Editorial

Juking Illinois Concealed Carry Training requirement

David A. Lombardo

It sure didn't take long. It's been less than 90 days since the implementation of Illinois Concealed Carry training and the bottom feeders are already juking the system. Let me be clear that I think the 16 hour Illinois requirement is excessive. Should we challenge the law in court? You bet, but regardless of my opinion, the law is the law.

 Over the past couple of weeks I have become aware of several scams related to Illinois Concealed Carry training but haven't been able to get specifics as to who the offenders are. 

 One scam has the potential trainee going to a web site, viewing a video then getting signed off as having completed the 16 hour program. Several others, I'm told, offer sign-offs for significantly fewer than the required 16 hours. These schemes require an approved training provider who is simply a crook. Yet another scam is the result of people who post their certificate on Facebook and other social media web sites. Typically the posting is the result of the poster wanting to share with their friends the accomplishment. The dark side results when someone sees the post, copies the official instructor and course numbers, downloads a blank form from the Illinois State Police web site then just fills in the numbers without getting any training at all. 

In his regular Thursday editorial to Illinois State Rifle Association members, Richard Pearson, ISRA's Executive Director, took on those who would juke the Illinois Concealed Carry Training requirement. In it he wrote, "Recently, I have received phone calls from people who said they know CCL instructors who will "sign off" on their permit with little or none of the required training in Illinois. I have had calls from police departments with the same complaint. I consider any instructor who would engage in any of these shortcut activities to be nothing more than a charlatan. In fact, in my view this borders on criminal activity and I would also warn anyone who takes these shortcut classes that they are extremely foolish. I realize that you may not like the law, but that is not the point.  It is the law, and we should obey it, but that does not mean we won't try to change it in the future." Pearson went on to say, "...if you are an NRA instructor engaged in any such nefarious activity, and I find out about it, I will have your NRA credentials cancelled." It took about an hour for hate email to hit Pearson's inbox. 

Given that my co-host Gretchen has one-upped me by getting On Target Radio's first and only death threat, and with an eye toward evening the score and earning my own, I would ask if you know of someone intentionally subverting the law and are uncomfortable acting upon it yourself, please pass the information on to me as I am not uncomfortable dropping a dime on anyone. Besides, why should Richard Pearson get all the best hate mail?

TSA agent confiscates toy gun

from air traveling sock monkey

On December 3rd, a Redmond, WA, woman was en route to Seattle via St. Louis when an overzealous TSA agent detained her for the sake of her cowboy sock monkey and, more specifically, its toy six-shooter. "This is a gun," the TSA agent reportedly accused the woman.  No, the woman answered, "it's a prop for my monkey." The woman has a small business crafting sock monkeys that reference pop culture icons, this one being Rooster Monkburn. The TSA agent pulled the woman and her stuffed toy aside and threatened to call the police, saying, "If I held it [the 2-inch toy gun] up to your neck, you wouldn't know if it was real or not," to which the woman replied, "Really?" Eventually TSA confiscated the tiny toy gun and allowed the passenger and the sock monkey to proceed on their trip. The NRA says, regarding the incident, "Americans are not safer for these sorts of hysterical, heavy-handed reactions to anything that is supposed to suggest the mere idea of a gun, even when it's only used in the context of a plush toy to illustrate an iconic American cowboy.  Instead, they serve only to provoke cynicism, exasperation, lack of confidence, and wariness about the true motives that underlie some measures supposedly undertaken by the government 'for your own safety.'"    

BATFE implicated in more unconscionable operations

While the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (BATFE) felonious "Fast and Furious" operation is by now well known, if not well investigated, Fox News is revealing new allegations against the agency that are equally or even more disturbing. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did an in-depth investigation in 2013 into a sting organized by BATFE agents in that city. Their investigation turned up repeated patterns of unethical and/or illegal tactics used by BATFE agents in cities across the U.S. to drum up charges and arrests in contrived stings. The alleged cases occurred in Milwaukee, Albuquerque, Portland, Atlanta and Wichita. In Wichita agents suggested a felon take a shotgun, saw it off and bring it back, providing him with instructions on how to do it.  The newly modified gun allowed them to charge the man with a more serious crime. Agents in several cities opened undercover gun- and drug-buying operations in safe zones near churches and schools, allowed juveniles to come in and play video games, smoke marijuana and provided alcohol to them. [Source: NRA/ILA] 

SAFER USA &

AURORA SPORTSMEN'S CLUB

COURSE SCHEDULE

(Private group classes available)  

All classes meet at the SAFER USA Classroom facility

190 W. Lincoln St; Waterman, IL 60556

Discrete, private instruction available for VIP & High Profile Individuals  

Call 877-954-3030 

Jersey City mayor plays politics

with law enforcement firearms

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop has instituted a unique set of criteria when dealing with firearms manufacturers. In negotiating with manufacturers looking to sell firearms to the city's police department, Fulop asks them to answer questions on what he calls a "social responsibility component." Questions include asking manufacturers if they contribute to gun control efforts, if they'll commit to prohibiting their brand name from being used in violent video games and whether they manufacture "assault weapons" for civilian use. Frank Caso, a firearm salesman who has had the Jersey City Police Department account for over 40 years, took a dim view of the new criteria. "This is just another effort to blame manufacturers for crimes committed with guns. Are they going to call Ford and ask them if they will guarantee their car's not going to hit someone on the street? You know what Ford's going say? We won't sell them to you," said Caso. Fulop's reaction was to say, "Manufacturers are free to sell their guns however they wish but if they want to sell to Jersey City-a bid that could be tens of thousands of dollars-they're going to have to answer the questions."

State Police require computer to get concealed carry

A recent IllinoisCarry.com article details a decision made last week by the Illinois State Police that could result in thousands of Illinois citizens being unable to apply for a concealed carry license. The latest turn of events is that the ISP intends to conduct the entire concealed carry permit process online, if their proposal is approved by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules on Dec. 17th. ISP administrators say requiring electronic applications will make it easier for the ISP licensing division and will speed up the application process. But as IllinoisCarry.com points out, thousands of Illinois residents do not have computers and Internet access, and even if they did, they do not have the technical knowledge to maneuver through the complicated process of creating a digital signature, or scanning and attaching the required documents and photo.  The process also requires the applicant to set up an online ePay account in order to pay the license fee online with a credit card.  This requirement will make it impossible for people who do not use credit cards.