Reprinted from the May 2023 issue of GunNews Magazine with a few tweaks and additions…
We had a good day in federal court at the April 12th hearing in our challenge to the new Illinois gun ban. Our attorneys are very good, but we let Paul Clement’s partner Erin Murphy do a lot of the heavy lifting. Our team and Clement’s team work well together in the past and that relationship has proven very helpful in this one.
Okay, I’ll admit to hoping for news of an injunctive relief order before we went to press but it hasn’t happened… (Indeed, it came about 10 days later).
A lot is coming together quite nicely though, even as cases move slowly. But then again, given how Kwame and his pals dropped almost 2,000 pages of very boring reading on Judge McGlynn, it’s no wonder he didn’t have a decision ready in a few days.
Many thanks to our Guns Save Life members and friends who have donated generously and selflessly to this legal fight. We’ve got some of the very best people working on our team.
Meanwhile, in our FOID lawsuit challenge, news of a medical emergency with the judge pushed back our hearing from April 19th to June 20th. We’ve been at this since sometime in 2019, so what’s another couple of months?
HELPING OTHERS
We helped a disabled veteran living by herself in Springfield last month. When the Sangamon County State’s Attorney slow-walked return of her pistol and her peace of mind, we intervened. Dan Wright didn’t respond to us at first, but that changed with some national publicity.
Rena Rojas (pictured above) is grateful beyond measure for our help getting her gun back and the outpouring of support from our members. She didn’t make it to our April meeting because she was in the hospital with some medical issues exacerbated by the stress of sleepless nights thanks to not having her gun. We wish her the best for a good recovery and look forward to seeing her down the road.
LEGISLATIVE.
I expected all manner of legislation to pass this spring. After all, if the votes are there to pass an outright gun ban, why not nip at gun owner heels with other measures? In the end, nothing made it past the deadline for getting bills out of the originating house.
Really, when it comes to gun owners, the only really annoying bill to pass was a ban on Tannerite. If you have any desire to experience Tannerite reactive targets, today is the time to buy some. Not familiar with using them? Let’s put it this way: they make grown men giggle like schoolgirls.
CHICAGO.
Chicago’s doing its best impression of a crime-ridden hellhole lately with warmer weather. The mini-riots / rampages in downtown Chicago on April 15th made national news, except in the mainstream media who covered the story with a pillow until it stopped moving.
It’s proving quite the welcoming event ahead of Brandon Johnson taking the helm as mayor of America’s Murder City. Hint: If you can avoid Chicago, it would be prudent to do so. Not only will you save your money but you might save your hide as well.
I find quite a contrast between Florida with its violent crime at a 50-year low with Chicago and its 104% increase in major crimes over the past two years.
While Florida is where woke goes to die, our state’s leaders seem like they’re mashing the accelerator to the floor as we head toward the cliff by enacting more woke, soft-on-crime public policies.
TWO OTHER STORIES…
Two other stories made the rounds this past month. First, a Biden-appointed judge struck down Minnesota’s prohibition on issuing carry licenses to 18-20-year-old young adults. Thank you Bruen. How is that relevant to us in Illinois? Well, let me tell you why… I’ve got a pair of 4-year-old boys. By the time they turn 18, Illinois will be issuing licenses to 18-year-olds. Assuming we’re not a Constitutional Carry state by then.
The second story: A judge in New York State struck down that state’s Red Flag law which strips gun owners of their fundamental constitutional 2A rights without due process. Yep, if you guessed that we’re going after Illinois’ Red Flag law, you win a cookie.
MY FORMER FEAR, FIXED
For a long time I’ve worried that if I had to burn down a bad guy trying to grab one of my kids or shiv me in a robbery attempt that I would lose my FOID card as the investigation ran its course. That would leave me and my family largely defenseless to retribution from the kin of a well-perforated bad guy.
Not any more. An Illinois judge struck down the section of Illinois law that allowed the Illinois State Police to revoke FOID cards just for arrests.
You may not share my concern, but tell that to the nurse in Chicago who shot a would-be carjacker three times after work, got arrested and even though charges were dropped by noon the following day, the Illinois State Police took almost nine months to restore her FOID card and carry license.
Or the guy in Normal, IL, stabbed 19 times in his own front yard, wrongfully arrested by Normal PD. Yes, charges were dropped and the judge even apologized for the “system” failing him. Yet it took a solid six more months for ISP to get the memo and restore his FOID card and carry license.
IN CLOSING.
Hopefully next month we’ll get that injunctive relief. Like many of you, I really don’t need another AR, but I’m still going to buy one to send my “FU” message to JB and his gun control buddies.