Illinois State Rifle Association Chairman's report

Chairman’s Comments

Only in America (hopefully) could this insane episode take place.  A 57-year-old convicted killer from California — who is serving a life sentence for murder, kidnapping and robbery — has become the first U.S. inmate to receive state-funded sex reassignment surgery.  According to the Associated Press, Shiloh Quine killed someone and yet the state of California decided, in its infinite wisdom, to spend over $100,000 on him because he feels like he should be a woman. He underwent surgery to physically change his anatomy from male to female. He/she has reportedly been living as a woman in a California men’s prison but will now be transferred to a women’s prison.  Breitbart reported that Quine’s case prompted the Golden State to become the first to set standards for future inmates to apply to receive taxpayer funds for sex-reassignment surgery. It has resulted in a federal mandate that requires California to provide transgender female inmates who are housed in men’s facilities with more female-oriented items such as nightgowns, scarves, and necklaces. The daughter of Quine’s victim said this made her sick. “My dad begged for his life,” said Farida Baig, who tried unsuccessfully to block Quine’s surgery through the courts, said. “It just made me dizzy and sick. I’m helping pay for his surgery!!” Quine and an accomplice kidnapped and fatally shot her father in 1980.
Meryl Streep called President Trump a bully at the Golden Globes award event. I think that she herself is a big bully to use that event as a political platform. Who makes her the person to make judgment on someone else at an event that is designed to honor their peers for great achievements in their field? If this is indeed a political event, then all is fair. Just like on The View; the panelists are very mean-spirited and absolutely mean demeaning to any guest who does not share their view. If you are not an extreme left liberal, you go there on your own peril and are treated with disgust and almost spat upon (if they could get away with it). With Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar making sarcastic, biting comments and interrupting the guest who must try to smile and get through the mean grilling.
Amazingly, but I guess not unexpected, on his final full day of the Obama Administration, he decided to give one last middle finger to fishermen and hunters. In a late day regulation issue, it stated the Fish and Wildlife Service is prohibiting hunters from using traditional ammunition on federal land and, even more shocking, fishermen will be prohibited from using lead weights in their tackle. Besides hunting deer, etc., it requires a timeline to end the use of traditional ammunition for dove and upland bird hunting. This is beyond stupid, in my opinion. It gives no thought to the reality of the real world we live in. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, released a statement in which its general counsel, Lawrence Keane, said, “The timing alone is suspect. This directive was published without dialogue with industry, sportsmen and conservationists. The next director should immediately rescind this, and instead create policy based upon scientific evidence of population impacts with regard to the use of traditional ammunition.”
The following is from ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson:
The ISRA strikes again!  The Illinois State Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation have won another victory for gun owners and the Second Amendment.  A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled 3-0 in our favor, in the Ezell v. City of Chicago case.  Ezell v. Chicago deals with the onerous zoning restrictions and requirements placed on shooting ranges inside the City of Chicago.  Those restrictions and requirements are simply designed to make it impossible to open a gun shop and range inside the city.   The case is not over.  I will keep everyone informed as the case moves to the next step. The suppressor bill, SB50, was introduced in the Illinois Senate on January 18.  We could hear this bill in committee very soon. This bill will help us to get aligned with most other states that allow suppressors to help avoid hearing loss, especially in children who shoot.

 According to a notice filed with the New York Department of Labor, the Clinton Foundation will lay off 22 members of the Clinton Global Initiative.  It is not at all surprising to me that this is occurring. When she lost the election, she and Bill lost much of their ability to give foreign governments and companies the things that they want from the US government and US companies.  Simply, it was pay to play. Trump owes no one and Hillary owed everybody for her campaign contributions. The way for foreigners to “donate” was to pay outlandish speaking fees to both Hillary and Bill, as well as making millions of dollars of donations to their Foundation.  And, when she was to be elected, they were expecting their paybacks. Now that she is not elected, and is a has-been, there is absolutely no reason to donate. I suspect her speaking fee will be about 10% of what it was and the amount of requests will be down extremely from what it was. It will be interesting to see how the Justice Department follows through on their investigation. Hillary has been pretty silent about the rioting, etc. lately. I am sure it is because she knows positively that Donald Trump will push the Justice Department to forge ahead at full steam if she voices against him in any way.

 Speaking of rioting, the leftists are out of control, mainly thanks to George Soros. According to many news reports, Soros has been linked to spending over $90 million supporting 47 different extreme left-wing organizations who promote violent behavior and doing anything possible to overthrow the Trump Administration. Fortunately, Project Veritas has gone undercover and exposed many of these devious plans before they could be implemented. However, nothing has been able to stop the rioting. The latest at Berkley, who promotes themselves as the bastion of free speech, has had such bad rioting over a gay conservative who was to speak! I guess free speech only applies there if you are a liberal. But wait…aren’t leftists supposed to be embracing gays? Only if they are leftists themselves, it appears.

 SB9, a Senate Bill in Illinois, is out there trying to tax gun clubs and hunt clubs and many other clubs. Please write or call your state senator and tell them you strongly oppose this bill. Gun ownership is a Right and it is illegal to tax a Right. This was just recently re-affirmed in the Ezell case.

 We have White House on our side for the first time in eight years, but the anti-rights activists are getting stronger than ever and are very well financed; they are getting violent in their efforts to try to get their way. We have to be ever-more diligent and stronger in our efforts to maintain and strengthen our Rights while we have some government that will allow us to move forward. Renew your ISRA and NRA membership and strongly urge your friends to do so likewise.

 
Doug Mayhall
 
 
*** All opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ISRA, Will County Grassroots, or any of it’s members or officers.***
Political Disclaimer
The ISRA and the Will County Division of the ISRA CAN NOT and WILL NOT endorse any candidate or party. We feature speakers to allow us to learn about the positions a candidate holds about the Second Amendment, and welcome all candidates to speak to us. Only the ISRA Political Victory Fund can endorse candidates or donate to political campaigns.