IL Gun Rights Organization calls it quits.

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Sad to see him go at a time when Illinois needs as many pro friends as it can get.
 
Illinoisians are simply reveling in the squalor of their own creation. Leave them to it. Get out if you can.

If you want to live like a free person, there's simply no reason to be in Illinois, nevermind Chicago.

Staying in Illinois is like sticking around Germany after 1938. If you stayed, it was either because you COULDN'T leave, or because you liked what was going on.
 
Salute

In Illiniois they believe that we need a strong govenment to save us from ourselves. I would love to see more businesses abandon that socailist slime hole ... as they presently are ... Chicago looks more and more like DC every day. Bloomington and other 'burbs already paved the way to bans, by enacting their own bans and getting away with it.

"Entitlements", "state mandated", "Federally Funded" ... those are the only answers that Illinois polititicians know.
 
Looking at that bill, it's not entirely hopeless in Illinois. You can still own a .22 Derringer and use it to defend yourself against gangstas with Street Sweepers and AK's.
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[ANNOYING BUZZER SOUND] WRONG !!!! No CCW (unless you have lots of clout) and pistols are effectively banned in Chicago and some Cook County suburbs. On your knees, begging for your life to spared is about the only option we untermenschen have. :cuss: :barf: :cuss: :barf:
 
I think that John Birch was that organization's greatest liability.

Not him as a person. And while I'm sure that it's a perfectly good name, but perception is everything when it comes to manipulating an audience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

Granted, there are some nice things about the society, but at the same time, a LOT of the members basically give the impression that they shouldn't be allowed to handle sharp objects on the days when they are allowed a vacation from their home facility...

Maybe use of the name will attract some folks, but a large number of people who hear it would _immediately_ assume that the Illinois carry organization was part of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade. Fatal mistake.
 
did anyone else notice this: "a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition and any combination of parts from which such a device can be assembled)."

Last time I checked, I could convert the 10rd mag from say, a Beretta 92, back to "full size" with a drill and a Dremel. I'm willing to bet that will be considered "readily restored or converted"...
 
While I agree that the letter was unnecessarily caustic, at least he has a back-up plan (moving to FL) rather than just purely moaning. Sounds like he put up quite a fight, albeit against the tide.

With the AWB ban, will IL officially become the worst anti state in the Republic? Still can't beat DC, but that's not a state. There might be some vague upsides to having at least one or two horrendously oppressive states full of crime, surrounded by pro-gun states with less crime. Downside: IL will blame every state around them for "exporting" guns to IL.

I was going to say that CA has at least held the line for a few years, but then realized the 2000 SKS Sporter ban, the 2001 DOJ "Approved Handgun" list, the 2005 .50 Ban, etc.

However, CA doesn't make you get a freakin' card to handle a firearm, so that's something. If CA just moved to Shall Issue, or loosened up May Issue licenses to the point that most people could get them, I'd say that only their handgun registration is really that horrendous. Everything else is just a limit to the styles of firearms that you can buy, which is unpleasant, but by no means a total block to being armed.

Not defending CA's gunlaws, just saying that owning an M1 Garand and 1911 in CA (especially if your sherrif will give you a CCW) isn't that bad, compared to the unadulterated evil of the FID program. It's not Alaska or Vermont, but a dang sight better than what IL is headed for, to say nothing of Chicago and Cook County's assertive defense of Home Rule.

I'm always morbidly amused how the antis scream about "Home Rule" whenever their local anti-gun laws are smacked down by the State as unconstitutional. The very term "Home Rule" makes them sound vaguely like oppressed Irish peasants; I tend to visualize them as wearing little green bowler hats with clay pipes jauntily stuck in the brom.

-MV
 
Illinoisians are simply reveling in the squalor of their own creation. Leave them to it. Get out if you can.

If you want to live like a free person, there's simply no reason to be in Illinois, nevermind Chicago.

