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McHenry County Right To Carry Association
07/22/2010
Important News! Working again in conjunction with the McHenry County
Sportsman Association we will be hosting another Right to Carry Meeting
on September 30th 2010 at the Lakemoor Banquet Hall. Since our first
meeting in January the movement for right to carry in Illinois has been
growing every week. I have had the honor of speaking to good citizens
like yourselves in almost every county in Northern Illinois. The Supreme
Court ruled in favor of freedom in the McDonald versus Chicago lawsuit.
Now is the time to keep up the pressure on our politicians and
candidates by letting them know the we are serious about getting our
right to carry in Illinois.
This meeting will also focus not just on McHenry County but working with
other sporting associations we will be including candidates from Lake
County in this meeting. Please plan on attending. We need help from
volunteers from the membership to help with publicity and on the night
of the meeting. We will also be focusing on getting more of our state
leaders to the stage.
Next week I will be sending out more information but please send me an
email right away and let me know if you can help. Our meeting in January
was the largest, most successful town hall in Northern Illinois. Let's
work together to make this one an even greater success.
Thanks, Lou |
07/20/2010
The month of July is moving quickly and we are at the mid-point in the
summer season. Along with the usual celebration of this country's
independence was a celebration of the Supreme Court case " McDonald vs
the City of Chicago." This decision struck down the Chicago gun ban law.
On July 9th at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago a large crowd of
participants and onlookers took part in a two celebration of this
victory for the people of Chicago and Illinois. I was fortunate enough
to be on of the speakers at the event. Although the day was hot and
there was little in the way of shade the crowd stayed through the full
program and remained enthusiastic despite the heat. The highlight of the
event however was the remarks that were made by all four plaintiffs in
the historic case. Otis McDonald one of the plaintiffs was greeted by
the crowd with a standing ovation and his comments spoke to the heart of
the matter. That is too say the people of all walks of live deserve the
right to freedom and self-defense. Cisco Cotto from WLS and noted Second
Amendment supporter as Master of Ceremony.The ISRA and IllinoisCarry.com
did a great job coordinating the event and helping to make the ruling a
reality.
Of Course the celebration was tempered with the knowledge that the City
of Chicago had created yet another law that would make it difficult for
good honest people to acquire the right to defend themselves. The law
would include limits on purchases, limit owners to one function handgun
in the home meaning if you own more than one handgun only one can be
loaded and in operating condition. All in all following the City of
Chicago's law will mean it will take four to five months for a citizen
of that city to legally posses a firearm in their home.
To date their are already two law suits challenging the Chicago law.
There will be more details around those lawsuits in the coming months.
Now that the historic ruling from the Supreme Court has been reached it
is time to again turn our attention to the State of Illinois and our
lack of the right to carry. The fall election will likely be a
referendum on gun rights as well as fiscal responsibility by our state
leadership.
It is important that the results of this election support our right to
carry as we will surely see new right to carry bill introduced in the
Illinois legislature. First is the race for Governor. To date candidate
Brady has indicated he will support and sign right to carry legislation
for Illinois. Current Governor Pat Quinn has historically opposed that
right. It is each of our responsibility to call our local and state
leaders and candidates for office and politely as the following
questions. Since when you call the office of a candidate or leader you
will likely get an administrative assistant the questions might sound
like:
"Can you tell me how Candidate Jones stands on right to carry in
Illinois?"
"What will Candidate Jones do to pass the right to carry in Illinois?"
"Would you let Candidate Jones know that I am trying to decide who to
vote for this fall and his/her stand on right to carry will determine if
he/she gets my vote."
Currently there are multiple organizations working to create political
momentum fro the right to carry including the Illinois State Rifle
Association, ICarry, IllinoisCarry.com along with the MCR2CA however it
is up to the individual to make it happen. Take individual
responsibility to make these call to the candidates. That will make all
the difference in the fight for our rights.
Next Up For the MCR2CA
Working closely with the McHenry County Sportsman's Association we are
planning a fall Right to Carry Rally. We are hoping to hold the event in
the last week of September and we are currently researching possible
locations. We will need the help of every member to make this event a
success. Plan on attending our next meeting and help us launch
this meeting. We are planning to have candidates and elected officials
on stage to talk about our right to carry and their to our freedom.
Be sure to attend our next meeting which will take place on Thursday
August 12 at 7:00 PM at the McHenry VFW Hall in McHenry Illinois.
Remember you do not need to be a member of the McHenry County Right to
Carry Association to attend our meeting.
Fall Meeting Schedule
August 12
September 9
October 14
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06/28/2010
The Supreme Court has overturned the
Chicago Gun Ban. This is a tremendous victory for gun owners around the
country. Keep in mind that the ruling will allow for "reasonable"
measure of control but this is a huge step forward. I encourage all
MCR2CA members to review the ruling and listen to local media outlets to
better understand what it will all mean for Chicago. You can download
the ruling at SCOTUSblog.com.
