Chatsworth, IL -(AmmoLand.com)- As you already know, the ISRA is participating in a contest to win part of a $100,000 settlement.
I urge all of you to follow this link: https://www.luckygunner.com/brady-v-lucky-gunner, check the bubble next to the Illinois State Rifle Association and click the submit button to cast your vote. Voting ends August 1. Please share this link with all of your friends. As of the latest update, July 15th, the ISRA is in first place with 6679 votes. We appreciate your support!
It is hard to believe July is half over and summer is rapidly slipping away. The National Rifle Association (NRA) and Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) National Matches are under way at Camp Perry, Ohio, and Bristol, Indiana. These matches involve thousands of people. The Grand American in Sparta, Illinois, starts in August.
The ISRA Gold Smallbore Team just won the National Team Championship at the National Matches in Bristol, Indiana. Congratulations to all of the team and Coach Joe Miller!
ISRA Gold Team member Elizabeth Gratz has won the National 3-Position Smallbore Aggregate with a score of 2386-148X out of a possible 2400-240X. Elizabeth is a junior.
I want to say hats off to the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) for their support of HR 2647. This bill is designed to conserve and enhance more than 4,000,000 acres of upland wildlife habitat. The NWTF put their money where their mouth is by pledging to raise 1.2 billion dollars to fund the project. Gun owners and sportsmen pay their own way, unlike worthless money sucking leeches that seem to always want to attach themselves to yours and my tax dollars, via the United States Treasury, to pay for their free ride.
HR 2647 is on the way to the United States Senate for approval. Please call Dick Durbin at (202) 224-2152 and Mark Kirk at (202) 224-2854 and ask them to vote in favor of HR 2647.
Now that the President has completed the deal between Iran and the other nations, we no longer have to worry that ISIS may attack here in the United States, that Iran will get the atomic bomb, or that Iran will continue to fund troublemakers throughout the world.
All of these things will happen so there is no use worrying about them.
Now, we need to get ready.
The big push among the anti-gun mob is to portray the shooting sports as a diminishing activity. That is not true. The anti-gunners claim that there are not really very many new gun owners; they say present gun owners are just buying more guns. That is also not true. The anti-gunners are a combination of lies and hot air. We need to let our politicians and the press know that the shooting sports, those interested in self-defense, and the firearm collecting population are continuing to increase in popularity. They also need to know that every day there are thousands of new law abiding citizens wanting to be gun owners. Illinois FOID card holders are up more than 80% in just five years.
This all started by looking to see how many different national shooting championships there are. I was quickly overwhelmed. Forty years ago there were the National Rifle and Pistol Matches at Camp Perry, the Grand American Trap, National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association Championships (NMLRA), National Skeet Championships, and the International (Olympic) tryouts and that was about it. Now we have International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA), United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA), Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), and so many others that I have given up trying to mention them all.
In June 2015, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) handled 1,530,000 inquiries. That is the highest ever in any June, by 10%. There are about 12,000,000 concealed carry permits in the United States. Five states do not require permits so that could be millions more. It certainly does not sound like gun ownership is diminishing in any way. In fact, it is quite the contrary.
The June 30, 2015 statistics are in for concealed carry:
- The total ICCL’s in the state are up to 120,047.
- The number of FOID card holders has reached an all-time high of 1,891,078.
- Across the state, women make up 16.5% of the ICCL holders.
- In 19 counties, 20% of the ICCL holders are women.
- The top counties for women ICCL holders are Alexander, Menard, and Pulaski.
If you are a FOID card or ICCL holder, you should be an ISRA member.
If you are not an ISRA member and this is being forwarded to you, join today.
Check out ISRA’s new modern website at www.isra.org! Tell us what you think!
Follow the ISRA on Twitter and Facebook.
Give the gift of an ISRA membership. Not an ISRA Member? Join Today!
About ISRA
The ISRA is the state’s leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.
For more information, visit: www.isra.org.