Posted 25 May 2018 - 08:43 AM

So a lot of people are asking and wondering what is going on at the capitol. Why are we under such an onslaught of bills, issues and votes. And why are we losing?



There are a couple of things that are going on. First is the state of mind that we have to do something. Even if it won't really make a difference. That is leading to republicans joining on bills trying to each find the path that they can appease gun controllers in their districts and the perceived wave that is out there.



Illinois is a blue state. And political types think we are going to get blue-er. Trumps numbers are in the tank. The Governor isn't polling well either, and in general, they just don't have a lot of good news to look forward too.



So you have a number of republicans and even downstate democrats who thin they can get away with this because they don't think gun owners are that big a threat to their election.



As gun owners who believe in the right to keep and bear arms, we have two major faults; 1 is we have lives to live. We go to work, mow the yard and generally just try to make some time to get to the range every so often.



Our leaders have gun clubs to run, matches to organize, dinners to attend and a host of other things to do day in and day out. The other side doesn't worry about the next hunt this fall, the match to shoot, or anything else. They only focus on taking away our rights.



The Second thing is we believe in the Constitution. And think that elected officials will adhere to that document and belief. Let me tell you that at any given moment at the capitol, some 50% will use it for toilet paper.



One other thing that comes to mind is that we tend to be focused on facts and logic. The other side runs on emotion. And no matter what right now, facts don't seem to matter. It goes back to the but we have to do something mentality.



So during this time of we have to do something, you have republicans running scared and justifying to themselves that this bill doesn't really hurt 2A rights.



There are enough suburban republicans that are wetting their pants over this that they each pick a couple of bills to vote for as cover and they end up putting the winning margins on ALL the bad gun bills and we end up getting screwed across the board.



And at the end of the day more than one of them has told me well the democrat that would replace me would be worse. And they think that gives them an out that we will just take what they give us and be happy with it.



On the ground Bloomberg's money is making a difference with providing the resources for them to organize and have an impact, going back to our guys think that the NRA or ISRA will be there to handle anything that comes up because we've been winning for so long,that the idea of loosing on this stuff is a bit foriegn to gun owners.



Couple that with the fact that NRA has never spent a lot of cash in this state on elections. I think one of the highest years they spent maybe $30,000 in contributions. And little orange post cards are not enough to win elections these days.



Its been a rough slog this year. We've had our ups and downs. And, after over 25 years of this, I've never seen it this bad. And in some ways I feel as though I've let people down.



While a 9 mm or .40 caliber bullet may or may not expand, it is an undeniable fact that a .45 caliber bullet will never shrink.



my posts are moderated due to some butthurt on the part of IC people not liking my comments at times