It is also time to reconnect with
your legislatures and ask them what they will do to support concealed
carry in Illinois. Stay tuned for more information on rallies and
efforts as the years moves forward.
Sincerely in support of liberty,
Lou
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06/09/2010
Don’t Rely on the Supreme Court!
In the past few months in between our monthly meetings I have
had the pleasure of speaking at Right to Carry Meetings in multiple
counties in Northern Illinois. In each case
the crowds have ranged in size from 200 to 400 people. The meetings have
been similar in that all attendees were “pro” right to carry. In the
course of many conversations with attendees I heard a common thread or
theme from multiple individuals. This theme seemed to reflect the
feeling that once the Supreme Court decides McDonald versus the City of
Chicago
the city would have to reverse the gun ownership ban and the state would
be forced to grant us the right to carry based on our constitutional
right. This complacency makes me nervous. First it assumes that the
Supreme Court will find in our favor and next it assumes that the
anti-gun crowd in Cook
County will roll
over and give up an almost a 30 year belief that these laws make a
positive difference. In the past few days the Chicago Tribune has given
us a glimpse of reality and a peek at what may happen post a pro-gun
ruling by the Supreme Court.
Reality
On the front page of the Chicago Tribune dated June 6th,
2010 the tribune acknowledged that a handgun
may be in as many as 100,000 homes. Many of these guns would appear to
be owned by other wise law abiding citizens who believe they need a gun
to protect themselves in neighborhoods rife with violence and crime.
In the same article two different professors from two separate
universities argued one for the gun ban and one against. One professor
said, “It’s hard. If you live in
Dodge City and everybody
has a gun, you want one as well. In areas where there are more and
people armed there are more guns. It’s an arms race.”
In an ideal world everyone might believe this logic. Unfortunately we do
not live in an ideal world. Despite laws and prisons criminals continue
to arm themselves. Otherwise law abiding citizens, if they choose to arm
themselves, are turned into criminals.
The major flaw in the logic and the law is that should an otherwise law
abiding
Chicago
resident choose to keep a gun for self defense and have to use it, they
are subject to arrest.
Recently an 80 year old Korean War Veteran
defended his wife and great-grandchild from an intruder with a firearm.
His possession of that firearm was a violation of the City’s gun ban,
however thus far the City has chosen not to prosecute him. Can you
imagine the outcry if the media showed this honorable and brave man in
shackles being shipped off to prison for defending his family? The
Chicago media will
not tell us that in other major
U.S. cities
stories of citizens warding off attacks by legal use of a firearm are
reported with far more frequency.
At what point will some thug who has been arrested for illegal
possession of a firearm sue the city because of this practice of the
selective enforcement of these gun laws?
A Peek at
the Future
In an editorial dated
June 8, 2010 the Chicago Tribune
pointed out that the Chicago Gun ban is not uniformly enforced and if
the law is worth having it must be applied to even sympathetic
violators. It also said that, “If Chicago is not willing to enforce the
law it won’t make a substantial difference if the Supreme Court says
Chicago
can no longer have it.”
It also points out that the court in overturning the gun ban in Washington
D.C. indicated that the
second amendment does not preclude less stringent firearms regulation.
It quoted the court which said, “Like other rights, the right secured by
the second amendment is not unlimited.”
This means that municipalities would continue to have the right to limit
gun ownership of unusually destructive weapons or ownership of firearms
by felons were acceptable. The editorial closed by recommending that the
city begin to figure out how to “respect the Constitution as it is
interpreted by the Supreme Court…” and
…how to protect its citizens against the abuse
and misuse of guns.”
A common sense approach would be to allow law abiding citizens to own
firearms, allow the right to carry for those citizens that are properly
trained and screened as do the majority of states in the union and
punish those who commit a crime while in possession of a firearm in a
consistent and harsh manner.
What We Can Do Now… I Have Said
It Before!
As citizens of
McHenry
County
we must reach out to our local, county and state leaders and
respectfully demand our right to carry. We must also point out that the
election is a mere 147 days away. Ask your leaders if they stand with
you or if they support the machine politicians that use parliamentary
procedure to keep intelligent right to carry legislation from coming to
a fair up or down vote in
Springfield. Support
politicians that support your right to carry and care more about your
safety than the political wind that blows from Chicago through the
halls of Springfield. I will
not tell you who to vote for but
I
will not vote for anyone that cares more about politics than my right to
defend myself.
In my next update I will review my contact with our state and local
leaders and our plans for another right to carry event here in McHenry
County. Please
attend our meeting this Thursday night at the McHenry VFW in McHenry at
7:00 pm. Our next meetings will take place on: June 11th,
July 9th and August 13th.
