Both Rock River Arms and Springfield Armory have severed ties with their private lobbying group, The Illinois Firearms Manufacturers Association.  Both companies vowed to vigorously fight for gun rights moving forward.  This welcome news comes five long days after the world learned of IFMA's sleazy deal to trade dropping their opposition to a gun control bill for a carve-out for existing manufacturers.  And news of IFMA's donations to gun-hating pols.

Both companies claim they first learned of the political dealings at The Truth About Guns.   It took them several long and brutal days to find Jesus, but they found Him.  Kudos to them.  I want to take them at their word, but I recall another high-profile individual named Barack Obama claiming he read about one scandal after another in the news, too.

Where have you guys been?

I still have to ask, "Where have you been, Springfield and Rock River?"

We faced this bill last session in the Illinois General Assembly.  We warned Prairie State residents of its terrible provisions.  In the end, we killed it off as part of an "all hands on deck" effort.   In the end, everyone worked together and we got the job done.

Senator Don Harmon introduced a slightly tweaked version again this year.  This time, we had lobbyists from many of the national gun control groups in Illinois.  After last fall's election, the gun control dog in Washington D.C. not only didn't hunt, but just plain died.  Seeking gainful employment, a bunch of those DC-based lobbyists came to our deep-blue state in search of a victory for gun control.  Carpetbaggers representing Everytown, Moms Demand, Gabby Giffords' ARS and the Brady Campaign to name a few came to our fine state.  They work out of hotel rooms in the heart of flyover country, pounding our legislators relentlessly along with our homegrown gun control groups.

For gun rights forces, once more it was all hands on deck.

We all knew the vote would be close.  We worked hard to stop it – all of us.  The NRA-ILA came from NRA HQ.  The brilliant Todd Vandermyde, the long-time NRA-ILA contract lobbyist burned the candle at both ends.  Richard Pearson, Maureen Mulhall and Jim Vinopal all lobbied on behalf of the Illinois State Rifle Association.  I donned my suit and spent time there representing Guns Save Life.  Mike and Valinda Rowe spent countless hours working the rail on behalf of IllinoisCarry.  The Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources stood by our side.  Whitney O'Daniel from the National Shooting Sports Foundation showed up at key times.  We even had Knox Williams from the American Suppressor Association helping out now and then.

Also there:  IFMA's Jay Keller.  Right up until last Thursday when he went missing.  Then his witness slip showed up under "No Position".  The amended bill passed out of committee and went to the Senate floor.

In no time, the bill passed the entire Senate by a single vote.

And that's when I decided this story needed telling.  The good guys in IL had been betrayed by the lobbyist of a firm led by Rock River Arms and Springfield Armory's owners.  From the 2013 IFMA IRS Form 990:

I must say, Mr. Larson and Mr. Reese's respective claims of not keeping up on what is happening in the Illinois General Assembly might be true.  After all, neither Springfield nor Rock River – as evidenced by their Tuesday statements severing ties with IFMA – are even in tune enough to even know who's in Springfield fighting hard for their gun rights along with those of their customers!

Yes, they mentioned the NRA and the Illinois State Rifle Association in their statements.  But they failed to mention the Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources, Illinois Carry and Guns Save Life all of which have worked hard at the Illinois Capitol Complex, putting in hundreds of lobbying hours in the past couple of years. 

Not without warning

In January, I asked Jay Keller to clarify some rumors I'd heard about IFMA possibly negotiating a deal for manufacturers as part of dealer licensing.

Keller's response, "Man, there's no way I'm going out to SHOT with a dealer licensing bill hanging over my head."

"You're not answering my question, Jay.  You're surely negotiating with Harmon on this, are you?" I asked him.

He repeated his statement about SHOT and dealer bills.

I warned him that if he cut a deal, the gun owning community would not look favorably upon it.  He repeated his SHOT line a third time, almost like a parrot before walking away.

At the same time, I worked a little more on research on the political donation story.  In February, I called for Mr. Larson and Mr. Reese.   After identifying myself, those answering the phone dismissively noted the men were "unavailable", so I left a detailed message. 

"I'm working on a story about some campaign contributions your lobbying outfit, the Illinois Firearms Manufacturers Association, has made to some anti-gun Democrats.  Tens of thousands of dollars.  Can you give me a good reason why this is going on, and/or perhaps a reason why I shouldn't run this story?"

I figured if they learned of my discovery of their lobbying group's donations to anti-gun politicians, they might reign in their lobbyist.  Or perhaps they might call and give me a legitimate explanation, along with a plea to let things ride.

Nope.  All I heard were crickets.

Over the weekend at the NRA Convention, I reached out to both Dennis Reese and Chuck Larson. 

Dennis ignored my message. 

Mr. Larson called and spoke with me.  My return trip to Illinois prevented me meeting with Mr. Larson in person, we did have a fairly good conversation.  I explained my feeling of betrayal at the hands of their lobbyist, and I told him about the political donations his lobbying group, IFMA had made.  I explained how a number of those donations don't appear to have been properly reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections.  He asked for proof and I told him to compare and contrast the IFMA Form 990s with the ISBE website, just as I'd done.  Or, he could read about it with everyone else at TTAG.

You know the rest.

We welcome Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms

We welcome these two companies to the front lines of the fight for gun rights in Illinois.  The work is long, thankless and often frustrating.  The cause, however, could not be more noble and honorable.   Welcome to the team, gentlemen.  We value your participation.

Addendum:

What's more, since this story originally went up at TTAG, people have asked me if I was insane, or if I'd been paid off.

LOL.  I'm still sane, and nobody's given me so much as a return phone call from Springfield or Rock River, much less a check or any promises thereof.  If anything, I've heard one or both companies have reached out to the NRA and all of the groups in Illinois except Guns Save Life.  That's okay.  I knew there would be fall-out, but the story had to be told.

While I'm not quite ready to forgive, and certainly not forget, I recognize our Second Amendment mission comes first.  Right now, we need to turn our attention to fighting this bill.  This is about coming together to fight the good fight to stop SB-1657 before it makes it through the House.  I expect Springfield and Rock River will be at the Capitol Complex, not only opposing the bill, but also disavowing the carve-out their former lobbyist Jay Keller negotiated. 

Continuing to castigate these two companies for past transgressions of their lobbying firm serves no constructive purpose.  Hence why I now welcome them on the front lines of this fight.  I know they will be on their best behavior when it comes to supporting gun rights henceforth.  Their existence and livelihood depends upon rebuilding trust and their reputations.