Editorial

Illinois House passes Concealed Carry bill;

The whining begins

David A. Lombardo

You'd think it was the end of the world by all accounts. It's difficult to tell who's screaming louder: Supporters of Illinois Concealed Carry, the Illinois State Rifle Association and the National Rifle Association, or the anti-concealed carry contingent. Absolutely no one is happy with Representative Brandon Phelps Amendment to Senate Bill 2193.

Yeah, well the truth is the only things on that amendment that can be traced to Phelps are his fingerprints as he carried it into the building. Make no mistake, it was House Speaker Michael Madigan who ripped into Senate Bill 2193 and made it what it is today and both sides took one for the Ripper.

But let's be honest, a concealed carry bill can't be all that bad if it passes the House with an 85 to 30 margin and causes Governor Quinn, Senate President Cullerton, Chicago's Mayor Emanuel and Cook County Board President Preckwinkle to scream so loudly they can be heard over the roar of a gang banger free-fire zone in Chicago.

Granted, it's not what pro-personal protection advocates hoped for but the same can be said from the perspective of the anti-personal protection folks. The guys with the white hats got some pretty big stuff after an eternity of not being allowed to carry a concealed firearm at all. The bill is "shall issue" meaning if you meet reasonable requirements they have to issue it to you.

One of the most important components is a statewide pre-emption of all gun laws. Just consider the stunning implication of what that means: Only the State of Illinois can make laws restricting the who, what, where and how of firearms. You realize what that means? No Chicago firearm certification, no Cook County assault weapon ban, no Oak Park gun ban; only the State of Illinois has the authority to pass gun laws if this bill becomes law.

Sure, the state can propose some anti-gun, whack-job law but it will result in the melt-down of every legislator's telephone unlike the limited resistance offered when an individual town or county tries to implement a gun ordinance. Suddenly Illinois gun owners have a huge say in future gun law proposals.

The proposed law calls for a $150 fee, which is a bit steep, but provides for commercially available training rather than by the State Police as had been suggested. Additionally, your personal vehicle will become a safe haven for concealed carry as you pass through gun free zones which admittedly there are too many in the bill. The worst is public transportation which would be a gun free zone.

Here's the thing, the bits and pieces we law and order folks don't like can be tested in court in the future; the important thing is Illinois has, at least in part, rejoined the United States and you can, in no small part, thank the extreme efforts of five people: the four Illinois State Rifle Association lobbyists headed up by executive director Richard Pearson, and the National Rifle Association's lobbyist in Illinois - Todd Vandermyde, which brings me to my final point.

Within nanoseconds of the House voting in favor of the amendment to Senate Bill 2193, the Facebook geniuses who are all hat and no cattle started to rant about how the ISRA and NRA sold them out. One wag said he'd never support the ISRA again and wouldn't even bother getting a concealed carry permit because it wasn't good enough. From my perspective, anyone with that little insight into reality probably shouldn't be carrying a gun anyway.

The bottom line is simply this: everyone underestimated the power of House Speaker Michael Madigan and his ability to push through a bill that neither side likes but it most certainly appears they're going to live with. They make strange bedfellows, Madigan, Pearson and Vandermyde, but it appears that those three very strong personalities may have changed the course of Illinois history. 

Questions emerge over HSUS

and the IRS scandal

The May 25^th issue of The Sportsman's Daily is reporting yet another twist in the IRS scandal. It has discovered Lois Lerner, the director of the IRS' tax-exempt organizations division, has high-level ties to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Lerner, you may recall, is apparently the only person in the Obama Administration that supports the Constitution of the United States - specifically the Fifth Amendment. HSUS is a sham 501C3 not-for-profit organization that collects millions of dollars by showing photos of suffering puppies but the anorexic gerbils and cats with psoriasis see a mere one-percent of the donations. The rest goes toward promoting a far left liberal agenda including anti-hunting and anti-second amendment principles. Well, it turns out Lerner spent so much time illegally targeting conservative groups she didn't get around to investigating numerous complaints about HSUS's use of its funds for political lobbying in direct violation of IRS 501C3 law. It is telling that the accusations against HSUS have never been denied by its president and CEO Wayne Pacelle. Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Missouri Republican, is calling into question its tax exempt status because of substantial political activity conducted by HSUS in Missouri in recent years.  

 Cuomo to N.Y. Sheriffs: Keep quiet about gun law

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo invited representatives of the New York State Sheriff's Association to meet with him and discuss issues with the recently passed SAFE Act.  At least that's what the sheriffs thought the meeting would be about. But instead, according to an article in the May 21^st issue of the Times Union, Cuomo told the sheriffs to cease and desist expressing their wide-ranging comments in opposition to many of the law's provisions. "The governor was of the opinion that the sheriffs around the state should not be interjecting their personal opinions in reference to the law," according to one attendee. That's a bit of a hard sell when you consider the Sheriff's Association, and several individual sheriffs, have joined litigation against the new law. New York's governor, good liberal that he is, apparently has a trump card up his sleeve; it's rumored he's unearthed a law that allows the governor to kick a duly elected sheriff out of office. You gotta love liberal politics: The voice of the people is sacred as long as the voice agrees with the liberal agenda. [Sources: NSSF, New York State Sheriff's Association and The Times Union]