Illinois gun owners need to step up to the plate--now

As I mentioned Monday, I am convinced that HB 48, the private handgun sales ban, is the priority of the forcible citizen disarmament lobby in Illinois. We stopped its equivalent last year by only two House votes (which prevented it from coming up in the Senate, but then, as now, we thought our best chance for stopping it was in the House). The House composition has changed, and not necessarily in a way that bodes well for gun rights in Illinois.

The following is a list of representatives whom we believe could go either way in voting on HB 48, by virtue either of their voting records, or of being newly elected, with no voting record on which to base any conclusions.

Clicking on a given representative's link takes you to his/her webpage, with contact information for both the Springfield and district offices. The legislature is obviously active in Springfield these days, so that's where we need to concentrate our efforts, but there's no need to make the district office staff feel neglected. Besides, the reps. often come home for weekends, and you might catch them then. An office visit from a constituent is an excellent way to communicate the importance of this issue.

38th District	Representative Al Riley
41st District	Representative Bob Biggins
42nd District	Representative Sandra Pihos
43rd District	Representative Keith Farnham
46th District	Representative Dennis Reboletti
47th District	Representative Patricia Bellock
48th District	Representative Michael Connelly
50th District	Representative Kay Hatcher
51st District	Representative Ed Sullivan, Jr.
53rd District	Representative Sidney Mathias
54th District	Representative Suzanne Bassi
55th District	Representative Harry Ramey
56th District	Representative Paul Froelich
62nd District	Representative Sandy Cole
66th District	Representative Mark Walker
67th District	Representative Charles Jefferson
68th District	Representative Emily McAsey
92nd District	Representative Jehan Gordon
95 Distict	Representative Mike Fortner
96th District	Representative Darlene Senger
107th District	Representative John Cavaletto
114th District	Representative Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr.

One more thing: the five legislators below represent counties that passed the Pro-Second Amendment Resolution, declaring all further gun regulation illegitimate. Those reps. need to be reminded of that--reminded of whom they're supposedly representing. Here's that list:

Kay Hatcher, Kendall County--passed the resolution by a wide margin on May 6, 2008;

Charles Jefferson, Winnebago County--passed the resolution unanimously on Sept. 27, 2007;

Emily McAsey, Will County--passed the resolution overwhelmingly on Oct. 14, 2008;

Jehan Gordon, Peoria County--passed the resolution unanimously on Feb. 14, 2008;

John Cavaletto, Marion County--passed the resolution on Nov. 13, 2007

Have I mentioned IGOLD lately? One week from today.