Illinois State Senate

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Some Good Gun News Out Of Illinois

May 5, 2017 by 1 Comment

Hearing positive gun rights news out of the Prairie State is usually the exception instead of the norm. Yesterday was the exception. The Illinois Senate passed a bill allowing active-duty military members based in Illinois and their spouses to apply for non-resident carry permits. Moreover, they would only be charged the in-state rate of $150 instead of the out-of-state resident rate of $300.

As some might know, while Illinois will issue carry permits to out-of-state residents, the law limits it to residents of those states which the State Police find have “substantially similar” requirements. Thus, only residents of Hawaii, New Mexico, South Carolina, and Virginia qualify to apply for an out-of-state resident carry permit in Illinois. SB 1524 says that this limitation does not apply to active-duty military members and their spouses stationed in Illinois.

Now for the really good news. SB 1524 passed the Illinois Senate on a 53 yea, 0 nay vote. Now on to the State House.

The text of SB 1524 as it passed the Illinois Senate can be found here.

The Second Amendment Foundation’s lawsuit against Illinois on behalf of out-of-state residents with carry permits who are precluded from applying to obtain an Illinois permit is currently on appeal to the 7th Circuit. If the bill above passes, the lead plaintiff in Culp et al v. Madigan et al, Col. Kevin Culp may have to be removed from the case if he is still stationed at Scott Air Force Base.

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ISRA Warns Of Attempt To Hijack Illinois CCW Bill

May 28, 2013 by 4 Comments

The Illinois State Rifle Association just issued an urgent alert regarding attempts by Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) and Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) to hijack the compromise concealed carry bill, S 2193, that was passed overwhelmingly in the Illinois House. Cullerton went on record immediately after the bill passed the House condemning it because it removed home-rule exceptions in Illinois firearms laws.

From ISRA:

SENATE PRESIDENT CULLERTON AND SENATOR KOTOWSKI SCHEMING TO DERAIL CONCEALED CARRY

Senate gun grabbers John Cullerton, Dan Kotowski and Kwame Raoul were busy this holiday weekend constructing a plan to derail the passage of concealed carry legislation.

As most of you know, House Speaker Madigan and Rep. Phelps last week hammered out a concealed carry bill (SB2193) that passed the House with 85 votes. Although the bill was not 100% of what law-abiding Illinois gun owners were hoping for, SB2193 serves as a good baseline for the institution of state-wide personal protection measures.

As expected, anti-gun extremists in the Illinois Senate went to work immediately with a plan to shut down SB2193 when it came over from the House. Based on what the ISRA has learned, Cullerton-Kotowski-Raoul have come up with a bill of their own that would have so many exemptions that concealed carry permits would be impossible to get. Furthermore, there are reportedly so many restrictions in their proposal that, even if you were fortunate enough to be granted a carry permit, there would be very few areas where you would be able to carry legally. Of course, the places where concealed carry would be the most necessary are exempted in the Cullerton-Kotowski-Raoul “no carry” plan.

One thing is for certain, Senate President John Cullerton has refused to allow Sen. Forby to call SB2193 for a vote in the Senate – effectively killing the bill.

We are not 100% sure as of yet what the Cullerton-Kotowski-Raoul bill number will be. We think it will come as an amendment to HB0183.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO STOP CULLERTON FROM HIJACKING CONCEALED CARRY:

1. Immediately call your Illinois Senator and politely tell the person on the phone that you are a law-abiding Illinois gun owner and that you oppose Senate President Cullerton’s attempts to hijack concealed carry. Politely tell the person that you expect the Senator to vote against any concealed carry proposal Cullerton tries to advance. If you do not know who your Illinois Senator is, click this link:

Illinois State Board of Elections

2. Please pass this alert on to your family and friends, ask them to make calls as well.

3. Please post this alert to any and all Internet bulletin boards or blogs to which you belong.

REMEMBER: The fate of concealed carry is in your hands!

UPDATE: More on the behind the scenes machinations of the gun prohibitionists in the Illinois State Senate from the Facebook page of IL-Gunlobby.

..Call your senator today and tell them to oppose HB183 amend 4

The senate dems met for a 2 hour caucus that devolved into a a shouting match amoung senators.

The President is refusing to allow Senator Forby to call the house carry bill. Instead they are going to offer an amendment to their bill that takes most of the parts of the House bill but then strips out the safe harbor provisions, any private property can ban firearms on their property all they want. .

They will remove restaurant carry and increase penalties for carrying while intoxicated to a class A misdemeanor.

They will also whittle down the preemption to only apply to carrying. But unclear if that applies to mags, ammunition and other things or not.

We could see an amendment late tonight with a committee hearing in the AM but unsure as these clowns don’t seem to be very organized

More as we get it

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ISRA Issues Urgent Alert On Mag Ban Legislation

May 10, 2013 by 2 Comments

The Illinois State Rifle Association issued an urgent alert this morning regarding moves by State Senator Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago) that, if passed, would result in the banning and confiscation of all magazines over 10 round capacity.

Anti-gun Chicago Sen. Antonio Munoz today filed an amendment to SB1002 that would result in the banning and confiscation of all magazines over 10 rounds.

