Springfield, IL
March 10, 2010
The Illinois State Rifle Association, IllinoisCarry.com, Second Amendment Sister, Inc., and many other organizations that support the right to keep and bear arms marched on the State Capital March 10, 2010 to lobby the State legislature. They were joined by Otis McDonald and David and Collen Lawson who are plaintiffs in the McDonald v. Chicago case.
As the march approached the call for "Concealed Carry Now!" could be heard resonating from those attending. The group gathered on the front lawn of the capitol building and heard from ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson and Otis McDonald, one of the plaintiffs in McDonald v. Chicago, a case recently heard in the U.S. Sepreme Court. Some of the legislators took the time to come outside and address the group and expressed support for the cause.
After the rally outside, the group entered the capital building and dropped by their legislators offices to let them know how they felt. Armed with a list of legislation they supported and opposed. The predominate bill supported was a bill introduced by Rep. Brandon Phelps(D-Harrisburg) that creates a concealed carry permit system. Opposed is a list of bills that further restrict private ownership of firearms including HB-5480 introduced by Rep. Harry Osterman(D-Chicago) that requires private individuals to go to the place of business of an FFL holder and have that FFL holder preform a background check under NICS.
I spoke with Richard Pearson, executive director of the ISRA, who said an estimate of over 6,000 attended the rally. That fell short of the 10,000 goal, but was still an increase from the previous year.
