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Now how can we get a "ICRGO"(for lack of a better term) going in Illinois? We started with 8 people in Eaton County(West of Lansing) back in 96 or so. The former Sheriff and Prosecutor were out of town. They are ASD.(Anti Self-Defense) There was a gun board meeting and two subs were there. The applicant for a CCW went in, presented her case, and GOT A GENERAL PERMIT. The prosecutor and former sheriff went nuts and tried to revoke it immediatly. They failed. She kept her CCW.

I'm somewhat of a Johnny Come lately on MCRGO joining in 2000, but do know some of the history.

After this CCW event, we proved that the system was rigged so that only friends of politicians had it in most counties. In the few shall issue counties(Macomb, Clinton, Huron, with Clare and Monroe not quite shall issue but lenient), crime didn't go up. It helped our arguments. It took three legislatures to pass this failing to get out of committee twice.(Sounds familiar Wisconsin?)

How did succeed when Brass Roots and the others failed? Why didn't the legislture tell us to pound sand and respect us? Why did they respect us election time?

1. Leadership. We can't ask for better leadership than we have. Mark Korernke's need not apply. The leadership must be able to weld the 'moderate shooters' and the more hardliners together. We were able to get an NRA board member on board quickly, and also two legislators, one from each party on board quickly. We DON'T however work with third parties. It alienates allies in major parties, puts us on the fringe, and doesn't go anywhere. They don't win elections. If both candidates are gun grabbers, we endorse noone. We have to be taken seriously to succeed.

2. Shooting clubs. MCRGO has an affiliation policy. Shooting clubs can join as affiliates for $1 a member. 40 members, $40 to join. In return, MCRGO counts them as members. We offer legal services to affiliate clubs from nuicanse lawsuits. We also represent them in Lansing as members. Club members can also join MCRGO for a $5 discount($15 instead of $20).

3. Lobbiest. We have a full time lobbiest.

4. We have an executive director and also a board of directors that the membership votes on. If there is a vacancy, the chair can appoint a member.

5. We have town hall meetings across the state. We invite pro-2a sheriffs, prosecutors, and officials there.

6. Recruitment. We have booths at gun shows and community events. We have shooting fundraisers like bowling pin shoots.

7. Chapters - We have individual chapters all across the state. Our goal is eventually to have a chapter in each county. We are working on that. In Illinois a few good starts would be Cook County, DuPage(and other suburban areas), Southern Ill, the county where Peoria is at, and Springfield's county(Capitol City).

Now if I moved to Illinois from Michigan, would I try and spin off MCRGO here, or would I try and take control of the ISRA? I'd first talk to ISRA officials, John Birch, SAS, and the other leaders in the movement. I'd talk to my Michigan contacts and set up a meeting here and to set up a goals of what is acceptable, unacceptable, or tolerable(ours) in a CCW bill. Forget "Vermont or nothing" at this time. The first goal is to be able to carry without going to jail. Unless a Hail Mary pass to the courts wins(Ohio's wasn't a Hail Mary with affirm defense), that's not going to be able to happen. This is what needs to be debated and are the bargaining chips.

What is the tolerable fee for CCW?
Tolerable training requirement?
What gun free zones?
Causes for revocation
What background check and 'misdemenors' is grounds for denial. I put quotes there since in Michigan, not having a license plate tag renewed is a misdemenor, and grounds for denial for three years. A DUI is seven years denial for CCW.
Age requirement
Length of period to carry.

Now you probably don't have to worry about this back door registration stuff since Illinois has registration already.

I'd go for straight shall issue without any gun free zones first, but chances are, many moderates would not go for that. Michigan's is a last resort, but it is still shall issue. Illinois doesn't have those flippin' gun boards either which helps.

If you can get 70% of what you want, and keep shall issue, it's worth it. Then there is the fight to abolish the bad parts of the bill which we are working on now.

I'd first try and merge the groups. That didn't work in Michigan, but was worth a try. Then I'd try and take the biggest one(ISRA) over and make them more aggressive and have them follow an MCRGO format. If that doesn't work, I'd start a MCRGO spinoff.

This may sound like a pipe dream, but we did get results here. LEADERSHIP is the most important thing, and it is also contagious. Good and bad.