USA -(Ammoland.com)- CeaseFire is an anti-gun group, thinly veiled as an anti-violence group. Until 2104, CeaseFire was funded by your Illinois tax dollars. One of the organizations’ “violence interrupters” has been charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.
Francisco “Smokey” Sanchez was caught in an investigation called Operation Bunny Trap. As late as 2012, Sanchez was listed as a “nation leader” of the street gang known as the Two-Six Nation. He also has a 1986 murder conviction. Operation Bunny Trap recovered 118 firearms, cocaine, fentanyl and crystal meth from the Two-Six Nation.
Operation Bunny Trap was spearheaded by the United States Attorney’s office in Chicago. Sanchez joins several CeaseFire employees who have been arrested for serious crimes. I consider such incidents as proof that CeaseFire have been used as a counter intelligence operation by gangs.
The last few days of the legislative session were both boring and agonizing at the same time. All the pro-gun lobbyists had been working to stop SB1657, but everything was on the line the last few days. Had we gotten every possible “no” vote? Had we counted the votes correctly? Was there something we missed? Were there surprises out there that we didn’t know about?
Was there anything else that we could have done? All these thoughts dance through our heads over and over again, and then comes the waiting game. When and will the bill be called? Will there be a surprise amendment to another bill? On and on it goes while our eyes are glued to the legislative clock.
What were the possible outcomes for SB1657? Of course, the worst possible outcome was that it would pass. Fortunately that did not happen. The best possible outcome would be that it would be called and defeated.
We had all worked very hard and we were sure that if the bill was called, we would win. The third outcome would be that the bill would not be called, and would stay alive until the second Wednesday in 2019. The other side knew that also, and I’m sure that is why the bill was not called.
The third outcome is exactly what happened. Shortly before 8pm on Wednesday, May 31st, the Illinois House of Representatives adjourned to the call of the Chair. That means regular session is continued. Deadlines for bills have been extended until June 30, 2017. Deadlines in the legislature can be extended again and again.
That means SB1657 is still alive and can be voted on anytime the legislature is session. The Illinois legislature has major work that is still not done. I believe it is going to be one of the summers in which the Illinois legislature will be repeatedly called back into session.
That also means that the anti-gun side has time to work on getting votes. The ISRA will continue working through the summer to prevent this bill and any other anti-gun bills from passing.
The good news is that it did not pass. The bad news is that the anti-gun side has all summer to gather strength and work on passing this bill or one like it in the future. This is also true of SB556, the assault weapons ban.
In the next few months, the ISRA will also be working to organize gun owners to stop the next attack on our Second Amendment rights. You will be hearing from the ISRA in the coming months. We must make every effort to become stronger.
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ISRA Smallbore/Rimfire F-Class Thursday Night League - Saturday, June 10, 2017
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