Staying in Illinois is like sticking around Germany after 1938. If you stayed, it was either because you COULDN'T leave, or because you liked what was going on
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Some would have same the same about ohio, but some dedicated people have been working hard and really making a difference there. Not everyone can choose guns over friends, family, and business. Its a shame thats regarded as such a worthless choice for those people to stay and campaign for their rights.
 
I'll miss John, but ...

Let me start by saying I really appreciate the visibility John gave the cause for several years. I wish him all the best whereever he chooses to hang his hat. Some of his "street theater" stuff was brilliant.

When Jesse Jackson started picketing a local gun store, claiming that too many blacks were being killed with guns from that store, John suggested a state wide ban on selling guns to any African-Americans and asked Jesse to stand with him on the ban.

Now I'll say some things that will get me flamed, I'm sure. But I have been corresponding with John for several years and have gotten to know the man a bit.

John could easily be his, and our interests, worst enemy sometimes. He spent a couple of years totally focusing on how bad the ISRA was run, how unfair their election rules were, and how they weren't doing enough to support Concealed Carry legislation. He lost a lot of people he should have been recruiting.

John has no rheostat. His approach was always "in your face" and I'm afraid the news media decided he was always good for a "wacky comment or two" on guns instead of viewing him as a knowledgeable source of information on the issue. Kind of like the way they always interviewed Ray (Spanky the Clown) Wardingely every election season when he ran for mayor, governor, president et. al. from his South Side Barber Shop on 111th street, just for laughs.

John approached concealed carry with the spirit of an evangelist. There was no middle ground, it was a "for us or against us" approach that alienated a good chunk of the ISRA and several other shooting groups.

When he started his web site concealed carry was something of a novelty. Now CCW is a fact of life inall but two states. The situation changed dramatically, his tactics didn't.

Now that you have all read Illinois HB 2414. Tell me again how there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans running things?
 
With the AWB ban, will IL officially become the worst anti state in the Republic?
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We don't have an AWB........yet

Cook County has the updated ban.

I fear as John said that a statewide ban is coming down the pike.

I'll be joining El T and become a Hoosier before I give up my guns.
 
GoRon,

Those of us in Cook County were made criminals overnight, without even knowing about it. I searched the Chicago Tribune Website to see if we were informed of this new ban and found nothing. If it wasn't for you guys and this forum I wouldn't have even known. Now that I have read the new law all I can say is "EEK!". Florida permantly is getting closer by the minute. You could move there, further than Indiana but warmer too.
 
If there's one thing CC, Inc. had, it's was credibility. John never minced words, and I got a kick out of a lot of the emails as a result. It is often a bitter pill to swallow, having the inadequacies of your own ranks pointed out to you, but I'm reasonably certain that if his advice was followed, we'd be better for it. That doesn't mean give up what we're doing now, it just means broadening our horizon. He's great for a big-picture view on things, even evidenced in this last correspondence. Take the criticisms as suggestions. Unfortunately gun owners tend to be rational and utilitarian. The media does not want logic though, because people change the channel when numbers come on (besides the Mega Millions pick, of course). And we're not always the most political - we do have our own political machine, but that's not political. Being political is knowing how to influence people outside your own sphere. I think he's pointed some good paths to pursue, even if someone else needs to carry the torch down them now. I also justed liked him 'cause CC, Inc. was out of DuPage :D
 
Some would have same the same about ohio, but some dedicated people have been working hard and really making a difference there.
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The difference is of course that there IS a difference. People in Ohio have RESULTS to show for their efforts. What do people in Illinois have to show for their efforts?

I'm sure it's painful to admit, but Ohio is moving forward while Illinois is moving backward at an accelerating pace. Our Democrat governor-elect says he's in favor of the CCW/preemption bill that Taft [hopefully to be soon overridden] just vetoed.

You're just going to have to face reality and admit to yourself that in Illinois, and Chicago in particular, people RELISH both corruption and oppression. And they've endorsed MUCH more of the same in the last election.

