September 10, 2026

Thursday Bulletin – September 10, 2026 Executive Director's Message From Richard Pearson Litigation Update WE'RE FIGHTING AT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT Illinois gun owners deserve someone willing to fight all the way to the highest court in the country. The Illinois State Rifle Association has filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in Viramontes v. Cook County. This case challenges Cook County's ban on commonly owned semiautomatic firearms and standard-capacity magazines. And ISRA is making sure Illinois gun owners' voices are heard. Our message is clear: Government should not be allowed to redefine the Second Amendment until commonly owned firearms suddenly fall outside its protection. Our brief asks the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court and confront more than a decade of Seventh Circuit decisions that have strayed from the standards established in Heller and Bruen. We argue that firearms commonly possessed by law-abiding Americans for...

September 3, 2026

Thursday Bulletin – September 3, 2026 Executive Director's Message Richard Pearson Fall – My Favorite Time Of Year Suddenly, there are signs of Fall everywhere. It's not like we didn't know Fall was on the way, but it sort of sneaks up on us every year.  Some maples are turning red and yellow, school buses occupy the roads and streets, and the sun is coming up noticeably later.  September 1st hailed the opening day of Dove Season and that means waterfowl, deer and fall turkey will follow shortly. Now is the time to buy ammunition and get your firearms ready for hunting season.  Ammunition manufacturers estimate what the demand will be, manufacture that amount of shotgun slugs and rifle cartridges and then reset their machinery to make other things. Once it's gone, it's gone until next season. Buy your ammunition early and get enough of it. For years the ISRA...

August 27, 2026

Thursday Bulletin – August 27, 2026 Executive Director's Message Richard Pearson Gun Rights Policy Conference Shaping Up To Be Key 2A Event Of The Year Synopsis of story by Cam Edwards – August 20, 2026 For full story, go to: BearingArms.com Gun owners and Second Amendment advocates are blessed to have a lot of great events across the country focusing on our right to keep and bear arms. There's the NRA Annual Meeting, Gun Owners of America's GOALS, GunCon, the Great American Outdoor Show, and the Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC). The GRPC and the affiliated Alternative Mass Media Conference, also known as AMM-Con, will be in Fort Worth, Texas in late September. GRPC is a three day event that runs Sept. 25—27, and AMM-Con will be the primary focus on Friday, Sept. 25. While GRPC is aimed at those Second Amendment advocates who care deeply about the legislative and...