Illinois – -(Ammoland.com)- If you have been watching the news, you have an idea about what is going on with concealed carry permits in Lowell, Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, concealed carry permits are issued by the state but local municipalities approve or disapprove the permits through the local police department. Each department gets to make their own rules.
The local Police Chiefs are essentially agents of the state of Massachusetts.
In Lowell, Massachusetts, as well as some other communities in the state, they have adopted draconian rules to get a permit [following NJ’s lead]. All of these residents must take one of twelve approved courses.
In Lowell, you also have to write an essay of 1000 words or more explaining why you should be allowed to exercise your Second Amendment Rights. Moreover, Lowell wants to add another 40-hour course on top of everything else.
If you are a citizen of Lowell, you will have about $2000 invested in classes covering six days, your license fee, your firearm and accessories, and a 1000-word essay. After all of that, the Police Chief doesn’t have to approve the license.
In Massachusetts, the state legislature has finally decided to appoint a committee to study the problem.
The example of Lowell, Massachusetts explains why we wrote the Illinois Concealed Carry Act as we did. I know it is not perfect. What Massachusetts does not have is preemption. Preemption is critical to concealed carry and all firearm laws. What “preemption” does is turn over control to the state and prevents local governments from tampering with the law. One of the primary goals of the Illinois Concealed Carry Act was preemption. Lowell explains why Illinois does not have preemption for all firearms laws but the ISRA is working on it. We have preemption for transportation of firearms. It is important that ISRA members be aware of the problems that have to be anticipated when proposing preemption legislation. Local city councils and village trustee boards hate preemption and will fight tooth and nail against it.
The problem with many of these local governments is that they see themselves as God’s gift to us all. They feel that they should determine what civil rights you have.
Hillary Clinton has all but guaranteed that if elected, she will appoint Barack Obama to the Supreme Court. That would be a disaster not only for gun owners but the entire country; it would be the perfect solution for the Clinton’s, however. When a person becomes a member of the Supreme Court, they essentially have a gag stuffed in their mouth. I can think of nothing that would make the Clinton’s happier.
Like many of you, I was glued to the Iowa Caucus results on Monday night. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio proved to be the surprises of the evening. The line-up as of now is Cruz, Trump and Rubio. The good news is that all three of them have talked about the importance of the next President appointing four to five judges to the Supreme Court. The next six weeks will determine a lot.
Second Amendment Rights are going to be the Civil Rights Movement in the 21st century.
That is why this election is so important. It is also important that the ISRA remain strong. Please join or renew today.
The 2016 IGOLD bus schedule is now up on our website. Visit us at www.isra.org to purchase your charter bus seat. See you in Springfield on April 6th!
Thanks for being a member or supporter.
About Illinois State Rifle Association:
The Illinois State Rifle Association is the state’s leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners Visit: www.isra.org