ISRA releases statement regarding their support for gun control bill
From the ISRA:
https://archive.aweber.com/awlist4894361/HyqS_/h/ISRA_Thursday_Bulletin_June.htm
HB 562 has passed both chambers. Yesterday, Wednesday June 16, HB 562 passed the Illinois House 75-40-1. The ISRA was neutral on this bill. There were two bills in the General Assembly, HB 562 and HB 1091. HB 562 wasn’t perfect, nothing in the General Assembly ever is. HB 1091 was absolutely terrible. Here are the links to the analysis of both bills: HB 562; HB 1091. Gun owners need to hear the truth and the truth is we were going to get one of these bills. I know many of you think we can just say “No”, but that isn’t how it works in real life and the Illinois General Assembly in particular.
The fact is that there are some good things in HB 562. The worst part of HB 562 is the private transfer provisions. That part of HB 562 does not go into effect until January 1, 2024. There is time to work on that section. If you listened to the closing remarks of Representative Denyse Stoneback in the Judiciary Committee hearing, she told everyone where the anti-gunners want to go, which includes mandatory fingerprints for FOID cards, increased fees on FOID cards, and only be able to apply for a FOID card at a police station. HB 1091 gave the anti-gun side two out of their three goals. HB 1091 had to be stopped. HB 562 stopped HB 1091.
Like it or not, the FOID card system is the law of the land. There are thousands of people waiting to get their new or renewed FOID cards. One of the short-term goals of the ISRA is to do what we can to get these FOID cards into the hands of law-abiding citizens. To not do so would make us complicit with the anti-gun side. The long term goal of the ISRA is to get rid of the FOID card.
We are going to stick to the facts here. The ISRA is correct when they say HB 562 is the lesser of two evils. The issue people have though is that they lobbied FOR HB 562. In fact, they distributed these talking points to legislators (courtesy of of the gun rights organization, Guns Save Life):
Due to this action, it gave the anti-gun bill sponsor talking points. In fact, he used the position of the ISRA to make the point that even they agree with Everytown and Moms Demand Action on this bill. Bad optics for them: