Illinois –-(Ammoland.com)- Today we are 28,000 plus members. For the first time in our 110 year history, we had 1,000 new members join in one week.
If we continue the trend, and add another 2,000 members, we will be the second largest State Association.
Only Texas (TSRA) surpasses Illinois in its membership number, and stands at 36,000; hopefully, we can catch up to them. Great job everyone! And thank you to our office staff for their hard work.
As you are painfully aware, we are in the midst of working on a reasonable concealed carry bill. Of the many contentious issues we have to deal with, one that stands out is the training requirement, specifically, how much time should be spent in training. Except for Ohio and New Mexico that require 12 and 15 hours of training respectively, all states require approximately eight hours of training. Only California requires 16 hours or less, but I assume it depends on the student’s ability.
The training requirement needs to be adequate, but nothing beyond that. 16 hours of training seems to be enough for any state; anything more becomes prohibitory. Time, of course, costs money – the longer the requirement, the more instructor hours, facilities use, and materials.
Right now, the City of Chicago suggests 40 hours of training, which is way out of sight and unnecessary, and a financial barrier to anyone who wants a conceal carry.
Such a proposal would have only one purpose: to stop people from carrying concealed. After all, new recruits in the U.S. Army don’t receive that much training with their primary battle rifle. We will oppose any bill that would require that much training. We will keep you posted.
Richard PearsonISRA Executive Director
About:
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 Visit: www.isra.org