Posted: 1/21/2005 3:05:41 PM EDT
| Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, February 23, when the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) will be holding its Lobby Day in Springfield. This is an annual event where ISRA members, and anyone else interested in advancing our Right to Keep and Bear Arms directly lobby their representatives in the Illinois House and Senate. If you can attend, please plan to meet in the cafeteria in the basement of the Stratton Building from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for registration. The cafeteria opens for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. At 9:00 a.m., there will be a legislative briefing, and then all will proceed to the Capitol Building to find their respective representatives. If you need more information, please call the ISRA office at (815) 635-3198. |
| I have been before, and will do so again. They are the only group along with the NRA that are out there fighting for our rights. If you go, and everyone should, you will get a different opinion of them. A couple of other groups in Illinois are always copmplaing about the ISRA but when we beat back the last round of anti gun bills at the capitol, they were nowhere to be found. All they do is complain about the ISRA but they offer little in return. The ISRA is the group that makes contacts with our Reps and Senators, and they are the ones that stand in front of the libs and defend our rights all day in the committee meetings. And for this they get blamed. It kills me that everyone bitches when they pass a new anti gun bill in Illinois, but no one will get off their dead asses and drive an hour or two or three to defend their rights. The reason we have such restrictive gun laws in Illinois is because we have too many lazy sheep. If they tried some of the things they have in Illinois in other states, there would be thousands of angry gun owners showing up and protesting and demanding their rights be acknowledged. But not in Illinois. All we do is bitch at our own state rifle organization for trying to have a rally to show support for our cause. We are in deep trouble in this God forsaken state. |
I have been to Springfield several times to defend our gun rights. My experience is that generally the only official NRA rep that has a clue is Vandermyde. Pearson and the rest of them wander the halls while the bills are being read. If the ISRA had any real clout, there wouldn't be gun prohibition in the third largest city in America. I am far from a lazy sheep and I bet if we both took a look at what each of us have done in patriotic terms in Illinois, you may come up with the short end of the stick. The ISRA is a next to useless outfit run by old men who really care about nothing but Model 70's and Garands. Those that wish to think the ISRA accomplishes anything, can keep wasting their money with them. There are many ways to skin a cat. The ISRA had absolutely ZERO to do with the ass whooping SB1195 took in the Spring of 03, outside of sending out emails. That effort was all NRA and non lazy non babyboomer non sheep from Illinois. I will assume you are downstate and I don't want to pick a fight with you but you guys often have a very skewed idea of what and who keeps our gun rights in tact in Illinois. It ain't "downstate Democrats" and it ain't ISRA. |
+1 On That!!! Todd Vandermyde is very effective, but we could use more NRA muscle in Springfield. ISRA is so behind the times it's scary. I believe it was Todd V. who started passing on alerts via email. ISRA still sends out the little orange postcards that arrive weeks after a Bill has gone through. Anyone ever wonder why everyone on the board of ISRA is retirement age? Basically it's on old boys club. They don't want any younger folks or any minorities on the Board. As long as that continues, they will be viewed as a downstate club for retired duckhunters, and be ineffective. I attended the first Lobby Day (after they reschuduled it a time or two) and spent the day running around with a dealer buddy. After several hours I was tired of being dodged by my Reps. and left. I think you can accomplish more with a barrage of phonecalls/faxes/emails than you can by taking a day off work and getting the run-around. CKMorley |
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I tend to agree. Perhaps my biggest gripe is that you have to be a member to get emails. Not so at NRAs site. If they really want people to get involved, why not let anyone join your email list? It doesn't cost anything. Ironically, they always tell their members to post the emails to internet boards. WTF? I also happen to think that "Lobby Day" is a weak concept. I don't think all the Lobby Days combined made nearly as much difference as the hundreds of people who showed up at the SB1195 reading, or the barrage of phone calls that shut down the phone in Obama's office. A rally of a few thousand gunowners would be great, but you don't see I$RA doing it. Their grassroots efforts suck. If you want to see how I$RA should be run, check out CCRA's site. |
