Illinois gun owners get a respite

It seems that we have made it through the spring session without any further successful attacks on the few gun rights left here. As of midnight on May 31st, the Illinois Politburo legislature has gone into overtime. By rule, bills passed in extended sessions need not merely a simple majority to pass, but a 3/5ths supermajority. That would mean 71 House votes, or 36 Senate votes. Almost all the bills we were fighting against were held back because their supporters did not believe they had the simple majority, so it would seem that the supermajority is out of reach.

Now is not the time to become complacent, however. The other side does have options. They could vote on a bill they want (say SB 1007, which has already passed in the Senate). Even if they can't get the 71 House votes they would need (and they almost certainly can't--if they had thought they had the 60 votes they needed before May 31st, they'd have called it then), they can still vote on it, and if they get 60 or more votes (but not 71), they can then amend it, pushing its effective date back until at least June 1st, 2008. I don't see them going to all this trouble, especially with all the real business of the state they have left unfinished, but then again, I hadn't expected Commissar Senator Kotowski to hijack a bill about sexual exploitation of children, and turn it into this useless, unconstitutional bill in the first place.

Speaking of SB 1007, by the way, it's first House co-sponsor was (supposedly) pro-gun Representative Ed Sullivan, Jr. When angry gun owners in his district called to express their displeasure at his perfidious, back-stabbing treachery, his pathetic excuse was "this is going to pass anyway, and by supporting it, we can appease them to prevent worse infringements" (I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist). Well, what do you say now, Ed? It seems that it's not "going to pass anyway," nor are the worse infringements, no thanks to you. Don't think your treason will be forgotten, just because it wasn't successful. Sullivan wasn't the only ostensible "ally" who sold us out (do you hear me, Senators Cronin, Dillard, Hultgren, Murphy, and especially Millner?).

Our getting through this session more or less intact was the result of a great deal of very hard work by a great many dedicated defenders of freedom in this state. The grassroots gun rights movement announced its official arrival this year with IGOLD, and continued to make its presence felt in a big way throughout the session. A comprehensive list of folks who deserve credit would be too voluminous to be practical, so I'll name just one--Valinda Rowe gets my vote as hero(ine) of the Illinois gun rights movement. Without her boundless energy, her tireless exertions, and her cheerful encouragement for all of us who lack her determination, I believe that this would have been a grim spring in Illinois.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating--I'm glad she's on our side. If she were fighting against gun rights, we would be lucky to be permitted slingshots.