You Should Have Said NO! To Senator John Curran. A Call to Action.

[mauserme]

You Should Have Said NO!

To Senator John Curran

 

The Time: Veto Session, 2022

The Place: Illinois Senate

The Event: Senator John Curran's bid for Minority Leader

 

It was late, in the final days of the 102^nd General Assembly that we first got word of Senator John Curran's desire to become Senate Minority Leader. But we weren't unfamiliar with Mr. Curran's voting record. You see, he is one of the most reliably anti-gun votes in the Senate. We sprang to action, sending a Call to Action on November 14, 2022: Just Say NO! To John Curran as Senate Minority Leader. In it, we stated:

 

“Because they set the tone for the direction of the party, a leadership position requires an understanding of the views of others. It requires an appreciation of the values of folks with different backgrounds, from different areas of the state. It requires a respect for the vast differences between the north and south ends of the state. Foremost, it requires strict adherence to the oath all legislators take, to uphold the Constitution even if they find the rights it guarantees distasteful. Yes, even the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. Yes, even Senator John Curran.”

 

We went on to catalog his long, unfortunate history of anti-gun bill sponsorship and anti-gun votes while in the Senate. We pointed out that, being as anti-gun as he is, he cannot effectively lead the minority party's representation of conservative values. And we were right.

 

The Time: January 6, 2025

The Place: Illinois Senate

The Event: Senate Vote on HB4144

 

HB4144 began life as an innocuous bill about fire hydrants. It was amended in the Senate to become a gun confiscation bill related to Illinois' existing “red flag” law, a law that ignores not only the Second Amendment, but also the Due Process guaranteed in the Constitution. The confiscation required in the amendment also ignores the Second Amendment and Due Process. Predictably, Senator Curran along with Deputy Leader Senator Sue Rezin, voted in favor of this legislation and, today, it is the law of the land.

 

The Time: January 10, 2023

The Place: Illinois House

The Event: Concurrence Votes on HB5471

 

In a different time, a different place, another House bill was amended in the Senate. This time, the bill that became law banned the possession of firearms arbitrarily defined as “assault weapons”. At the time, a different Minority Leader, Representative Jim Durkin, was the only Republican to vote for the ban. He fell on his sword to make one of his favorite ideas law. After, he immediately resigned his position as House Minority and as a member of the Illinois House. He recognized that by stabbing his own party in the back, he could neither lead nor represent his constituents in the broadest sense. He recognized the disgrace he brought upon himself and his party.

 

Acknowledging one's failures is difficult. Admitting to one's own betrayal of those who believed in you is never easy. We call upon Senators Curran and Rezin to come to the same realizations former Leader Durkin faced. We call upon them to follow Mr. Durkin's lead, by stepping down from their leadership positions and, perhaps, from the Senate entirely.

 

This week in the House, several bills are posted to the House Judiciary – Criminal Committee and to the newly formed House Gun Violence Prevention Committee, the latter we suspect will routinely rubber stamp anti-gun bills for floor consideration.

 

We would appreciate your voicing opposition to these bills by filing witness slips against them.

 

###

 

 

HB18 FOID – Denial & Revok - Stalking OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

HB19 FOID & Crim Cd - Flamethrower OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

HB33 Firearm Owners ID – Fees OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

HB34 Elec Cd – Firearms Polling Place OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

 

HB43 Ins – Task Force on Firearms OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

 

HB1374 Sch Cd – Health Exams – Gun Safety OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

HB1398 Safe Gun Storage - Pediatricians OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File and OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

HB1399 IDPH – Safe Gun Storage OPPONENT!   Read More About This Bill   File an OPPONENT Witness Slip   Track the Witness Slips

 

 

 

[ScopeEye]

Done

[Hgs2000]

Done & Shared!

[Keith44]

Done

[kk5]

done

[Steve51]

Done X 2

[gearhead]

Done x 2.

[TomKoz]

Someone please primary this clown !

[mab22]

I think I got them all...

[Yettiblood]

DONE

[JTHunter]

Done.

[NonDescript]

Done!

[papa]

Got them all. Thanks everyone.

[djmarkla]

Done ! 

What a bunch 0f (insert term here) these people are!

[JDW]

Done and done sir. Thanks for the alert. 

[mikew]

Thank You, Mauserme.

[mauserme]

Thanks to everyone for getting the witness slips done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Upholder]

as of the time of this post, there was one bill that was about 150 to 400 opposed, two more roughly 100 to 400 opposed, and the rest 3 or 4 to 400 opposed.

 

I suspect all will be recommended to the floor.

[lawman]

Done.   I hope Upholder is wrong, but he is probably right.

[mauserme]

On 2/18/2025 at 3:32 PM, Upholder said:

as of the time of this post, there was one bill that was about 150 to 400 opposed, two more roughly 100 to 400 opposed, and the rest 3 or 4 to 400 opposed.

 

I suspect all will be recommended to the floor.

 

I expected that as well, but they only heard subject matter today, and only on HB18 and HB1373 (which was not included in our Call to Action).