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I will assume out of kindness patroit73 that you really DONT want to start seriously looking at who has done more in the name of God and Country between the two of us. I can assure you that YOU will come up short in that debate. However, that was in no way the intent of my reply. All I'm saying is that like it or not we have one group in Springfield fighting for us and that is it. If we shun them, then who do we have? I am open to suggestions. If there is another group rallying hundreds in the name of gun rights at the Capitol then please let me know. I will happily support them. |
I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, and I am a kind person. Your hell is no worse than anyone else's hell however. How would you know where I have been or what I have done trapper? I made no assumptions on anything you have done for God or Country, I simply find marching to the ISRA drum a lackluster attempt at Second Amendment defense at best. As of right now, we are doing exceptionally well in Illinois is regards to gun rights, I can say a hell of a lot better than the generation prior did, or any of the members on the ISRA board have done or will ever do. Strength is in numbers and voices. I come from a time where everyone hid the fact that they owned guns. My Father and Grandfather vehemently insisted I told NO ONE of the firearms we owned. There in lies the problem. To defend a right, you must first admit it even exsists. Denying your exercising of the Second Amendment is as bad as a Liberal claiming it does not protect an individual right. Demand that Chicago and the 1960's no longer hold Illinois at political bay. |
This is true and unfortunate. --When a grassroots organization started up by Crook County, I$RA "absorbed" them and killed their efforts. --I$RA made a $98,000 donation to the Illinois Coalition Against Handgun Violence in the form of recovered legal fees for a really stupid stunt involving ICHV's old website URL. --When SB1195 hit, and political activism was at a fever pitch in this forum a few years back, I$RA blew us off as a few people on an internet forum, rather than embracing our efforts to help the cause. In short, it seems to me that I$RA has the "generals win the war" approach to this, rather than acknowledging that the troops on the ground win the war, and the generals get the glory. They have pretty much made all efforts to ensure that they are the only game in town, so they get all the glory, but just be sure to give them credit for the defeats too--i.e. the FOID card they helped to create. If you feel that Lobby Day is an important event, then more power to you, and I commend your efforts to go and do what you can for the fight. Lobby Day would serve no purpose for me--both of my reps are solidly in our camp and, frankly, I don't want to piss them off by beating a dead horse, over and over. A few simple and polite communications are adequate for my district. FWIW, if I$RA had an event like a rally where the presence of thousands of people was necessary, then I'd go, and I'd bring friends. I suspect patriot, CK, and others who aren't fans of Lobby Day would probably agree, although I won't say that I speak for them. Personally, I prefer to get the word out to gunowners I know by email, to contact my reps regularly, and to generally be a good "guy on the ground", so to speak. Just my $.02, YMMV. |
I'd go. On a person-to-person basis I get along with I$RA Exce Director (President For Life) Pearson and the rest of the Old Boys Club. But on a "professional" basis I think they need to retire and let the next generation take our turn. ISRA has actually killed grassroots movements in northern Illinois twice. When Pearson & Co. took over the reigns years ago, they withdrew affiliation and support for local grassroots groups that had been encouraged by the previous leadership. When Concealed Carry, Inc and CCRA shifted into high gear in 1999-2000, publisizing "fanny pack" CCW and backing independent candidates for the ISRA board, ISRA started up a front called "Collar Counties Grassroots" to compete, draw away members and most importantly, endorse the incumbants. ISRA also printed an entire issue of the Illinois Shooter dedicated to bad mouthing the CCI/CCRA backed candidates. After the Old Guard was safely re-elected, "Collar Counties Grassroots" folded up it's tent, linked it's web page to ISRA.org and vanished. If ISRA wants to be the only game in town, fine. As ineffective and backwards as they are, their turf isn't worth fighting over. Pearson and the rest of the old guard are gonna hold their chairs on the Board until they die and there's no way to change that. Alot of us became sick and tired of fighting our "allies" at ISRA, instead of focusing our efforts on the Daley-ites, and moved our activism into the cyber realm, where we can have a far larger impact that a handful of oldsters wandering the halls in