430 APEX PHOTO Belvidere Republican
430 Apex instructor Craig Wilcox removes the tar-gets for the current round of students and replaces them with a fresh set.

By Anne Eickstadt

EDITOR

We are living in a time of unrest, when groups that politicians seem reluctant to name as ‘domestic terrorist organizations’ are embedding members into legitimate peaceful protest rallies and marches, causing destruction, death, chaos, and fear.

As a result, applications for FOID cards and Concealed Carry Licenses in Illinois are growing by leaps and bounds as the police are hamstrung by politicians and citizens feel the need to protect themselves. Guns can be found but ammunition is in short supply.

In the days following violent looting across Chicago and the suburbs, Illinois State Police saw a massive surge in applications from people who want to own guns, but the processing delays are growing as well. State police say staffing was an issue, and their staff works about 40 hours of overtime every month. Even so, they are still not able to process those cards in the 30 days required by law. Despite all efforts, it is currently taking 90 to 120 days to process applications. The state police are currently hiring more people to handle the backlog but all new hires must go through a training process to handle the applications correctly.

And the applications continue to pour in, increasing the backlog.

Carrying a gun has been a necessity, a tradition, and a right in this country from the first time Europeans founded a colony here. Guns were utilized to hunt for food and for protection from the wild. The Revolutionary War was fought by men and boys who had learned to shoot accurately at a very young age – if they were not accurate, they did not bring supper home for their families. Even the famous Annie Oakley, at the age of five, would take out a rifle in the morning and bring home dinner for that night.

Right up through the 1950s, shooting was considered to be an essential skill. Handling firearms was taught in school along with reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and the Constitution. Photos still exist showing high school age boys practicing with firearms during class.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that the peace movement, in opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, began to demand that firearms should be controlled. Politicians caved to the demands and decided that guns should be registered and gun owners should carry Firearm Owner Identification cards.

Interestingly enough, Hitler began gun control that way as well. “Say the words “gun registration” to many pro-gun Americans and you are likely to hear that one of the first things that Hitler did when he seized power was to impose strict gun registration requirements that enabled him to identify gun owners and then to confiscate all guns, effectively disarming his opponents and paving the way for the Holocaust.” – On Gun Registration, the NRA, Adolf Hitler, and Nazi Gun Laws: Exploding the Gun Culture Wars, by Bernard E. Harcourt, Columbia Law School.

That paragraph sounds disturbingly like current Democratic political ambitions.

Increasing governmental control of firearms only makes things more difficult for law-abiding citizens. It does nothing to disarm the law-breakers who don’t care about the rules and regulations anyway. So, calling for more gun control does absolutely nothing to make anyone safer.

The only thing that the Peace rallies accomplished with their gun control demands, was to create generations of children who are ignorant of firearm safety. When guns were commonly used in households, children learned how to handle guns safely and firearm accidents were rare. In recent times, children who get their hands on a gun have no idea how to handle it properly and someone gets hurt. Then people call for more control of firearms.

Perhaps training youngsters in safe firearm practices at home and at school would work better. It is ignorance that causes more casualties than the habits of those who are properly trained. (Funny, that sounds like the same argument that was used to promote sex education into schools. Teach kids to practice safe sex to prevent unwanted pregnancies.)

Happily, there are many firearm instructors in Illinois to teach those who wish to learn how to protect themselves. For people who would like to carry a firearm as they go about their day, there are 14 concealed carry instructors in Boone County and 56 in Winnebago County.

Craig Wilcox and Aaron Marie of 430 Apex in Boone County are excellent concealed carry instructors and answered all my questions. In the state mandated 16-hours of instruction for a concealed carry class, they covered the legal ramifications of using your firearm in any situation, how to handle a firearm safely and how to avoid using it if you don’t have to. Your concealed carry gun is not to be used to intimidate or threaten someone, that person might take it away from you and use it to harm you. Your concealed carry gun is only to be used when you, or your family, are in imminent danger. ‘Imminent danger’ is a legal term that is used to describe situations that pose a direct and immediate danger to the individual affected by the action.

During class, you are informed of the legal ramifications of concealed carry, how to hold a gun correctly, how to stand, how to aim, and the results of a gun that malfunctions. You will also learn signs of someone else who is carrying and many other helpful tips.

Concealed carry is also something you do not boast about. What is the point of concealing a gun if you shout it to the world that you are carrying? The entire point is to keep an aggressor unaware of your ability to protect yourself. Let them underestimate you.

My advice? If you feel the need to have a concealed carry license for safety, you should take self-defense classes as well. Learn how to remove yourself from harm’s way if it is at all possible before you are required to shoot that gun to preserve your life. Firing that gun is a last resort, not the first, or the second, or….

Plus, knowledge is power. Learn how to handle firearms safely. It doesn’t have to be concealed carry, but take a class. Don’t allow ignorance to put you or your kids in harms way.

430 Apex provides Illinois Concealed Carry courses by Certified Conceal Carry Instructors, Certified NRA Pistol Instructors, and a Certified NRA Range Safety Officer. They also provide Women Only Concealed Carry courses. They can be reached on their Facebook page at 430 Apex Concealed Carry or via email at [email protected].

 
 
 
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