I've been thinking about this for a while, and I'd like some opinions from other members here, about this situation. It's a long story, but here goes.
In March, a good friend of mine, ran for State Rep in the Republican primary in Illinois. At the last minute, the ISRA came out & publicly supported his opponent. My friend is an ISRA member in good standing & has been for a long time, I don't know exactly how long, but I believe decades. He was not pleased with the ISRA supporting his opponent, and I agreed with him. I called the ISRA & spoke with Richard Pearson, the head of the ISRA, about this.
I confirmed with Mr. Pearson that my friend was (and still is, unbelievably) an ISRA member in good standing, and that my friend's opponent was not, nor had ever been, a member of the ISRA. I asked Pearson if the opponent was, or had ever been, a member of any other pro-Second Amendment group (my friend is a long-time NRA Life Member, as am I), and the answer was no, not to his knowledge. I asked Pearson if the opponent had ever, prior to running for office, publicly stated his support for the Second Amendment, as I know my friend has, in letters to the editor in newspapers, as well as interviews by local media. The answer again was no, not to the knowledge of Pearson. I asked Pearson if the opponent had ever done anything to show support for the Second Amendment, like my friend, who started/ helped start a local FNRA chapter after being asked by an NRA Field Rep who, I believe, read of my friend's pro-Second Amendment beliefs in the newspaper. Same answer, no.
So then I asked, how does the ISRA support a candidate who is not a member, with absolutely zero prior known support of the Second Amendment, over a candidate who is a member of the ISRA with a strong, known record of supporting the Second Amendment. Pearson said the ISRA sent out candidate questionaires, and the other guy answered about the same as my friend, so it was a level playing field. Then the final answer, the sitting State Rep in the district (not running for re-election) asked the ISRA to support the other guy, so they did.
I was, and still am, pissed about this. I am not, nor have I ever been, and most certainly never will be after this, an ISRA member.
So, I ask all of you, what do you think of what the ISRA did on this case?
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