Springfield. SB1195 was our victory and they know it, but they'll continue to claim the laurels in the name of "your ISRA". The recent passage of the "Wilmette Law" was also due to us calling & faxing, as well as packing a Wilmette city board meeting last winter. If this was not the case, would ISRA still be putting "please pass this on to any internet groups" on their alerts???? But, like I said above, I'm sick of fighting these guys. I'll save my energy for ruining Daley's day  It kills me when ISRA takes credit for the work done by the NRA's lobbyist. (In fairness, Vandermyde used to be on the ISRA board as a VP, but not currently) PS: Did ISRA lend a hand when the IL-EPA was f*cking with Buffalo Range ?????? Preserving ranges is an NRA Cause Celebre', but ISRA said nothing. |
I think the second event is the one I was thinking of. I guess I got my facts a bit messed up. I do remember you guys telling us about the Collar Counties Grassroots, but I thought they had merged it together with another group that sprang up, then abandoned it. Heaven forbid there be any competition within the ranks for political seats. Much like the rest of the US, I$RA has a one-party system--incumbents. FWIW, my own club had an uprising of sorts a couple of years ago, and several new faces were elected. Dues went up (they doubled, but the jump from $25 to $50 a year isn't that big of a deal), but new berms have been installed, the pavilions are slated for replacement, etc. One of the officers I talked to at the range said an adjoining property had been for sale, and when members suggested its acquisition, they learned there was no money. Poor management of funds. The changing of the guard has created improvements already, which is significant since the place hasn't really changed since it was built in the late '60s. My point is that a system that refuses to change is doomed to failure.
And isn't the theory behind that something about the $98K ICHV payout by the insurance company? Vandermyde couldn't be allowed on the board, or something like that, as a condition of payment? Hell, at least Todd would stick his head in here from time to time and talk with us--I$RA had far more pressing issues to deal with, like, um, well, I don't know, but if we're not members, we must not be friends and, therefore, not worth the time, right?  ETA: Does anyone else have trouble with CCRA's site? Seems like I generally have trouble getting on it. |
| I know one of the directors of the ISRA and if I remember right, the guys at Concealed carry Inc. were getting ahead of themselves. We all know the political game can be slippery, and "forcing" our elected officials into taking certain stands can at times be counter-productive. That is even more true when you have a governor that will veto any effort on concealed carry you may happen to get passed. I agree with the assement of Todd Vandermyde. He is a huge asset to our cause, and does more on the forefront than many of the ISRA boys do. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the reason most of the ISRA guys are older is because it helps being retired to do what they do. I understand for most of us who are younger and have jobs, it is a pain to drive to Springfield on a Wednesday to lobby, but it is no sweat if you are retired. Bottom line is that the ISRA is far from perfect, but I feel badmouthing our own only helps the anti's. Maybe some young blood should try to get elected without trying to completely upset the applecart. |
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I will be going, but I also will be in Springfield anyway. If I lived far away, I wouldn't make the journey. We will all assemble in the basement of the Stratton Building, away from all of the action. We'll get a speech about the upcoming bills, a little about the process, and general conduct. Alot of time will be spent with people that don't have any clue on who their Reps/Senator are. Everyone will file off to the Capitol to talk to their respective Reps/Senators. Usually, one or two people from each group will do the speaking. Some politicians will dodge their constituents, others will nod and shake hands, then screw you on the way out the door. I find that a personal letter, phone call, or visit to the office on a slow day is more effective. Fortunately, my people are pro gun, so it's easier for me. I mainly go to talk with some of the rank and file gunowners at the meeting. Sometimes I can learn alot and share a little. If they actually had a Rally Day where we occupied the Rotunda and had speeches, I'd be there in a heartbeat. That place is always filled with people wanting money or something. They have speeches, music, placards, armbands, literature, you name it. It's ashame that gunowners don't have an organization that can pull off something like that. Some of you I might see, some I won't. As long as we're making phone calls and writing letters, that's what will really count. We need to put pressure on them the entire time they're in session. |