To the Editor:
At the last Madison County Board meeting on June 20, Republican County Board members decided to hear what voters had to say by asking you to vote on a Second Amendment resolution this November. The ballot question will read:
"Shall Madison County become a sanctuary county for law-abiding gun owners to protect them from unconstitutional gun laws passed by the Illinois General Assembly?"
All Republican county board members voted "Yes" that you should be allowed the opportunity to make a statement to your lawmakers in Springfield not to meddle with your Second Amendment rights. You too should know that all Democrat board members voted "No" to this resolution to let our Springfield lawmakers hear your voice on this vital topic.
Under present course, our lawmakers in Springfield have lined up several bills (HB1465, HB1467, HB 1468, SB1657) to begin restricting and meddling with our Second Amendment Rights. (e.g., by changing the lawful age to purchase or possess an AR-15 to 21 years, and to decrease magazine capacity). There are more restrictive Second Amendment bills being considered in Springfield, and if passed just these two alone would make it illegal for your son or daughter under the age of 21 to hunt or go to the target range with an AR-15, and if you or they own a 30-round capacity magazine, you both would be breaking Illinois law.
Let's not be naïve, if these bills pass, it is just the beginning. Meddling and restricting the Second Amendment will continue every time there is a crazy and/or evil individual using a rifle, pistol or shotgun to kill innocent persons.
Do you know that as of this year (March 2018) the online version of Merriam-Webster now defines "assault rifle" to mimic what gun control advocates have proposed? This new definition acts to restrict what is referred to as an assault rifle. It now adds to the previous definition that an assault rifle is 1) an "intermediate-range" rifle, which previously made no mention to range and coincidentally is exactly what an AR-15 and AK-47 is defined as; 2) a "magazine-fed military rifle (such as an AK-47)", which previously made no mention of "military rifle" or an "AK-47"; 3) "allows only semi-automatic fire," which previously stated "automatic or semi-automatic" fire. The squeeze is on!
Can you see what is happening? Infringement on our Second Amendment rights, regardless of how minor or unseemingly, is insidious. And it is not just Merriam-Webster succumbing to the "vocal minority." Look at social media outlets, look at Hollywood, look at Starbucks and other renowned liberal companies, and last but not least, look at our politicians.
If we do not let our lawmakers know how we as law abiding citizens feel about the Second Amendment, those lawmakers will succumb to the vocal minority and pass laws to restrict our rights to bear arms. Do you know why, because lawmakers know the conservative majority is normally silent, and the liberal minority is normally vocal. And when it comes to making political decisions the weak succumb and the strong stand strong for what is right! Americans are not weak, you are not weak, but if we allow weak political leaders to make decisions for us, we are complicit in where we are being led...where our children are being led.
There was a litany of speakers at the last county board meeting expressing their concerns that Madison County should not declare itself as a supporter of the Second Amendment. Or in essence, telling the board members it is not necessary to declare or let our lawmakers know the beliefs and concerns of the majority of their constituents.
This was an example of a vocal minority attempting to sway the vote of Republican and Democrat board members that represent the silent majority of Madison County. If you look at the results of the vote, Republican board members stood with the silent majority, while Democrat board members stood with the vocal minority, to a T.
A word currently being used by the liberal left to place pressure on conservatives and the silent majority to not stand for their beliefs is "shame." It is currently being used by liberal protesters, Democrat politicians, and Trump resistors in general across the Country, and interestingly it was also used right here in Madison County at the last County Board meeting. After Republican board members voted to let you decide if Madison County should declare that we are a Second Amendment Sanctuary County (along with a growing list of other counties across the Land of Lincoln), the same attendees that spoke against this action could be heard shouting "SHAME" as they walked out of the meeting.
We are Madison County strong and will not succumb to the vocal minority.
Please consider voting "Yes" this November on the Sanctuary County Second Amendment Resolution.
Don Moore
Troy