There are a variety of ways that we can all do our part to protect gun rights. I have listed a few of these ways below.
Join the NRA. Joining the National Rifle Association is an easy way to help support gun rights in the USA.
Join the ISRA. Joining the Illinois State Rifle Association is an easy way to help support gun rights in Illinois.
Donate to the ISRA Legislative Fund. Your donation will help protect our gun rights by working within the political process. The anti-gun groups have their lobbyists hard at work, and we gun owners need a voice in the legislature too.
Subscribe to the ISRA Email Alerts. Subscribing to the ISRA email alerts will allow you to be notified of important gun rights news in IL as it happens.
Subscribe to the NRA Email Alerts. Subscribing to the NRA email alerts will allow you to be notified of important gun rights news across the USA as it happens.
Contact the Cook County Commissioners. Writing a letter, sending an email or fax, or calling can go a long way. Even if you don’t live in cook county, new laws that take away the right to bear arms will affect us all. There is even a quick automated phone survey that you can take right now to protect your gun rights.
Contact Your Federal, State, and Local officials. Telling your elected officials how you feel about gun rights is vital. You can even lookup and contact all your elected officials at once using this simple form.
Stay up to date on pending gun-related news and legislation. You can receive updates to this site by email.
Network with your fellow gun owners. There is strength in numbers, and supporters of gun rights must stay educated, informed, and connected if we are to successfully defend our right to keep and bear arms.
Join the United States Concealed Carry Association – Become the most skilled, educated, and proficient lawfully armed citizen that you can be.
Sign pro gun rights petitions. Elected officials listen to their constituents, as their political future depends upon it.
One final note: Only about 1/3 of Illinois residents lawfully own firearms, and I have noticed that some people who do not own firearms do not believe that the right to bear arms is worth protecting, since they think it doesn’t affect them at the moment. To that I would answer that we should all vigorously oppose attempts to legislate away our rights, be they the right to bear arms, the right to free speech, or any of our other sacred rights. To make this point, I will disclose my demographic information and political leanings: I am an African American and registered democrat who supports all of our rights, be they the right to bear firearms, the right to free speech, the right, to not be arrested and held without a warrant and the proper court proceedings, the right to abortion, etc.
For example, while I do not exercise the right to abortion, nor would I want to do so, I will still defend this right for my fellow citizens. I would hope that we as a country can recognize the value of our rights, and protect them all, not just the ones we personally enjoy. If that argument is not compelling enough, then perhaps consider that having gun rights protects our other civil rights too.