Some, like the measure passed overwhelmingly (42-1) by the in Illinois State Senate on Friday, overturns a ruling by Attorney General Lisa Madigan that had said the names on the state's firearms owner identification cards were public under the state's open records law. Governor Pat Quinn has said he will review the measure, but agrees with the Senate that information should remain confidential.
Madigan had issued the opinion after the Associated Press had requested the names of the 1.3 million state residents who are registered to own firearms. The Illinois State Police had denied the request on the grounds that releasing the names might tell criminals where guns might be stolen or enable the targeting of people who were not armed.
If Governor Quinn signs the legislation, Illinois would join Tennessee and Florida in keeping information regarding firearms permit holders' information private. Tennessee and Florida do not reveal the names of concealed carry permit holders.
There's still one legal question remaining unanswered: whether the Illinois State Rifle Association will drop a lawsuit against the state police and the Associated Press to block release of the names. Since the objective of the suit was to stop AG Madigan's decision, it might go away once the legislation (HB3500) is signed.
An the lawsuit filed against Madigan and State Police Superintendent Hiram Grau by the Second Amendment Foundation is adding plaintiffs. The suit, which challenges the state's statutory prohibitions on the carrying of firearms for personal protection, now has Illinois Carry, a volunteer group founded to "educate the public about Illinois gun laws" and two private citizens on the plaintiff's list.
The lawsuit alleges the state's statutes that essentially ban the carrying of handguns for self-defense deprive the plaintiffs of civil rights, making the statutes "inconsistent with the Second Amendment."
The Tommy Gun and grin say it all. It's hard not to have fun shooting. That was the goal of GOAL's event this past weekend for Massachusetts legislators. Photo courtesy of GOAL. |
And in Massachusetts, the Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) is telling us their third annual Firearms Safety and Education Day was a big hit with legislators and their staffers. GOAL's event gave legislators and their staffers the opportunity to try a variety of shooting activities from skeet and trap to shooting a variety of handguns and rifles. According to our sources, the legislators were pretty fond of using modern sporting rifles (Smith & Wesson M&Ps) to ring a gong target at 200 yards.
GOAL's goal (ouch) was to teach the legislators that firearms can be fun to shoot and owned and used responsibly.
Bianchi draws shooters from all over the world. Last year, competitors from Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, and Switzerland, competed against the United States' best shooters.
New to the 2011 side matches is the Tactical Carbine Challenge. It's a paper and reactive steel competition that might give an insight into the NRA's planned competition for today's popular modern semiautomatic rifles.
We'll be watching, and we'll keep you posted.
--Jim Shepherd