Schillerstrom wrong choice for gun owners

July 6, 9:44 AMGun Rights ExaminerDavid Codrea

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Courtesy Oleg Volk, A Human Right

Illinois has long been a an unfriendly place for gun owners, from requiring the onerous Firearm Owner Identification card, to allowing municipal preemption of state gun laws (allowing them to create stronger edicts to include outright bans), to being one of only two states that does not allow concealed carry.

It's also an unfriendly state for republicans. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, comptroller, treasurer, 37 out of 59 state senators, 70 out of 118 state assembly members, both U.S. senators, and 12 out of 19 U.S. representatives are democrats. Illinois has consistently supported democrat presidential candidates since Clinton/Gore.

So you'd think this would give Illinois gun owners hope:

DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom today formally launched his campaign for the Republican governor nomination, delivering a parochial pitch to bring his county's quality of life to the rest of Illinois by changing state government.

Sounds good. So where does he stand on the Second Amendment?

He also has said he supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but “I would be opposed to concealed carry,” which would allow regular citizens in Illinois the right to carry concealed guns.

That's a pretty big "but" you have there, Mr. Schillerstrom. You're for the right to bear arms as long as people don't bear them?

Lee Atwater, the late chairman of the Republican National Committee reportedly asked who else gun owners were going to vote for, that is, he was depending on abhorrence of democrats to drive voters to the GOP, even when its candidates betrayed their interests. Capitalizing on the fear that the other guy is going to hurt us even worse, that is, deception and cowardice masked as political pragmatism, has led to the rewarding of absolutely horrible political enemies of gun owners such as Mark Kirk, the Republican congressman for Illinois' 10th District. True to form, "assault weapon" ban leader Kirk co-sponsored, among other recent attacks on gun owners, Rep. Peter King's bill to deny us the right to purchase firearms based on mere and unaccountable suspicion and without due process.

That most Illinois gun owners could not be motivated to rally and strenuously oppose Kirk is something they must answer for, but the rest of us must pay for. Let us hope they do not act (or fail to act) similarly with Schillerstrom. After all, if you let someone walk all over you--even spit on you--without consequence and even with reward, what incentive do you ever give them--or those watching--to change or consider a different course?

Tell Schillerstrom and his party in no uncertain terms that he is unacceptable and that you will work against him or any other republican in this and other races who do not support the most fundamental of rights.

"But if the republicans lose, we'll lose all your guns!" I can hear the compromisers wail.

The people who will lose their guns are the ones who surrender them. The first step toward that is, through fear and denial, electing someone you know to be a hostile fraud.