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The ISRA has decided to not fight a FOID card “enhancement“ bill in the 2020-2021 legislative session in which other gun rights orgs and gun owners in Illinois are opposed to, even the majority of ISRA members. Perhaps we know why.....history. A vote for the bill is set for 6/16/21.
We all know the FOID card is rooted in racism. Here’s the proof. Illinois gun rights activists have been fighting hard to prevent even more draconian FOID card measures from being enacted, which is why Illinois gun owners were shocked this legislative session when the Illinois State Rifle association remained “neutral” on a FOID bill (anti-gun) that had previsions in it to outlaw the private sales of firearms in the state. They also stated that they will not fight this bad bill whatsoever:
Illinois State Riffle Association President Richard Pearson confirmed the organization will not fight the bill.
He said the ISRA is taking a neutral stance because the measure does both good and bad things for gun owners, like speeding up FOID card processing and mandating background checks for person-to-person sales.
Well, just like we did with the FOID card and exposed it’s roots, we looked at old newspapers and found that the ISRA supported the FOID card early on and even voiced support for passage of the law in 1967. Further, they voiced opposition for repealing it as well. Here are some examples (many many more out there).
The Edwardsville Intelligencer from August 29, 1969 (page 4):
Well, they were right. It is ineffective, yet here we are 50+ years later, still waiting for it to be trashed. Moving on...
The Decatur Herald. August 17, 1969 page 43:
Chicago Tribune, February 17, 1968 page 53:
The Pantagraph, May 23,1967 page 8 (endorsing the FOID card bill):
Well, there you have it. It’s a shame the ISRA isn’t fighting hard to stop a bill (HB562) that will make more hardships for Illinois FOID card holders. Remaining “neutral” on this on the bill status page isn’t a good look. If you look hard enough on the net, you can even find ISRA pamphlets from the era showing support for the FOID card (I believe it was included in a congressional testimony for the 1968 gun control act). Does this all mean the ISRA needs to go away? No, absolutely not. However, considering how angry their membership is (view their Facebook page and look at the comments), perhaps it’s time they did some soul searching and changed the way they do some things. A “compromise” with anti-gunners in which IL gun owners don’t get much in return (but antis do) isn’t worth it. Compromising with gun grabbers is NEVER worth it. And the “reality” here is thanks in part to the ISRA in the 1960’s who supported Senator Arrington’s Bill to register gun owners in Illinois.
In exchange for a lifetime FOID card if you submit fingerprints, this is what they’re negotiating away:
Another spineless NRA affiliate.
Want to know why AZ is the #1 state for gun owners for eight consecutive years? Because we formed a politically-oriented state gun owner association entirely independent of the hopelessly preoccupied NRA affiliate, and let the legislature know they had to deal with us from now on, not them. All of a sudden, NRA wasn't able to helicopter into AZ and cut deals to kill our good gun bills.
Maybe it's time, Illinois. You have models to work from now.