THE BOTTOM LINE: If Munoz’s bill passes, you’d go to jail longer for having a standard AR-15 magazine in your own home than you would if you robbed a liquor store.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR GUN RIGHTS:

1. Immediately contact your State Senator and politely tell the person who answers the phone that you are a law-abiding Illinois firearm owner who opposes SB1002. Advise the person further that you would like the Senator to vote against SB1002 should it come to the floor.If you do not know who your State Senator is, the Illinois State Board of Elections has an interactive search page here:
www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx

If you already know who your State Senator is and just need the contact info, you can find that here: www.ilga.gov/senate/.

2. Pass this alert on to your friends and family; tell them to make calls as well.

3. Post this alert to any and all Internet blogs and bulletin boards to which you belong.

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The Floor Amendments In Illinois (Updated)

January 3, 2013 by 6 Comments

The gun prohibitionists in the Illinois Senate are using existing House Bill 815 and House Bill 1263 as their vehicle to license shooting ranges, ban so-called assault weapons, ban new standard capacity magazines, and require registration and fees for grandfathered magazines. Both bills are the subject of hearings currently on-going by the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee.

HB 815 originally dealt with updating a nuclear safety law while HB 1263 deals with sexual offenders.

HB 815 has two amendments. The first, Senate Floor Amendment No. 001 deals with licensing shooting ranges and “large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” It was introduced by Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Chicago). The text of the amendment can be found here.

The second amendment to HB 815, Senate Floor Amendment No. 002, requires the registration of grandfathered magazines with the Illinois State Police and the payment of a $5 per magazine fee. It was also introduced by Sen. Dan Kotowski. The full text of this amendment can be found here.

HB 1263 has two amendments and both were submitted by Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago). Senate Floor Amendment No. 005 contains another range licensing bill and, more importantly, the assault weapons (sic) ban. .50 BMG firearms are also banned. The text of this amendment can be found here.

The second amendment to HB 1263, Senate Floor Amendment No. 006, deals with the existing so-called assault weapons. It requires their registration and the payment of a $10 fee per rifle to the Illinois State Police. .50 firearms will require a $15 per firearm fee along with their registration. The text of this amendment can be found here.

UPDATE: The Senate Public Health Committee who’s chair and vice-chair just so happen to be Chicago Democrats have reported two of the amendments out of committee with a “do adopt” recommendation. They are Senate Floor Amendment No. 001 to HB 815 and Senate Floor Amendment No. 005 to HB 1263.

ISRA issued an alert on the bills this evening.

A pair of nightmare bills is on the move at this moment in the Illinois Senate

These two bills would:

1. Run all gun ranges out of business by imposing heavy fees, imposing special staffing requirements, warrantless searches of ranges and customers, unlimited unannounced “inspections.”

2. Ban all semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns as well as pump action shotguns.

Here are direct links to the two bills:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=815&GAID=11&SessionID=84&LegID=56601

and

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=1263&GAID=11&SessionID=84&LegID=57242

EITHER OF THESE TWO BILLS WOULD END YOUR GUN RIGHTS ENTIRELY

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR GUN RIGHTS.

1. Follow the instructions below and contact your Illinois State Senator. Politely tell your senator that you are a law-abiding gun owner and you want them to vote AGAINST HB815 and HB1263. CALL NOW!

2. Pass this information on to your gun owning friends and family, tell them to call as well.

3. Post this alert to all Internet blogs and bulletin boards to which you belong.

The worst of the two bills, HB815 is being sponsored and pushed by anti-gun Senator Dan Kotowski. Go to his link: http://www.ilga.gov/senate/senator.asp?GA=97&MemberID=1724 Call him at the numbers listed and tell him that you do not appreciate him trying to shut down gun ranges and taking your guns away from you. He needs to hear from you!

UPDATE II: The Illinois State Rifle Association just sent out more information about the votes on the two bills in the Public Health Committee.

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES BILLS TO RUN RANGES OUT OF BUSINESS AND BAN 80% OF YOUR GUNS

MESSAGE FROM COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS: “Eliminating law-abiding gun owners is a good ‘first step’ towards a ‘civil society.’”

Votes on HB815 and HB1263 were split along party lines in the Senate Public Health Committee Wednesday night with the committee Democrats voting 6-4 and 6-3 to send the bills to the full senate. If these two bills become law, they will resulting most, if not all ranges in the state going out of business as well as the banning of ALL semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns as well as banning all pump shotguns and rifles.

In comments made during testimony, committee Democrats stated plainly that HB815 and HB1263 were “first steps” and that these bills have as their objective the creation of a “more civil society.” In other words, elimination of lawful gun owners is a required first step for creating a more civil society. Of course, there was no mention of the impact of eliminating criminals.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO ON THURSDAY:

1. Call Senator Dave Syverson at (217) 782-5413 and tell him “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

2. Call Senator Shane Cultra at (217) 782-6597 and tell him “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

3. Call Senator Christine Johnson at (217) 782-1977 and tell her “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

4. Call Senator Carole Pankau at (217) 782-9463 and tell her “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

It is very important that you praise these Senators for their support.

The ringleader of the effort to shut down shooting ranges and take your guns away from you is Senator Dan Kotowski. You may wish to call him at (217) 782-3875 and politely explain to him that, as a law-abiding gun owner, you do not appreciate being treated like a criminal and that you oppose any efforts to regulate shooting ranges, ban semiautomatic firearms, or ban standard capacity magazines.