I don't understand why illinois is so sfraid of letting it's citizens carry conceiled, if it brings the crime rate down, well why not let us feel safer, any answers feel free
Umm, sorry to break this to you, but the government does WANT to bring the crime rate down; they don't WANT you to feel safer. They want you to feel frightened, which gives them an excuse to aggrandize their power, tax and spend, and make the voters think they're doing something about crime, and give their buddies in state agencies jobs and big budgets. This is particularly true in states like Ill where corruption is rampant in the large cities that control a lot of the state's legislature and governorship - Blowjobovich and the Daley Imperial Dynasty only want themselves protected with guns; not the rank and file peasants. Yap, it's that cesspool called Chi-town that is the main problem.
Betcha people already have guns there...law abiding and otherwise. Be nice if they would just offer the CCW's. They might even catch some dumb criminals that way. I can see it now:
"Dumb criminal apprehended while applying for CCW at local precinct. Save police a lot of effort and money."
Hey, if it bothers you that much, come on out and join the club!
www.gunssavelife.com is the Champaign County Rifle Association. They meet in Champaign on the second Tuesday of every month. Great group with a lot of opportunities to get involved and really DO something.
www.concealcarry.org is Concealed Carry Inc. They meet very infrequently near Chicago, but they have a weblog and an email list you can join. Small group, not much money, but very focused on one project at a time. These are the people who saved Roderick Pritchett and John Horstman.