we reply to post!! Thanks for taking time to point it out. Now, if you haven't already, don't you think this thread (minus this post) should be made a sticky in "Site Support" or what ever that forum is called?? AB

I'm an idiot. Thanks Chris, I should have caught that. Ok - a single video within a playlist... That's why I failed to notice that. No problem, they changed the layout of the playlists a bit. All I can say is, you guys sure know how to make an old guy feel like an idiot!!

You ever looked through a publication called Gun Facts ?? It addresses this and many other myths surrounding concealed carry. No, you might not be able to compare Chicago to, say, Peoria or Springfield. But I think the comparison to Miami or Dallas or Albuquerque or Phoenix is valid. In every state that has passed shall issue in the last 25 years, the naysayers have said that there will be shootouts, killings over parking spaces, wild west, etc. ad nauseum. In every case, it has not happened. Check out Gun Facts. Read it while the little one sleeps on your shoulder. Lots of good points to use with folks like your friend. We have 40 or so states with shall issue LTC. Not a one has moved to rescind or make it more restrictive. Several have passed legislation to make it less restrictive. Do we really need to listen to the tired old arguments that have been disproven many times over?? Do we really need a "test city" or a "trial period"?? I don't think so. AB

It was something like they didn't track that or the number was so low that we didn't care. I can't remember. Several years ago, Coach filed an FOIA request for the number of violent crimes committed by persons holding a valid FOID card. IIRC, he was told that those statistics were not collected or retained. I don't remember ever seeing the number of FOIDs revoked and don't know if anyone has ever asked for that information. Care to try to get that info Sigma? Not sure what we'd do with it, but it might be interesting. I'm guessing the number is very low compared to the number of FOIDs issued. AB

Thanks Sir Matthew. Very helpful info. I'll see if I can make this a sticky at the top of this forum where I can always find it!! AB

New to this political game?? Not sure who to contact? Here's a couple of sites to help you find your elected officials and their contact info. To find your state level officials, go here: ILGA > click on "Legislator Lookup" > click on the "By Address" tab. Fill out the address information exactly as you recieve mail. This screen is very picky about the data, so you may have to try a couple of different times. You'll get a listing of all your state officials as well as the Fed offices. At the ILGA homepage, click on "Members" under either the House or Senate columns to get your official's contact info for the S-field and local offices. For websites, the best site I've found is VoteSmart . At the homepage, roll over "Officials" and pick the category that you're looking for. Fill in your zip, or type in the official's name and you'll get lots of info about them. Put their numbers in your cell phone, you may want to call them someday!! If you have any questions about using the sites above, PM me. Tim

As a help to our new members, this feature is at the site above. Here's how to get there: ILGA> under the resources section in the bottom right of the screen to "Legislator Lookup"> the grey box in the middle of the screen has four tabs, click on "By Address" > fill in the address info and click on "Search". You'll get a full listing of your state and fed congress critters as well as the major state officers. Warning, it's still showing BHO as a senator, so it may not be updated per the seating of new people yet. It does give district numbers and show the political party of the office holders. Also, if you'll go to "My Controls" click on "My Profile" go to location and put in your legislative districts, it might be helpful when trying to mount a call campaign to a particular legislator. Also gives everyone an idea of your location without having to be too specific for those of you that are in "stealth mode" Thanks to all for your help!! Tim

You're in--thanks. And.....you have our utmost sympathy!!!!!!

Generally speaking just one. According to my Traveler's guide to firearm laws http://www.gunlawguide.com/ , 2007 edition, Massachusetts has something similar to our FOID. Their LTC is very discretionary, and $100 per year. Of course, everything in D.C. is either banned or disassembled, HI requires registration within 72 hours of arriving, NJ requires a firearm purchase card, NY requires a permit for simply possessing a handgun and NYC has their own set of rules, none of them good. Every other state is listed as "Unrestricted, no license or permit required". Congratulations on living in the unique state of IL!!! Ain't we lucky??? AB