IGOLD: A call to arms in Illinois

I hope I'll be forgiven for discussing a topic that will probably have little relevance for anyone not living in Illinois. I, alas, am among that most disenfranchised and downtrodden minority--I am an Illinoisan-American, and a gun owner. Illinois, you see, is quite different from the actual United States, where the fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Constitution. Here, due to the enormously disproportionate influence wielded by crime-ridden Chicago over the rest of the state, the Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms shall be infringed pretty much to the despots' hearts' content. Legal self-defense is little more than a fantasy, and new laws restricting every aspect of private ownership of firearms are piled on in almost every legislative session. Our governor has publicly stated that he wants it to be difficult to own a gun, and a state senator has compared gun owners to sex offenders.

Perhaps that can be changed, though. Through the very hard work of some of my friends at Illinois Carry, and with the indispensible aid of Illinois activist groups like the Illinois State Rifle Association and Guns Save Life (formerly the Champaign County Rifle Association, and generous sponsorship from Springfield Armory and Rock River Arms, Illinois gun owners are going to have a voice in Springfield.

March 14, 2007 is Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD). Illinois legislators need to learn that a significant number of their constituents are tired of wondering when our lawfully acquired property will suddenly become illegal; we're outraged that our home state is one of only two in the U.S. that makes no provision for regular, law-abiding citizens to carry a defensive firearm; and that we are no longer going to sit quietly, and take it like good, polite little sheep.

To help with transportation to Springfield, the organizers have arranged for bus transportation to IGOLD and back (schedule), and here's the schedule in pdf format. I have added links to this information to the sidebar, and will keep it there until the big day.

If we are to bring the Second Amendment back to Illinois, it's going to take a vast amount of work. But at least we have a ride to the job site. Hope to see you there.