The gun community continues to react to news of a deal made by Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms to carve out an exemption from a state licensing scheme (SB-1657). Both Springfield and Rock River Arms have issued statements denying any knowledge of the deal negotiated on their behalf by the lobbyist for the Illinois Firearms Manufacturing Association (IFMA). An organization funded by Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms.
We can now reveal that Springfield and Rock River have, through IFMA, donated tens of thousands of dollars to Illinois anti-gun politicians over the last several years.
2012
In 2012, IFMA wrote a check for $10,000 to Illinois Senate President John Cullerton's campaign fund. The NRA-PVF F-rated Cullerton has stood in the way of pro-gun rights legislation in Illinois for years. He refuses to allow pro-gun rights bills to receive a committee hearing, much less an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor.
The above is from page 8 of the IFMA 2012 IRS Form 990. A search of the Illinois State Board of Elections' comprehensive list of IFMA political donations reveals no record of that check. Violations of the Illinois Election code are punishable by criminal and civil penalties.
IFMA also donated $1,000 to the Illinois Senate Democratic Victory Fund. That expenditure failed to appear on IFMA's Federal Form 990 for the year.
IFMA's $50,000 payment to J Alexander Hunt, Inc. — listed in the 2012 Form 990 — also caught our eye. IFMA's lobbyist Jay Keller does business under the name J Alexander Hunt, Inc. The company shares a post office box address with IFMA.
Searching for J Alexander Hunt's political donations at IllinoisSunshine.org reveals that J Alexander Hunt also donated $10,000 to Citizens for John Cullerton. Which means IFMA and J Alexander Hunt combined contributed $20,000 to the Cullerton campaign's war chest.
The money from Rock River Arms and Springfield Armory channeled through IFMA, however, failed to convince Cullerton to moderate his antipathy to gun rights. Not long after receiving the cash, Cullerton appeared at a gun control event.
2013
Despite the failure of the 2012 contributions to further Second Amendment rights in the Land of Lincoln, the company employed by Springfield and Rock River Arms, J Alexander Hunt, Inc., made a $5,000 gift to Friends of Kwame Raoul, an NRA-PVF D-minus-rated state senator.
IFMA also provided a $3550 in-kind sponsorship for a fundraising golf outing organized by NRA-PVF F-rated Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, another anti-gun pol.
IFMA sent another $10,000 check to Citizens for John Cullerton, matching their 2012 contribution. Once again, our search of the Illinois State Board of Elections' records failed to show the donation.
IFMA dropped $2500 into NRA-PVF F-rated Illinois Senator Antonio Munoz "Citizens for Antonio Munoz" mailbox. That contribution isn't found in our Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) search of IFMA campaign contributions. Neither is the $5,000 donation to Friends of Kwame Raoul. But it was reported on IFMA's 2013 Form 990.
[Here are IFMA's form 990s from 2011-2013, courtesy FoundationCenter.com: IFMA's IRS Form 990 2011, IFMA's IRS Form 990 2012, IFMA's IRS Form 990 2013. The Illinois State Board of Elections website is here.]
Clearly, Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms provided financial support to Illinois politicians who vigorously oppose Americans' natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. The above are just two years' worth of campaign contributions to those opposed to firearm rights for you and me.
While it could be argued that these payments gave the gunmakers' IFMA lobbying group access to their "enemies," there's precious little to show for their contributions in terms of defending or extending Illinois residents' gun rights. Whether or not Springfield and Rock River arms should have even made the attempt is a question both companies will soon face from both the industry and consumers.
UPDATE: Since this post went up at The Truth About Guns, both Springfield and Rock River have severed their relationship with the Illinois Firearms Manufacturers Association. Which is a good thing, because I found more Form 990s and more donations that I'm not sure were reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Good going John, keep up the good reporting.
Holy crow, John! You're a better reporter than any of those drooling black/gay/speech-impedimented children WCIA has posted for a decade!
They can't even read a telepromter.
NICE JOB!
One question, though: WHY? THIS MAKES utterly no sense. They KNOW these guys are out to abolish them. They KNOW these contributions benefit them in NO WAY.
WHY, then?
Why do they make them?
You probably have it on hand but wil you please post their addresses?
I'm in my gun-buying prime, and this has made my next purchases easier. I want to write to RRA and Springfield and tell them. I'm sure many others do too.
I don't like those who call for boycott at every turn but I, for one, will NOT engage in shooting myself in the back by supporting those who support those who, in turn, wish to take away my ONLY real right.
Keep up the GOOD WORK!
*Whuh? Did the circle-jerk shut down? Other than Whittemore's silly comments over on der youseguystube, youse guys are acting like ADULTS lately!
You want a reason why? Think about it, when Obama was in power all these gun grabbing scares made people go ballistic. They'd buy AR-15s by the dozens. It was good business. Having some anti-gun people in power is good for business because people get scared they won't be able to get a gun later. It's pretty simple if you ask me.
I thought these two ARE the IFMA. Does this mean they simply dissolved it? Moving their money somewhere else to reappear under a name like some of the liberal activist organizations do?