ISRA Thursday Bulletin - February 1, 2018

ISRA Thursday Bulletin - February 1, 2018

Executive Directors Message   Last week, I spoke to representatives of the CMP regarding the status of the long awaited 1911s.  The CMP has been authorized to receive about 8000 of them in the first batch.  This is expected to happen in about 60 days.  Then the inspection, grading and repair will begin.  The reason this is taking so long is no fault of the CMP.  Everything was ready to go and then some bureaucrat, somewhere, changed the facility requirement.  The CMP is now meeting those requirements.  In my opinion, I believe this is just an attempt to slow walk this project.  There is no other group in the United States that is more honest than law-abiding gun owners.   In Illinois, FOID card holders go through a background check 360 times a year.  If Congress had to do that, about a third of them would be in the unemployment line.  Every gun owner in Illinois over constitutional legal age could be a Congressman, but not every Congressman could be a gun owner, but I digressed.  I expect the 1911s to be split into four different grades, the lowest grade being about $1000, but that is speculation on my part.  The 1911 project is creeping along at a snail’s pace but, never the less, it is getting there. I test fired a few more guns at the SHOT Show.  One of those included the Springfield Armory 1911 10mm.  I have never been a big fan of the 10mm, but I fired the six inch version and found it relatively easy to handle the recoil.  The range used steel targets and there was not a problem hitting any of them.  For those who hunt in states that allow semi-auto pistol, the Springfield 10mm should be a hit. The next stop was to fire the new Ruger Security 9mm.  The Security 9 is a medium priced self-defense gun that is a really good value.  Pricing has an MSRP of $379 but, in actuality, they can be purchased almost everywhere for less.  The Security 9 comes with two 15 round magazines.  The Ruger shot really well and the recoil was very controllable. My last stop, before I had to catch the bus back to the SHOT Show, was at Glock.  I was in a fairly long line to shoot the Glock 19X.  The 19X has the slide of the Glock 19 and the grip of the Glock 17.  It is also a Generation 5 and equipped with Glock’s new rifling.  I have fired a lot of Glocks and I have never found one that shot any better than the 19X, including my own.  Once again, the targets were steel.  For the Glock enthusiast, the 19X is a must. If you have been watching the legislative alerts you know that SB1657 (Willis D-77) popped out of House Rules and is on Third Reading in the House.  This so-called Dealer Licensing bill will lay there like a snake until, most likely, April.  This is a bill to simply wipe out small Federal Firearm Dealers while leaving big box stores exempt, at least for a while. The anti-gun twins, Representative Kathleen Willis (D-77) and Senator Julie Morrison (D-29) have introduced HB4337 and SB2317.  These are far reaching trigger modification bills that would ban any trigger or trigger job that would make a firearm shoot better or quicker.  These two bills mirror each other.  If passed, these bills would turn competitive shooters, hunters, gun collectors and those who might inherit firearms into criminals instantly. Also recently introduced was bill SB2314 (Morrison D-29) which would destroy the preemption gains we made in the Concealed Carry Act.  This would allow local municipalities to make their own rules regarding so-called assault weapons. The point is that these bills are all dangerous to law abiding gun owners.  It is important that all gun owners prepare for the battle ahead.  There is not much time.  The first thing you should do is join the Illinois State Rifle Association.  The second thing is to please contact your State Representatives and State Senators.  This battle will not end for a long time.   Thanks for being a member. Save the date: IGOLD is April 25th! Upcoming events: ISRA Calendar For more information, visit www.isra.org Saturday, February 3, 2018 Women’s Only Basic Pistol Class Range Work Day Wednesday, February 7, 2018 ISRA Wednesday Night Air Gun League ISRA 10 Meter International Air Pistol League Saturday & Sunday, February 10 & 11, 2018 Defensive Tradecraft LLC and ISRA IL CCL Course Saturday, February 17, 2018 ISRA Pistol Instructor Class (Day 1) Check out ISRA's webite at www.isra.org! Tell us what you think!   Follow the ISRA on Twitter and Facebook.   Give the gift of an ISRA membership.   Not an ISRA Member?  Join Today!