Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day

[junglebob]

I would encourage anyone who can to go to the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day in Springfield on March 11. There will be buses going from Rockford in the north to Marion in the south. I believe about 2000 are expected to attend. For more information go to www.igold.isra.org. As the website says 48 states can't be wrong. Help make Illinois the 49th state to get concealed carry.

[junglebob]

I was at the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day or IGOLD yesterday in Springfield. There were 2200 to 2500 people there, up from about 1500 last year. Several pro-carry legislators addressed us at the Springfield Hilton. There was a march from the Springfield Hilton to the State Capitol Building where we visited legislators offices. The women attending took the lead in the march. They also went to the governors office asking that concealed carry be passed. There was a reception that evening and several legislators attended. I understand that there was a woman at IGOLD who had been at the capitol when an Illinois concealed carry bill lost by one vote in 1994.

It was said that ours was probably the largest group to go to the capitol.

We got news coverage in Springfield and in Southern Illinois and some other places, nothing in Chicago.

[junglebob]

The involvement of IllinoisCarry.com in the Lobby Day at Springfield has apparently helped increase the number of gun owners going to the capital to lobby. Before last year it was the Illinois State Rifle Association lobby day. They are the largest gun owners group in Illinois. Someone posted on the IllinoisCarry site today that they went to the lobby day five years ago and there were less than 200 people there. Last year the theme was "48 states can't be wrong", referring to the states that issue permits. The Champaign County Rifle Association another pro-carry group was also involved, and Sangamon County Rifle Association as well. So it appears that pro-carry people have swelled the ranks at Gun Owners Lobby Day. Illinois State Rifle Association has also come out promoting concealed carry. They have 3 lobbyists in Springfield.

At 2200 to 2500 people we've made progress in 5 years.