Is SA and RRA back stabbing Illinois Gun Owners?


AlphaKoncepts

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The Illinois Senate passed the Illinois gun dealer licensing act yesterday. It's not yet law as it needs to go to the house and then the governor. However this bill narrowly passed, after the Illinois Firearm Owner Manufacturer Association dropped opposition. IFMA dropped opposition because they received a carveout which would place an unfair disadvantage on small mom and pop gun shops.

Because Springfield Armory and Rock River arms are major contributors to IFMA, they are feeling the brunt of the backlash for this betrayal.

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This seems to become a major point of contention with attendees at the NRA Annual Meeting right now. I overheard discussions about this at the meeting yesterday.
Springfield Armory's Facebook page is getting inundated with negative comments too.
 
Well what did they think would happen?

I mean seriously, in Illinois of all places, gun owners are incredibly active. We have to be, we are always on guard, we have to be. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. If we let down out guard for just a minute the anti gunners will slam us.

If an entity removes its' opposition to a bill because they receive a carve out, that is pure hypocrisy. Here is an example of standing in solidarity; I won't buy from ammunition dealers who refuse to sell/ship ammunition to Chicago. I do not live in Chicago, but I stand in solidarity with my fellow gun owners. United we stand, divided we fall.
 
Too little, too late, the damage is done. Neither of them took action until their customer base caught them in the act. Now they are pleading ignorance.
 
There is lots of information out there about who the IFMA actually is and who they gave campaign contributions too (TTAG | Springfield Armory & Rock River Arms Made Campaign Contributions to Anti-Gun Rights Politicians). While one may say that TTAG is running a smear campaign against SA and RRA, there is no question that it took both companies 5 days to claim that they didn't know about IFMA's actions and to "sever ties".

It is still hard to believe SA's and RRA's statements, given that Dennis Reese, the CEO of SA, and Chuck Larson, President/Owner of RRA, are on the board of IFMA. The initial statement about "legislative process is a fluid process" by Dennis Reese speaks volume.
 
For some reason, I am still on the SA e-mail list. I just got this one:

FROM: [email protected]

Dear XXXXXXX,

The 2nd Amendment urgently needs your help in Illinois!

The Illinois House of Representatives may consider Senate Bill 1657, legislation that could put state gun dealers out of business, at any time!

It is imperative you share this with friends and family living in Illinois and strongly urge them to OPPOSE SB 1657!

[TAKE ACTION]

SB 1657 would create onerous mandatory regulations, fees potentially in the thousands of dollars and excessive amounts of red tape that would almost assuredly force the closure of many firearm dealers, and prevent prospective owners from opening new ones. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) already licenses and closely monitors all federally licensed firearm dealers (FFLs) and strictly enforces any violation of federal law.
SB 1657 goes far beyond federal law and is designed to shut down as many FFLs as possible.

Again, please click the “Take Action” button above to contact your state Representative and urge them to strongly oppose SB 1657! Stay tuned to NRA-ILA | Home for further updates on this bill.
 
Yes I got that same email myself last night. They are playing damage control and begging forgiveness.

My opinion: I was willing to give RRA and SA the benefit of the doubt in regards to IFMA. Maybe IFMA acted without their knowledge. However then it came out that IFMA had been giving campaign contributions to powerful anti gun Illinois politicians.

One instance does not set a pattern, however now we have a pattern.
 

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