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



Jim Butler, President, SCRA


Welcome to IL:  The only state to deny its
residents right-to-carry

Jim Butler, President SCRA
November 2011 GunNews





Illinois is now the only state in the entire nation that doesn't allow its citizens to carry a handgun to protect themselves and their families.

For far too long the citizens of Illinois have been denied the most basic of their unalienable rights, the right of self-defense.

Any government that denies its citizens the means of self defense is neither compassionate or protective, but barbarous.

Carry laws create doubt among criminals who are unable to discern whether a potential victim is armed and might fight back.  As the great eighteenth century Italian criminologist Ceasare Beccaria wrote "an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man . . ." 

Yes, those who would deny our law-abiding citizens the right to carry a firearm are looking out not for the good guys well-being, but instead for street criminals' health and welfare.

No one should be required to surrender his life, health, safety, personal dignity or give up his or her property to a criminal, nor should anyone be required to retreat in the face of violent attack.  Citizens also have a right to expect safety within their own homes or vehicles.

Chicagoland tends to have the most restrictive gun-control regulations and yet has the highest crime rates.  Those urban areas stand to benefit the most in reduced crime rates that are proven to accompany adoption of right-to-carry laws.

Women and blacks tend to be the strongest supporters of gun control yet both stand to gain the most from non-discretionary carry laws in terms of reduced violent crime rates.  Women tend to gain the most as Sam Colt's invention made the sexes equal.

Maybe if we had a concealed carry law in 2008, Cook County Judge Eileen Brewer wouldn't have been mugged and beaten just blocks from Barrack Obama's home.

The year before, former Senator Carol Mosley Braun, who lives in the same area, was mugged there also.

If these high profile people can't be protected, where does that leave the rest of us ordinary people?

As the last holdout to concealed carry in the nation, it is time for Illinois to enter the 21st century and pass a non-discretionary carry law that allows law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families.


Jim Butler's Commentaries

Return to SCRA Home Page