Hope to see you there. -Lou Rofrano |
05/03/2010 - Dear mcr2ca members,
I have copied some information
below from an email sent out by the Illinois Rifle Association for your
information. At our meetings we have been talking a lot about
communication with your politicians. I would like to suggest that you
write, email or call your representative today and let them know that
you oppose these bills. Additionally consider signing with your name and
then "Member of the McHenry County Right to Carry Association". If you
call and talk to the office be sure to let the person on the phone know
that you are a member. The more they start to hear from us the more
credibility we have.
Remember when you call or write
be polite and professional. Each of us speaks for the organization so
every impression counts.
We will be heard!
Lou
"Representative Osterman filed an
amendment to HB5849. This amendment adds the "gang" language to the
underlying bill. HB-5849 now deals with an overhaul of the
transportation law for firearms as well as adding the “gang” language.
NRA & ISRA are still opposed to HB-5849.
Representative Osterman and the
City of Chicago unable to gain enough votes for the underlying bill are
now trying to play politics with the bill and change the subject with
some legislative slight of hand.
Representative Osterman has also
filed an amendment to HB5480 the bill to stop private handgun transfers.
The amendment now requires the State Police to create an internet based
system for background checks on private handgun sales. It is unclear how
this would interface with the underlying bill as it does not phase out
the requirement that all private handgun sales be done at a federal
firearm dealer.
We also hear that an amendment to
the semi-auto ban, HB5751 is in the works. We will keep you apprised of
any changes and urge you to vote NO on all of these bills.
We do not know when these bills
or other like one gun per month, HB-5495 will be called.
Again, thank you for your support
and please urge your state representative to vote NO on all of these
bills.
If you do not know how to contact
your representative, then follow this new, updated link:
Illinois State Board of Elections website. " |
Welcome to all members and those
interested in the McHenry County Right to Carry Association. We have
been very busy since our last meeting and since we last updated the web
site. We will be working to get the site updated on a more regular basis
now that we are getting a little better organized and structured.
First and most importantly we
have our monthly meeting this Thursday night at the McHenry VFW Hall in
McHenry located on State Route 120. We begin at 7:00 and end promptly at
9:00. The meeting agenda will focus on progress and plans for working
with McHenry County politicians, discussing and planning the next
McHenry County Right to Carry event, breaking the legislative log jam
and other elements which are becoming standard to our meeting agenda.
Please keep in mind that the
meeting is open to members and non-members seeking to learn more about
concealed carry and our rights in Illinois.
Future meeting dates are May 13th
and June 10th so be sure to mark these on your calendar.
I am pleased to announce that we
have passed the 100 member mark. This is outstanding growth in a short
period of time but we need to aggressively grow our ranks if we are
going to drive political outcomes. Please keep recruiting new members
and bring them to the meeting to sign them up.
We are making good progress with
our local senators and representatives. Our political liaison Chairman
Jim Militello successfully met with Illinois Representative Mike Tryon
who is giving us support and advice on our goals. If Mike is your
representative why not drop him a note thanking him for his support and
letting him know that because he supports right to carry you will
support him.
We are actively working on
meeting with Representative Jack Franks and Senator Pam Althoff. Stay
tuned for more updates on these leaders.
We have been actively spreading
the word across Northern Illinois. I have had the honor of speaking to
members of the State Line Rifle Association and at Right to Carry Town
Hall Meeting is DuPage and Kane Counties. After the Kane County meeting
the Northwest Herald published a story about the meeting. Factual and
unbiased it was a good and balanced account. In conjunction with
Illinoiscarry.com we hope to capitalize on this momentum.
Finally remember we are working
closely with Illinois Carry, The Illinois State Rifle Association and
the McHenry County Sportsmen’s Association. I urge you to check out
their websites. Be sure to check out the Illinoiscarry.com website for
updates and tracking of all the current legislation that is pending in
Illinois so you may communicate with our leadership.
Hopefully I will see at this
weeks meeting.
We Will Be Heard! |
Welcome to all
MCR2CA
members and visitors to our website. Our first official meeting
following the McHenry County Right to
Carry
Town Hall
was a success. Thanks to all the members that attended. We elected our
officers and most importantly got our committees organized.
We formed three committees the first committee was the Political Liaison
Committee. This committee will be responsible for reaching out to our
candidates and leadership and build support for right to carry
legislation. The committee is chaired by Jim Militello. Lee Lexow
volunteered to head up our Community Outreach Committee which will focus
on identifying opportunities to educate citizens in the county on the
right to carry. Finally Cheryl Rofrano is heading up our Event and
Fundraising committee. This committee will manage future rallies and
events to fund our operations. Thanks to all who joined each of the
committees.
March Meeting Date Has Changed!
Please note we are changing the
date of our March Meeting. We were scheduled to meet on March 4th
but that meeting is being postponed until March 25th at the
McHenry VFW hall 7:00-9:00 pm.
