Supreme Court - McDonald v. Chicago

Analysis: 2d Amendment extension likely

I found this to be a very interesting article. I urge everyone to read it.

Fee Increases-unhappy new year to sportsmen in Illinois.

With the beginning of a new year the cost to hunt and fish gets higher

SB1846
10/30/2009 Senate Passed Both Houses
11/25/2009 Senate Sent to the Governor
12/4/2009 Senate Governor Approved
12/4/2009 Senate Effective Date January 1, 2010
12/4/2009 Senate Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0831

Public Act 096-0831


(515 ILCS 5/20-45) (from Ch. 56, par. 20-45)
Sec. 20-45. License fees for residents.
Fees for licenses for residents of the State of Illinois shall be as follows:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, for sport fishing devices as defined in Section 10-95 or
spearing devices as defined in Section 10-110 the fee is $14.50 $12.50 for individuals 16 to 64 years old, and one-half of the current fishing license fee for individuals age 65 or older, commencing with the 1994 license year.

The sportsmen's combination license fee shall be $25.50 $18.50.

The fee for a Deer Hunting Permit to take deer with either bow and arrow or gun shall not exceed $25.00 $15.00 for residents of the State.

(The fee has not changed for non-residents.)

The fee for a hunting license to hunt all species for a resident of Illinois is $12 $7. For residents age 65 or older, the fee is one-half of the fee charged for a hunting license to hunt all species for a resident of Illinois. Nonresidents shall be charged $57 $50 for a hunting license.

Each applicant for a State Migratory Waterfowl Stamp, regardless of his residence or other condition, shall pay a fee of $15 $10 and shall receive a stamp.

(No increase in the Habitat Stamp)

Section 99-99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on January 1, 2010.

IL Gubernatorial Race 2010 and Your Gun Rights

This blog post from The Liberals Bane is a good insight in to the race.

Depressing First Season

Did your opening weekend look like this?

I didn't see a deer all weekend.  To much of this stuff!

I also feel that EHD may have had some impact in my area. We had an outbreak in '07 that seemed to take quite a few  deer.  I don't know if there is an accurate way to determine how many died of EHD or not.  I haven't seen any numbers from the IDNR on this.  One guy I talked with said he had observed several deer around a pond near his property in '07.  Most of the deer he observed appeared to be mature deer found dead or showing signs of illness.

Most hunters I talked with have seen fewer deer this season, but it is likely because of more corn to hide in this year.  Yet, I can't help but think the EHD in '07 killed several of the deer that would have had fawns that would have been at the age class we would be seeing the most of this year while hunting.

I am hoping many acres of corn are harvested before the next season.

So, I thought I would clean my .22 rifle.

I have been shooting more now that the beans are out and the fields are open.  I was out today shooting with my middle child, who is about to go on her first deer hunt.  We were having a nice time punching paper at 50yd.  I started thinking the gun was rather dirty, so I should clean it.  Then it occurred to me that I should shoot a group dirty, clean the gun and shoot another group.

And so I did, I printed off a target, then I shot a 10rnd. group at 50yd.  I then took the rifle in, cleaned the bore, and brought it out for another 10 rnd. group with a clean bore.  The results surprised me!

To my shock, the second group, the one from a clean bore, was worse than the first.

Left: group from dirty bore     Right: group from clean bore

I fired these groups from bags at 50yds. with my Marlin 881 w/scope.  The ammunition was the Federal 550 Round Value Pack ammo.  This also points out the consistency of this particular ammunition or maybe the lack of.  I shoot way better groups with CCI.

I will have to try this again with different ammunition and see how that turns out.

Maybe I should stop cleaning this one or change ammo?

Here comes Gun Season

The 2009 firearm season is on us.  I hope everyone is ready!
I have been trying to bow hunt, that has not been going well.  I think all the corn that is still in is hurting deer movement.  I haven't seen many deer at all this year.  I haven't even noticed much rut activity.  I hope the farmers get a bunch of corn out before the coming rain.  If they don't it will be some time before they get in the fields again.  And I think that could make the first firearm weekend a frustrating hunt.

My middle girl is gun hunting for the first time this year.  I am excited about this.  She shoots well so I have a good feeling about her getting her first deer.  My youngest wants to hunt like her bigger sister but she is still to young to hunt.

Don't forget the late winter season has changed.  It is now two weekends instead of the one it used to be.

Firearm Season Information
November 20, 21, 22 (first season)
December 3, 4, 5, 6 (second season)

Muzzle Loader Season Information
Dec 11, 12, 13 and Dec 3, 4, 5, 6 (second firearm season)

Late Winter Season Information
December 31 - January 3 and January 15-17, 2010

Remember, any unfilled tag from firearm, youth, or muzzle loader is valid for the late winter season if that county is open for late winter hunting.

Good Luck!

IDNR Police still going to ticket hunters for uncased weapons.

