by John Boch
Reprinted from the May 2015 issue of GunNews Magazine.
I’m upbeat and you should be too!
Gun rights are making bold advances nationwide and are poised to do good things here in Illinois.
Kansas enacted Constitutional Carry, and Mississippi went permit-free for container carry for law-abiding residents. Those wins are huge! At the same time, another dozen states are passing other pro-gun laws.
Illinois is set to take more modest steps. Considering our state is very blue, even small progress is impressive.
We are working to get suppressors legalized, and to beat back universal background checks and gun restraining orders, there’s still much to do.
That’s where you come in. There are opportunities to help make a difference!
Are you displeased with the 16-hour training requirement for a carry license? Unhappy with the $150 fee? Angry over the long list of prohibited locations? Help us fix these problems.
Want to see the FOID Act repealed in the next few years?
“Freedom is not a spectator sport,” Steve Naber from Jacksonville once told me.
Until and unless more of Illinois 1.8 million FOID holders get more vocal and assert our rights, change will continue to be slow.
That’s not to mean we’re not hard at work here at Guns Save Life, educating and promoting gun rights with everyday people and political insiders alike.
We’re working behind the scenes in Springfield. We’re educating scores of thousands each month on our website and in GunNews. We’re bringing our unique style of upbeat, informative and entertaining meetings to Chicagoland.
Our members help with these projects and membership dues help us get results.
What sort of opportunities are available to help make a difference to make the world a better place for you, your kids, and grandkids?
1. Join.
Join the National Rifle Association if you’re not already a member.
Join Guns Save Life. We’re agile, aggressive and proactive at getting results. The next best thing to actually ‘being there, doing that’ is sending in your membership dues to help us be there and do that. Plus you get all the other benefits of membership, including ownership of our highway sign program, our GunNews Magazine, discounts at some merchants, first dibs at our legal defense fund and access to the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s firearms and ammunition.
2a. Practice activism with your elected officials. Contact your state senator and representative. If they don’t know you by name, you haven’t done quite enough to get to know them. Call them, write them, stop by and see them in person and let them know you want them to support your right to defend yourself.
A second, important thing you can do is submit witness slips. We’ll provide you a list of bills and links to slip creation at our website, GunsSaveLife.com. Witness slips get results. Gun owners killed the ivory ban proposal in a Senate committee, in part thanks to witness slips that were fifty or seventy-five to one opposed to the bill.
2b. Be proactive in promoting gun rights. Volunteer and promote freedom for future generations. Working together, we can accomplish much more than working independently and certainly more than if we site on a couch doing nothing.
2c. Join us at our upcoming meetings. Bring your friends. If you want to really make a difference, get together with some friends and bring a GSL meeting to your area! Contact our President Eric “Bear” St. Pierre at 217 480-BEAR for more information.
3. Stay current on the issues.
Visit GunsSaveLife.com for legislative issues that may come up. Write letters and make calls when critical action is needed.
4. Lastly, exercise those rights. Become a gun owner. Get training. Go shooting and take a friend. Carry your gun as the law-abiding citizen. Join Guns Save Life and attend Guns Save Life meetings. Write your political representatives and submit those witness slips.
Thanks for reading and God bless America and our firearm civil rights.