Successful
Gun Rights Advocacy Group Seeking Support
Introducing Champaign
County Rifle Association
October 4, 2001
GunNews
Magazine is the monthly publication of Champaign
County Rifle Association - soon to be incorporated as Guns Save Life.
The magazine devotes space to report the activities and successes this
regional group and its 530+ members. The
balance of the publication contains many other original articles that would
interest firearm owners anywhere. They
include topics like lawful use of deadly force, how to legally carry firearms in
Illinois (including “fanny pack carry” – the de
facto permit to carry in Illinois), tips on countering
questionable police tactics at gun shows, how to respond to a deadly force
incident, articles on shooting safety and much, much more.
Articles have regularly appeared outlining some of the United Nation’s
efforts at Global Gun Control (part
1, part 2). The
rest of each issue profiles news stories on other national or international
issues that affect gun owners – including controversial topics that the NRA
will not touch (like this month’s story on anti-rights efforts of the
Jehovah’s Witnesses).
We continue to build upon
many successful activities and projects as a group – all of which are reported
on in GunNews.
We are most famous for our
Burma-style highway signs that are seen throughout Illinois along Interstate
highways. Nearly 600,000
people each day read pro-rights messages typically displayed in sets of five
that are clearly and easily read at highway speeds.
The signs have been profiled
in many publications, netting front-page color photographs and stories in
regional newspapers (an
example).
The signs have been phenomenally cost effective (hundreds of sightings
per penny spent over the twenty-year life), and equally effective at bypassing
the major media’s refusal to promote or display pro-firearms rights messages.
Of course, we proudly publish
our monthly GunNews Magazine (current
issue) to our members and to those from around Illinois and the nation in
back issues available on the
Internet. We regularly have fun
shoots open to the public, our
members volunteer at youth shooting camps, we participate in parades and we
are quite active politically. While
the law prevents us from endorsing candidates, our group has successfully worked
to see that 100% of our local state officials and judges that have been elected
in the last several years are very pro-rights.
Our members worked hard for and shared our Burma-engineering secrets with
(our new Congressman) Tim Johnson’s
campaign. Johnson’s campaign has
even allowed our group to display our pro-gun messages on their sign locations
until the next election. Johnson
narrowly won over his opponent who told the media, “I think owning a gun is a
privilege we ought to give to people in limited doses.”
We have one required
ingredient to all of our activities: fun. We
even had fun last year when we counter-demonstrated (our
website – newspaper stories 1
2 3)
against the local chapter of the Million Mom March in their local “protest.”
We humiliated them to such a degree that their local chapter has all but
collapsed and they did not even consider holding an encore demonstration this
year.
If you feel good reading
about successful pro-firearms rights activism like this on a regular basis,
subscribe to GunNews. It’s
currently only $20 for a two-year subscription for the hard-copy (to cover
printing and mailing costs). Send
your check made out to Guns Save Life to P.O. Box 51, Savoy, Illinois 61874.
We will reciprocate complimentary subscriptions to similar publications
from other groups like ours.
We have also recently had
several sites offered to us on very busy Interstates in Illinois, but a lack of
funds is has put the construction of new sets on hold. If someone out there
would like to sponsor one or more sets (at $500 per set) of these coming signs,
we'll be more than happy to credit you and / or link you on our Burma sponsors
page!
We meet the second Tuesday of
each month at the Jolly Roger Restaurant in Urbana, Illinois.
Dinner and conversation begin at 6:00pm and the meeting begins at 7:00pm.
Each month we have typically two or more guest speakers.
For further information about
our organization, GunNews, potential land sites for signs along Interstates or
directions to the meeting, email
John Boch or visit our website.
Who We Are
We are the Champaign County
Rifle Association (CCRA). GunsSaveLife.com is our Web site.
We are a civil rights
organization dedicated to fully restoring to the citizens of Illinois their full
rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution. Our main focus is, of course, the
Second Amendment.
One of our primary activities
has been putting up the "Burma Shave" style signs that you may have
seen along many of the major highways throughout Illinois.
Although our focus was
originally local, our success has drawn the attention of other like-minded
groups throughout the state of Illinois, and around the US. We have an active
outreach program that helps other associations advance their civil rights
struggle.
What We Stand For
CCRA believes that the Second
Amendment means precisely what it says: "the right of the people to keep
and bear arms shall not be infringed." Thus,
we believe that laws that restrict, hamper, or deter the free exercise of this
right are in error and must be rectified. An
example of such a law is Illinois' complete and total prohibition on the
carrying of a loaded firearm on one's person for personal protection. In
Illinois there are no permits, licenses, or other mechanisms which allow a
law-abiding citizen to carry a gun for protection. Again,
in Illinois there is NO legal way for a law-abiding citizen to carry a loaded
sidearm on their person for personal protection. Are Illinois residents somehow
less intelligent or responsible than our neighbors in Indiana who have had
permit-to-carry for over 20 years? Are
we, as Illinois residents, less intelligent or responsible than the residents of
Kentucky?
At this point, we have been
successful in clarifying a portion of Illinois' prohibition on concealed carry
with the passage of our version of the Safe Neighborhoods Act. This new law
clarifies the rules governing the transportation of an unloaded gun as long as
it is in a gun case. (You must have a FOID card, however.) The
ammunition may be close at hand, but not in the gun itself. We call this
"Six Seconds from Safety" because it takes the average person about 6
seconds to retrieve a gun and load it. While not concealed carry, it does offer an added measure of
safety to individuals who feel that they need a firearm close at hand.
Of
course, "Six Seconds from Safety" is no substitute for concealed carry
of a gun in a holster. (Which we call "One Second from Safety"!) We
are currently working to correct Illinois law to allow law-abiding citizens to
carry holstered sidearms.
