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Right to keep and bear arms

The topic of the speech I delivered in my first 4-H public speaking competition was “gun control.” A 10-year old demanding that her rights to keep and bear arms not be taken away did not bring home the blue ribbon that night, but I’ve not lost the passion I had for that constitutional right all these years later.

Mark Mountain of Pike County and Jim Logsdon of Brown County have led a movement in hopes of persuading Illinois counties to oppose any new statewide gun control laws. After their respective county boards approved resolutions to that effect in April, another 26 counties have stepped up to the plate to fight unnecessary regulation of guns in their counties.

It gives me great hope in the future of the state in which I was born and raised – a state that as of late, I have quite frankly, been glad not to call home because of the ridiculous anti-agriculture and anti-rural laws and overall attitude coming from many of those elected to lead.

Mountain and Logsdon are not radicals. They are not out to make names for themselves. They are doing exactly what we should all do. They are simply standing up for something in which they believe.

At present, there are some 30 gun legislation bills that have been introduced in the General Assembly. The resolutions that have been approved by 28 counties oppose these 30 pieces of legislation.

The resolutions are not legally binding but they do send a strong and direct message to those who are elected to make the laws (or in this case, NOT make laws.) I am pretty sure members of the General Assembly representing Pike and Brown counties know exactly where their constituents stand on gun control, thanks to the efforts of Mountain and Logsdon.

Does your state representative know how you feel about legislation that denies you those rights guaranteed us in our constitution? If not, isn’t it about time you let him/her know?

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from people who are fed up with lawmakers who fail to represent the desires of the constituency once they get to Springfield or Washington, D.C. Here’s the thing: if we do not let lawmakers know how we feel about silly and unnecessary legislation, how do they know we think it is silly and unnecessary? Believe me, those who favor the same legislation we oppose will certainly make the phone calls and visits and send email and letters.

Apparently, your governor is a big fan of anti-gun legislation. He even called one of the 16 or 17 special sessions (there were so many, who can keep track?) to focus on gun control. It also would seem that your governor isn’t much of a fan of 4-H. He used his amendatory veto to cut at least $1.6 million in funding for 4-H youth development educators from the new state budget.

Had Rod Blagojevich been governor 35 years ago, the once ten-year-old girl now writing this column might not have had the opportunity to give that stirring and emotional speech about my constitutional right to keep and bear arms.