Sangamon County Rifle Association
Right Reason on Second Amendment Rights
Springfield, Illinois
Pow Flag



Don Gwinn



IGOLD & More

Don Gwinn, SCRA Meeting, 12/05/11
January 2012 GunNews




Don Gwinn talks IGOLD while
wearing his IGOLD hoodie
sweatshirt.

Don Gwinn addressed the meeting of the faithful and reminded everyone that although it isn't March yet, its time to think about IGOLD, the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day at the Illinois State Capitol.

Don was asking for SCRA members who are local folks and IGOLD veterans to consider volunteering to be IGOLD marshals this year.  We're required by the city to have marshals for the march, so it's important we have enough.

We have built a great reputation at the Capitol and with the Springfield Police Department over the last several years.  They love us and they think we are great.  They're happy to work with us every year. Don doesn't know if everybody gets that level of service but he is certainly glad that we do and he wants to protect that - and having plenty of marshals to guide the crowd during the march is a big part of that.

House Bill 822, the national right-to-carry reciprocity bill passed pretty handily in the House and is on its way to the Senate.  Don said that it won't apply in Illinois.

Don keeps hearing it has no chance in the Senate, but doesn't see any relaxation from the bills opponents.  The bill is being pushed hard by pro-gun elected officials and lobbyists.  The gun ban folks are worried sick, sort of like they were here in Illinois this spring.  If it passes the Senate it would have to go to President Obama.  Would Don expect him to sign it?  No he wouldn't.  But Don concludes that its a mark of how far things have come.

For those of you who remember the terrible fights we had with gun banners back in 1990, 1993 and 1995, just imagine sitting in a restaurant in any of those years and you say to someone:  "I have a prediction for the year 2011.  In 2011 you'll be able to walk into Walmart and be able to buy an AR-15 in a lot of states.  In 2011 you'll be able to get carry permits that cover most of the country, not Illinois but most of the country.

In 2011 the big debate in congress over gun-control that year will be whether or not to create a nation-wide carry permit that makes your permit good in most of the other states."

People would have locked you up.  And they'd have been right the way things were going back then.  A sea of change has happened here, a huge difference.

Shepherd v. Madigan continues to drag on and on.  There was sort of a summary to the quick judgment last month that didn't seem to make much difference about the NRA filing a brief or something like that.  It didn't seem to be a big judgment.  We're still waiting for that one big judgment and its still slowly coming.  Its got to happen sooner or later.  Win or lose they're going to have to make some kind of decision.


Don Gwinn Index

Sangamon County Rifle Association Home Page