by Richard Pearson
Illinois – -(Ammoland.com)- Today the Illinois House of Representatives will begin their 2016 Spring recess.
The Illinois House will be back in session on April 4th, 2016.
Next week the emphasis will be on the Illinois Senate. Please keep the instructions on filing witness slips, as we will be using them many times in the coming months. Because of your efforts, HB3160 and HB3160 Amendment 1 were held in committee. It is not over yet. Thanks to all of those who called State Representatives, emailed them, filed witness slips and contacted them in any way. Don’t forget IGOLD on April 6th, 2016.
I am always asked when will the .22 shortage be over. I have to tell you it all depends on the 2016 Presidential Election. The death of Justice Scalia certainly complicated the situation. The problem is the Hillary Clinton Express is rolling out of the station with a full head of steam. There are certainly storm clouds on the horizon. If Hillary wins I suggest you buy a .22 reloader.
In New York there are several more anti-gun bills being introduced in legislature. Before I get 5000 emails from those of you who don’t care about New York, remember that what happens elsewhere will happen here.
What happens in other states acts as an early warning system for us. As uncomfortable as it is, we have to develop a defense and face the reality of the well-organized, well financed anti-gun groups.
The newly proposed laws in New York State attack gun ownership, Second Amendment rights and the right of self-defense in several ways. First the law seeks to re-define what ammunition is, which is anything that can be hurled by a weapon – this presumably could include arrows and rocks. The state always controls the definition of a weapon so this could be far reaching. Before anyone could buy ammunition from a dealer they would have to go through a background check, just like purchasing a firearm. That would probably include a fee for the background check and maybe even a waiting period. If you were to buy ammunition that fit in a handgun but you have only a rifle, you would still need a handgun license. Many cartridges like 44-40, 357 magnum, 38 special and many more would fall into this category. Finally, if you were the owner of a registered “assault rifle” [most New York residents refused to register them] you would only be allowed to purchase twice as many rounds as one magazine would hold, once every 120 days. What if you owned a 9mm AR15? You would need to have a handgun license, go through a background check, have a waiting period, pay extra fees and then you could only buy 20 rounds of ammunition every 120 days.
And the anti-gunners claim this is not interfering with your Second Amendment rights. Right.
I know you are thinking this will not hold up in court – of course not. It is part of the anti-gunners strategy to wear gun owners down and make them give up. The other strategy they have is to make us sue for every right. They deliberately pass laws that they know are unconstitutional to run us out of money and keep us tied up in court. I’m sure we will see something like this in Illinois.
The first Super Tuesday has passed, and as of now, Donald Trump has 319 of the 1237 Republican delegates needed which is about 26%. Hillary Clinton has 1034 of the 2382 delegates she needs or about 34%. Both Trump and Clinton are on the way to their respective party’s nomination barring unforeseen difficulties.
The big elephant in the room for Trump is the Republican establishment and what they will try to pull on Trump. For Hillary, the big donkey in the room is the FBI’s investigation of her classified email violations.
The schedule of primaries and caucuses are as follows: Saturday March 5th – The Kansas Caucus, the Kentucky Republican Caucus, the Louisiana Primary, the Maine Republican Caucus and the Nebraska Democrat Caucus. On Sunday March 6th, the Maine Democrat Caucus and the Puerto Rico Republican Primary will be held. On Tuesday March 8th, the Idaho Republican Primary, the Michigan Primary and the Mississippi Primary will be held.
The following Tuesday, March 15th 2015, the second Super Tuesday which includes Illinois will be held. That will tell the tale I believe, barring the afore mentioned caveats. Be sure to get your absentee ballots ordered if you can’t vote early or be home.
Thanks for being a member.
Check out ISRA’s website at www.isra.org! Tell us what you think!
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