Philpotts & guns

I've been thinking about guns a lot lately, since I have helped resurrect a local not-for-profit association that worked on getting the right-to-carry in Illinois. It was about to go under for lack of care and feeding by the Board and officers. In January a bunch of us shouted, "Whoa!" and we rescued it.

Check out www.mcr2ca.org

I remember how we kids managed never to kill anyone with our BB guns or .22 rifles, or with Pop's shotgun. Didn't Dad have a scabbard for one of the saddles? I'm pretty sure there was one.

I think Greer gave me a 4-gauge flintlock elephant gun. I recall stopped at Centaur on the road along the railroad tracks to shoot it. Just scraped up a little gravel off the road and poured it down the barrel. Then a little black powder in the flash pan. Pulled back the flint, and Ka-Pow!

Ah, those were the days...  We can shoot on property in our county, but you'd better have the owner's permission to be there. There is no such thing as just pulling over and doing a little plinking. Not in Illinois.

We don't even have a concealed carry law here. Yet. But it looks like we will, come June. In December a Federal Court ruled that Illinois' prohibition against concealed carry is unconstitutional. If legislators don't come up with a law in 180 days, then we become a Constitutional Carry state.

Well, that guarantees they'll come up with a law. They'll do anything to avoid our being a CC state!

When I moved here in 1996, I called the sheriff's department to ask how to apply for a concealed carry permit. The deputy laughed out loud and told me that I'd never get a permit in Illinois. Sure wish I had his name now.