The question I asked the IDNR:

"To: DNR, Lawreception
Subject: IL vs Diggins clarification.


With the recent IL Supreme Court decision in Diggins, in wich the Court's opinion declared the center console of a vehicle a case, is the Illinois Wildlife code 520 ILCS 5/2.33(n) affected by this ruling?"

The response from IDNR:

"David,


The Diggins case only affects the Unlawful Use of Weapon section in the criminal code. It does not affect the wildlife code. The definition of a case is well defined in the wildlife code, so hunters must still abide by the firearm/bow casing law under the wildlife code. The definition of a case under the wildlife code can be seen on page 6 of the following link; http://dnr.state.il.us/admin/pdf/season_dates.pdf The case law under the wildlife code can be read on page 9 & 41 of the same link.


Let me know if you have any more questions.




Officer Roy Maul
IDNR Law Enforcement
Springfield, Illinois"

Now the question is, when does a person go from a hunter to a non-hunter?

If I choose to keep a pistol in the console when I drive to and from the area I hunt, will I be charged under Wildlife code?

What now?

With the Illinois Supreme Court ruling that the center console of a car is a legal enclosure to transport a firearm, how long will it take the Illinois General Assembly to pass legislation to tighten what is defined as a case. The Illinois Wildlife code already specifically defines what a case is. Will the General Assembly adopt this definition or will they drop the definition altogether?

If I know anything about Illinois politicians, they will prefer to make a more restrictive definition.

Is a vehicle console a case?

The IL Supreme Court says yes!

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellant, v.
MICHAEL DIGGINS, Appellee.
Opinion filed October 8, 2009.

This opinion is based on criminal law, Aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.-720 ILCS 5/24‑1.6(c)(iii) of the Criminal Code of 1961.

The section states,"(c) This Section does not apply to or affect the transportation or possession of weapons that:
(i) are broken down in a non‑functioning state;
or
(ii) are not immediately accessible; or
(iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card."-720 ILCS 5/24-1.6

The wildlife code has this:
"520 ILCS 5/2.33(n)It is unlawful for any person, except persons who possess a permit to hunt from a vehicle as provided in this Section and persons otherwise permitted by law, to have or carry any gun in or on any vehicle, conveyance or aircraft, unless such gun is unloaded and enclosed in a case, except that at field trials authorized by Section 2.34 of this Act, unloaded guns or guns loaded with blank cartridges only, may be carried on horseback while not contained in a case, or to have or carry any bow or arrow device in or on any vehicle unless such bow or arrow device is unstrung or enclosed in a case, or otherwise made inoperable. "-520 ILCS 5/2.33

The wildlife code defines case this way,"(520 ILCS 5/1.2b‑1) (from Ch. 61, par. 1.2b‑1)Sec. 1.2b‑1. Case. Case means a container specifically designed for the purpose of housing a gun or bow and arrow device which completely encloses such gun or bow and arrow device by being zipped, snapped, buckled, tied or otherwise fastened with no portion of the gun or bow and arrow device exposed.
(Source: P.A. 84‑150.)"-520 ILCS 5

So can we transport a revolver in the console when going handgun hunting?

I wouldn't try it. It seems lawful to transport a firearm in the console, as long as it is not for hunting purposes. Just another example of the law contradicting itself.

Broken Minds

I was reading through some of the hunting forums this morning and have come to a startling conclusion. We have among us, and by us I mean sportsman, hunters and shooters, those who do not understand what the anti-hunting and anti-gun movement is doing.

In one forum a member asked a simple question, "Who on the forum is an NRA member?". What ensued was nothing less than startling. Out of many who proudly claimed NRA membership a couple people attacked the NRA as being on the far right extreme fringe. Now, I understand these could have beeen anti's who joined just to attack, but they have other posts on the forum talking about their hunts. The conversation that came about went right back to the Jim Zumbo incident. Do you remember when Jim Zumbo said on his show that the black rifles has no purpose in sporting use and called them a "terrorist weapon"? Not long after this happened, I sat front row and listened to Ted Nugent talk about gun ownership and freedom. (If you ever get the chance, he is a powerful speaker.) Ted told the story of calling Jim Zumbo and talked to him about it. The entire community of competition shooters were ready to hang Zumbo. Ted Nugent told us how he "fixed" Jim by explaining that if we allow the anti's to define firearms by an operating characteristic, look, range, accuracy, or any other trait, they would define, categorize and ban them all. After the conversation Ted invited Zumbo to come to his ranch and go on a hunt with a black rifle. Zumbo accepted and after the hunt decided black rifles are usable for sporting purposes among other things and told Ted he enjoyed the hunt with it.

That is the simple and quick just of the events.

We still have people with a mindset that conforms to the anti's propaganda in our ranks. I don't want to kick them out, I want to help them understand. If the anti's can define and outlaw one class of firearm, they will define and outlaw all of them.