Ill. law enforcement - pro-concealed carry?

Recently I read a statement on the Facebook page of a new concealed-carry organization called Pass Conceal Carry. I think they started with great flourish and then found out that the road is uphill. They had a debut radio show with some good ideas, and then nothing further except t-shirt sales and words.

The statement that attracted my attention was that 101 Illinois county sheriffs (out of 102) were in favor of concealed carry and that "all" the police chiefs in Illinois (except Supt. Garry McCarthy of the Chicago PD) were in favor.

Pass Conceal Carry also stated that a legislator had addressed the General Assembly with those statistics. Being a "Doubting Thomas" I queried Pass Conceal Carry on Nov. 21. To date they have not replied.

On November 21 I emailed Mike Tryon about these statistics and asked if he knew of them or knew which legislator had addressed the G.A. - No reply.

Also on November 21 I emailed Crystal Lake Police Chief Dave Linder and Woodstock PD Chief Robert Lowen to ask whether they would support concealed carry; for example, a reasonable  concealed-carry bill like HB0148.

Neither replied.

Earlier this month I poised a question on the Facebook page of the Illinois State Rifle Assn., asking if there was a sub-committee working on concealed carry. Someone responded on behalf of ISRA and suggested I contact the Executive Director of ISRA. On November 13 I called and left a message for him. A period of two weeks seems like a long time to wait for a return call. My guess is they really don't want "us peons" messing around while the lobbyists are bullying the politicians.

Individual citizens can only be effective if they combine into large groups and focus their efforts with both intensity and timing. The Cook County Democrats who are stalling concealed carry for the entire state must hear from their own constituents, not just from lobbyists or out-of-towners.