Forget EXPANDING gun rights in Illinois; you've got about as much chance of KEEPING what few "rights" you have now as I do of getting rich selling chitlin's in Mecca during the Hajj.

As far as family goes, sometimes you just have to make a choice. My mother asked me if I'd move back to Chicago if she couldn't take care of herself. I gave her a flat "no". I also told her that if she ever decided to move to the United States, she could come stay with me.
 
Move to MN

Reading all this stuff makes me realize how fortunate we are here in MN. Anyone who wants to abandon Chicago should move up here and enjoy shall-issue and a great economy.

All the Moore-admiring moonbats live in Minneapolis ... just stay outta there and you'll find a happy home in MN. And, we can use the help furthering the interests of liberty against said moonbats. We're winning up here so come and join us.
 
Deanimator, it is better here, I'll give you that. But in my short time in Ohio, I'm seeing lost ground, not gained. I'm concerned the tune might change more in January, but I have trouble taking much joy when a Republican governor vetoes a common-sense CCW preemption bill. I'll believe it when I see it in terms of a Democrat supporting intelligent gun law. I hate to be like that, but as an Illinoisian I'm conditioned to distrust.
 
The problem is, this wave of Socialism and anti-rights is coming soon to a theater near you. Moving from IL (or CA, or NJ, or NY) to FL (or MT, or WY, or NM) is just postponing the inevitable.

I started reading The Coming Generational Storm last night. The points made in it agree with an awful lot of other things I've seen... we're approaching either an economic meltdown or a huge increase in taxation and reduction in "entitlement" benefits. What do you think will happen if taxes are doubled? How many people might "take to the streets" in protest, refuse to pay, evade, etc? Now, ask yourself how Washington DC is planning on handling those types of situations.

Even the free-est states will wind up with a choice... go along with Federal gun bans or draw a line in the sand. I'm not saying "There's no point in moving", just don't get complacent and think, "Now that I'm in the Free State of XX I can relax!"
 
There is a time to fight and a time to move. This country was founded, largely, by people who understood that--they left their craphole countries (the UK, Germany, Italy, Russia, whatever) and came to the US to start over. You have one brief life only--it is too short to waste in a place you despise.

So, our types of folks should just leave ILLinois. Leave to the victims in waiting. If and when they ever get fed up, then change will be possible. If not, then, to paraphrase a famous scene from The Godfather: "They're animals anyways, let them lose their souls." (And, no, I'm NOT referring to the same group as in The Godfather).
 
O[n a serious note.

If that happens to pass, I am offering a place to send your magazines that aren't PC. I will keep them for you in Colorado with your name on them and return them if you are ever allowed them again.

This offer is available to anyone who needs to get them out of their state. This is a serious offer, but, I hope it never gets used, honestly.
 
Deanimator, it is better here, I'll give you that. But in my short time in Ohio, I'm seeing lost ground, not gained. I'm concerned the tune might change more in January, but I have trouble taking much joy when a Republican governor vetoes a common-sense CCW preemption bill. I'll believe it when I see it in terms of a Democrat supporting intelligent gun law. I hate to be like that, but as an Illinoisian I'm conditioned to distrust.
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I'm not seeing the lost ground. A lame duck, despised governor has vetoed CCW reform in more than enough time to be overridden. If for some reason that fails, the Democrat governor-elect has promised to sign that very same legislation if resubmitted.

Illinois is heading toward an AWB, which Crook County just passed.

Ohio is on its way to BANNING AWBs.

Compared to Illinois, Ohio is the NW Territories of Pakistan with a couple of guys on every block making Sten Guns while you wait.
 
