ILLINOIS STATE RIFLE ASSOCIATION TURNS FOCUS ON BLOOMBERG & ILLINOIS MAYORS

ILLINOIS STATE RIFLE ASSOCIATION TURNS FOCUS ON BLOOMBERG & ILLINOIS MAYORS

August 13, 2013, ILLINOIS REVIEW

State Rifle Association turns focus on Bloomberg and Illinois mayors - Illinois Review

The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) is taking on Illinois suburban and small town mayors that are members of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" (MAIG). As part of ISRA's new constituent information campaign, it has delivered thousands of information packets to firearm owners residing in communities whose mayors belong to MAIG.

Along with informing recipients that their mayors are members of Bloomberg's MAIG, it explains the organization's mission, which it says is the spread New York style gun control across the United States. The packets instruct gun owners to contact their mayors and encourage them to follow the lead of their colleagues by quitting their membership in the MAIG organization.

"Every mayor wants to reduce violent crime in his or her jurisdiction," said ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson. "Bloomberg and his organizers preyed upon that desire by establishing a gun control organization having a title that is cynically misleading to those newly introduced to MAIG. Peering just slightly beneath the surface reveals that the MAIG agenda extends well beyond combating illegal arms trafficking. In fact, the MAIG agenda is peppered with extremist schemes that, if implemented, would render civilian firearm ownership too impractical and too expensive for most citizens to even consider."

"Although most Illinois MAIG members serve communities with high rates of firearm ownership, it is easy to see how the misleading name could bamboozle well-meaning mayors into joining Bloomberg's organization," continued Pearson. "When constituents begin telling these mayors about the true purpose of MAIG, I'm sure the membership rolls will shrink even further. I honestly don't see many of these mayors sticking with an organization that claims that the Boston Marathon bombers are victims of 'gun violence.' I really don't think that many of these mayors will want to be seen affiliated with an organization that claims that a citizen does not have a right to shoot an attacker armed with an axe."

"This information program is just a first step," said Pearson. "The ISRA will make sure that gun owners continue to prod mayors to give up membership in MAIG –even if it means that this effort carries over into re-election campaigns."