We are postponing our meeting because of the DuPage Right to
Carry
Town Hall which
will take place at the Diplomat West Banquet Facility on March 4th
at 7:00-9:00
pm. The Diplomat West is located at
601 West North Avenue
in Elmhurst,
IL 60126.
This town hall is being sponsored by our friends at IllinoisCarry.com. I
am honored to be one of the speakers.
The right to carry town hall movement in the northern collar counties of
Illinois
and we can expect events in Lake
and Will counties very soon. If you can make it out to
Elmhurst on Thursday to
show solidarity with the citizens in DuPage
County that would
be great.
Finally don’t forget to make plans for IGOLD. We still have a few seats
on the bus. The bus pulls out at
5:30 am on March 10th.
We have a breakfast stop planned and on to the capital. This is a great
opportunity to show our strength and demonstrate that the gun owners of
Illinois
are among the most responsible, law abiding citizens in the state.
We have a great new banner for the march and I would love to have a lot
of members walking with the association.
Please take the time to talk to your friends about the right to carry.
Write to your candidates and politicians and tell them that you want
them to support the right to carry. No support, no vote, no
contributions and no campaign support for candidates that do not support
our right in 2010!
We Will Be Heard! |
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Welcome to the first update on the new McHenry County
Right to Carry Association Home page. To all of our members and all
those that attended our Right To Carry Town Hall Meeting on January 21,
2010 thanks for taking the time and investing in your right to protect
yourself and your family in a manner that is consistent with most of
the citizens across this great country.
I can tell you that the turnout of almost 500 attendees got the
attention of lawmakers, the media, and our brothers and sisters that
have been working hard to restore our right to carry in Illinois for a
very long time.
Our association known as the McHenry County Right to Carry Association
is off to a great start, we are officially a not for profit corporation
and with a confirmed membership of over 60 members in less than one
month. We also have a non-member mailing list bordering on almost 200.
Do the number these numbers sound small? Think again. Do you think that
either candidate for governor in our republican primary would like to
have our votes today? Count on it! That is the power of the American
citizen. Our right to vote is how we will achieve our goal of right to
carry in Illinois.
We held our first meeting since the Right to Carry Town Hall on February
11, 2010. We elected our officers and created three important
committees. |
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Political Liaison Committee: This
group will manage communication with our legislators and political
candidates and will be charged with the mission of documenting a no
nonsense statement of support for your right to carry or a statement
that they will continue to deny your rights under current law.
Illinois leadership will no longer be able to soft sell or dodge
this issue. You will either stand on the side of our right to self
defense or stand in opposition.
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Community Outreach and Education:
This committee will work to education Illinois citizens in their
right to carry and how that right is currently denied. It will also
help to sponsor safety and good citizenship events.
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Fund Raising and Event Management:
The group will work to create funding and sponsorship to drive
future Town Hall Events and other processes by which we will help
change the legal landscape in Illinois.
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We are also planning on attending IGOLD on March 10, 2010. We will be
marching as a group and hope you will be there. This is an extremely
important event and worthy of your support. Take the day off and go to
Springfield and send a message to our leaders in a very visible way.
Next on our activity agenda is formalizing the action plans and
objectives with each committee. We are also supporting town hall
activity that is in the works in DuPage and Will counties. We are
working very closely with ISRA and IllinoisCarry both in terms of their
lobbying efforts and their historic efforts at defending our liberties.
Northern Illinois citizens understand this is not a “downstate issue”
and the politicians of Northern Illinois can no longer give their
loyalty to a political machine and ignore our rights. The role of a
leader in this state is to protect the rights of its citizens not take
them away! Candidates and leaders in Northern Illinois cannot continue
to tell the people of Illinois that they are too stupid or irresponsible
to handle the right to carry. It works everywhere else in the United
States everyday!
Our next meeting will be Thursday March 4, 2010 at the McHenry VFW hall
at 7:00. I hope you will plan on attending we need your help. We are
going to begin planning our next Right to Carry Rally. Our goal for that
event will be to gather at least 1000 voters and supporters of our right
to carry in one place and generate even more support among the citizens
of Illinois.
For now explore our website, it is a work in progress, attend the next
meeting and remember, do take no for answer to your freedom. Do not
comprise.
Keep asking every candidate and every current official if they support
right to carry in Illinois. Support only those candidates who support
our rights. I know many of you think machine politics will stop us, but
with your help and support that won’t happen. Join the McHenry County
Right to Carry Association today. Down load the application and send it
in along with the membership fee. It will be an investment in your
family’s safety and your freedom.
Don’t fear the machine!
We Will Be Heard! |
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| “The
citizens of Illinois deserve the same right to personal self protection
as those currently enjoyed by the citizens of 48 states in the Union.” |
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