Well most of the US has such honor compared to Illinois :p

And granted, Cleveland is the Chicago of Ohio, but I do understand there's a lot of municipal bans outstanding that lead me believe I'm better leaving things like the AR in Illinois. Although it does look like the Wisconsin house might need to get a safe installed in the near future as the fallback to the fallback. :barf:
 
And granted, Cleveland is the Chicago of Ohio, but I do understand there's a lot of municipal bans outstanding that lead me believe I'm better leaving things like the AR in Illinois.
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Actually there are NOT a lot of municipal bans. In fact, depending upon where you live or are planning to live, it's very easy to avoid bans. Cleveland has a ban [at least for a while], but I live in the next suburb west and there AREN'T any bans.

For the time being, stay out of the CITIES of Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, etc. and you should be just fine. There's virtually NO momentum for any kinds of bans in most Ohio suburban communities. The only one I can think of is Cleveland Heights(?). A little research on ohioccw.org will go a long way.
 
Here is the response from THe Gun Guys. An anti organization that pretends to be Pro-gun.

http://www.gunguys.com/?p=1713

Concealed Carry, Inc Shuts Its Doors For Good
The main proponent of concealed carry firearms in Illinois has decided to pack his bags and get out of the movement.

In a posting today on his Web site, John Birch, founder and president of the Oak Brook-based gun-rights group Concealed Carry, Inc. announced that he is ending his efforts here and moving to Florida.

Birch, a colorful and oft-quoted advocate for laws that would allow qualified citizens to carry concealed firearms, was the leader of the effort to have gun owners bring pistols in fanny packs to the Taste of Chicago and to give away hand guns to Chicago residents in defiance of the city’s ban.

The statement on Birch’s website goes into more detail– Birch feels, for some reason, that he was “outwitted” by opponents of gun violence in Illinois and elsewhere.

Pending the filing of a final tax return, and the turning in of our BATF records, Concealed Carry, Inc. is closed for business.

When Concealed Carry, Inc. started in November of 1997 I was truly a ball of fire, and convinced if one applied reason to the gun control debate, then concealed carry would logically follow in Illinois.

To drive home our point we had a lot of fun with transporting weapons in fanny packs to Taste of Chicago and our one hand gun a month give-a-way to Chicago residents was a hoot that made it all the way over to the BBC. Not bad for corporation with zero assets and that maintained a cash account of never more than $400.

Still the bottom line is we needed to make our case not in Illinois, as that has been pretty much accomplished, but rather in Cook County. We failed.

The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence probably has more paid staff than members (in fact, if you go to their web site there is no way to join the ICHV,) yet they see the playing field clearly. Maintaining an office in both Chicago and Springfield they cozy up to the right people and like magic, they get their way.

Stop right there, Birch. You’re right about one thing– you lost. Concealed carry will never happen in Illinois (and it shouldn’t happen anywhere else, either). But it wasn’t because of magic. It wasn’t because of some high-paid lobbyists wining and dining members of the state legislature (we’ve got friends at ICHV, and they’d laugh out loud if you told them they were rolling in money).

Concealed Carry is shuttering its doors not because they were beaten by a group fighting gun violence, but because they were beaten by the people of Illinois. The majority of citizens in Illinois are against concealed carry, just as the majority of Americans at large are against it. You were fighting the will of the public, and the will of the public won.

Now, Birch goes on to compare Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to Hitler (considering Blago just won again in Illinois, maybe that’s part of your problem, Birch), so we’ll leave his letter where it is, and instead wish him a good life down in the sunny climes of Florida.

But so, we hope, go all of the other lobbying organizations pushing more and more guns on a country already flooded with them. The American people are sick and tired of gun violence, and it looks like, more than ever, they’re tired of listening to proposals that involve more violence and more firearms. The NRA is a prime suspect in this, of course– they maintain that they are supporting the center of America by promoting gun usage, but in reality, they are just as extremist as all of the other organizations that try to solve the gun problem… with more guns.

Concealed carry is dead in Illinois. And it’s wearing out its welcome everywhere else the NRA has pushed it through, past an unwilling populace.

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