Hunters brace for another gun fight
If you thought our outdoors traditions were too much a part of the fabric of our nation to be threatened, that the Second Amendment protects our hunting and shooting traditions the way it was intended to, you'd better be sitting down as you read this.
Richard Pearson, the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, headquartered in nearby Chatsworth, is one of the few who has been standing between Illinois' 1.5 million recreational shooters, hunters and firearms collectors and the misguided and unruly horde that's clamoring at the gates demanding that American's guns be taken away.
Another election looms over the landscape and with it comes the anti-gun lobbyists. This is their favorite season and they have Illinois' firearms owners in their cross hairs.
"For all those who think that if we give the anti-gunners just a little, they would be satisfied and go away," Pearson said, they should consider a frightening development. "Maryland Cease Fire now says there is no difference between a so-called 'assault weapon' and any other firearm. They are now pushing for a ban on all long guns."
Pearson reverts to the lessons of history, when Europe was a cauldron beginning to boil over and appeasement movements thought that cutting a few smaller nations lose would save the continent. He uses the analogy to describe the divide-and-conquer tactics of anti-gun organizations and how they are attacking pieces of the shooting fraternity, rather than the whole.
"The idea of giving in a little here and there in hopes of satisfying some opponent is an old idea called appeasement. It never works," Pearson said.
"For the largest groups to throw the smallest groups to the anti-gun wolves will only lead to the defeat of all. It is a plan of the anti-gunners to divide and conquer. We must not let that happen.
"Let me give you a concrete example of what I mean: the anti-gun Joyce Foundation has donated $650-million to the Freedom States Alliance (parent organization of the GunGuys' Web site), who, in turn, funded the .50 Caliber Terrorism and License To Murder web sites, as well as others.
"Another group funded by the Joyce Foundation is the Illinois Coalition on Handgun Violence — look at the names — these groups' only objective is to segment gun owners and turn them against each other. If that happens, the anti-gun crocodile will definitely win. We must stay united. I want us to be the crocodile, not them."
If you are not already a member of the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), Pearson invites anyone who enjoys recreational shooting or anyone who owns firearms to join the ISRA. For more information, call the ISRA office at 815-635-3198 or visit the Web site at
www.isra.org .
"If voting is but a small part in the fight for our freedoms," Pearson said, "then getting involved in political activity is where we must deliver and what will make a difference. Political activity is energizing, not only for you but also for others. It is getting your friends and family to vote. It is registering to vote, going to the polling place, and casting your vote for a pro Second Amendment candidate; it is giving to the ISRA Political Victory Fund until it hurts, taking two pain pills, and giving some more."
... but then I'm one of those intractable "absolutists"