BOCH: Illinois Legislative Update… IGOLD made a *huge* difference this year

Good Friday morning, gentleladies and gentlemen:

A lot of folks have asked how things are going in Springfield for us in recent days.  Obviously.  Here's a quick (or not so quick) update!

Governor Rauner's veto of the Gun Retailer Licensing bill stands!

It was so very, very close, but the clock ran out for Senator Don Harmon and his merry band of gun control activists.  The last day to over-ride the Governor's veto of the terrible gun retailer licensing bill came on Wednesday.  Otherwise known as IGOLD day to you and me.

Senator Don Harmon, the sponsor of the bill, had told an AP reporter how cobbled together enough support to over-ride the bill in the Senate. 

State Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, the bill’s sponsor, did not even attempt to call for an override vote ahead of the deadline. Though Harmon said he was confident he had the necessary 36 votes in the Senate, enough support did not materialize in the House.

“While I am confident that I had the votes in the Senate to override the veto, I could not assure my colleagues that the House would vote against the governor, particularly given his vociferous and unreasonable opposition to this measure,” Harmon said.

However, that delicate coalition he built fell apart as over 2,000 gun owners showed up for IGOLD:  Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day.

You know, a month ago I wondered aloud if IGOLD might come too late to make a difference.  In the end, the timing came perfectly!  Through the planets coming into alignment perfectly, this year's IGOLD event proved priceless in its timing and impact on the legislature.  More on this shortly.

In person visits

Here's an important point:  Phone calls and emails are nice, but we've got to do more.  In-person visits always make more of an impression.  The other side, sensing blood in the water, has been appearing individually and in groups at offices on an almost daily basis for months now. 

What's more, some of our Guns Save Life members have taken time to meet with their squishy reps and senators and reported very positive outcomes.  Some of these elected or appointed officials don't know that Illinois already background checks FOID holders on a daily basis with both criminal and mental health records.  They don't know about Illinois' existing stringent, mandated mental health reporting requirements – even for those who aren't admitted to treatment facilities.

Working together works!

With some hard work from the National Rifle Association, Guns Save Life, ISRA and Illinois Carry, gun owners have started to wake up and fight back.    Your contacts – calls, emails, letters, visits – have made quite an impact.  Each organization has contributed in its own way to making a tremendous impact.  Most have worked under the very skilled leadership of the NRA-ILA on this with great results.  

Yes, the NRA-ILA released Todd Vandermyde last year and the relatively long-time NRA-ILA Illinois liaison Shannon Alford has left the NRA.  Thankfully, Todd is still in Springfield fighting for gun rights representing Illinois dealers.

At the same time, John Weber, the new NRA-ILA liaison has proved excellent.  We know that some people, ourselves included, looked at this (relative young) new guy with some skepticism.  In the end, under his savvy leadership, he has proven he has the lobbying skills and muscle to organize efforts to block gun control in Illinois.  Sure, some things worked in our favor outside of his control, but he's done everything Guns Save Life has asked of him and then some. 

Who would have guessed we might get out of this unprecedented gun control push with only a little blood loss and not missing arms, legs and organs.

How effective have the organizations been while working together?

• We shut down one capitol building switchboard with calls one Monday and crippled it two days later with crushing call volume.
• One staffer at IGOLD told John Weber that she had gone to a quick 30-minute lunch a few days earlier.  She came back to 56 or 58 voice mail messages.  "Please make it stop!" she pleaded.  His reply:  "Only your boss can make it stop, ma'am," he told her.

More directly, the overwhelming outpouring of contacts moved the needle and saved the day for our gun rights.

We aren't out of the woods yet!  Senator Harmon and others have pledged to bring up a new gun retailer licensing bill.  They may have the votes to pass it too.  And they may have the votes to over-ride another veto if they don't over-reach in its contents. 

The Nybo factor

Gun control may well pass this spring, especially with suburban Republicans like Senator Chris Nybo.  Nybo put his name down as a chief co-sponsor on a bill (SB-2314) to allow local municipalities to regulate long guns, only to remove it later the same day.  While the ISRA put out a special press release attributing that to a "mistake", Guns Save Life remains skeptical.  The NRA-ILA certainly noticed and while Nybo will tell anyone on our side about the mistake, rumor has it Nybo's gone radio silent when it comes to contact with the NRA.  (Oh yeah, and he surely hasn't contacted me!)

Our skepticism of Nybo's self-proclaimed support for gun rights grows even stronger after he introduced another bill (SB-3289) to ban guns within 1000 feet of a public park – the very same sort of bill struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court.  And the folks at Illinois Carry say Nybo's name is all over a number of anti-gun bills.  If there's one thing Illinois Carry does exceptionally well it is keeping an eye on what's happening with bills in the Illinois General Assembly.

In short, stay up-to-date and engaged or lose your rights.

It's also worth noting that the bills currently awaiting concurrence votes remain ready for consideration and can be called at any moment.  Support for them has diminished, but they (mostly Democrats) are so very, very close to sending them to the governor.  The failed veto over-ride has helped blunt their momentum, but it's still scary close.

IGOLD a HUGE success.

ISRA estimates 2,000 to 2,500 in attendance.  I guesstimated 1500ish, but I was wrong.  ISRA based theirs on the number of packets disseminated, so it's a better number.  Anyway, several times last year's 500ish.  And this year it stood as much more than a little-noticed symbolic effort to sway legislators.  This year, with gun control in the news, the media covered the rally heavily. 

And speaking of timing and comparisons:We dwarfed the dozens who turned out on Saturday, March 23rd for the anti-gun March for our Lives that took place on a Saturday when it was a ghost town at the Capitol Complex.

Our timing was PERFECT – and it broke apart Senator Don Harmon's fragile, last-minute coalition to over-ride the Governor's veto of the Gun Retailer Licensing Scheme.  GREAT JOB to all who came down to attend.

Now go make some calls.  The General Assembly will remain in session until the end of May.  Only then can you take a deep breath and relax – a little.