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.

Is it time to give up on the Blog?

I haven't posted in many months. I have been busy trying to work around the house and finish some remodeling. I am also in the process of starting a small business and that requires a great deal of effort and time.

So, is it time to retire the blog?

Here is the way the anti-freedom, anti-gun politicians in Illinois greet over 5000 Illinois gun owners...

HB 12 - One Gun a Month
3/11/2009 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Susana A Mendoza
3/11/2009 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez
3/11/2009 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Cynthia Soto
3/11/2009 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. William Davis
3/11/2009 House Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Marlow H. Colvin

This is how they responded to over 5000 gun owners coming to Springfield, IL on March 11, 2009.

If any of these freedom hating politicians is your State Representative, please vote them out of office.

IGOLD 2009

I attended the Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day (IGOLD) today. With about 2500 people last year, we doubled attendance. Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the ISRA, told me the attendance estimates for this year are over 5000. What an impact on the legislators that makes.

$1 Million Insurance Bill Gets Tabled!

Rep. Kenneth Dunkin, who sponsored HB 687, has talked with Illinois gun owners and agreed to table the bill.

Now, that is a result from the IGOLD.

Rep. Dunkin, thank you for listening to reason and talking with gun owners.

HB 2257 Passes out of Committee with an Amendment

HB 2257 creates a carry licensing system for the State of Illinois.

The bill was passed out of committee today with an amendment adding a requirement for fingerprinting and a fee. Also added was a requirement to file the application for a carry license with your local sheriff's department.

The Gun Ban Mentality

This is the mindset:


Sure, let's pass another law and make murder more illegal, that will stop it. Why don't we outlaw automobiles too, that way we can stop drunk driving as well. And when the guns and cars are gone and people are still dieing, maybe we can outlaw knives, baseball bats, sticks, rocks, rope, pantyhose, hammers, fire pokers, pipe, wrenches, screwdrivers, knitting needles....I may have missed a couple other items that someone could get killed with, we can add those too.