By Illinois Review
On Friday, Illinois State Rifle Association Vice President Tony Clark presented Donald Trump Jr., son of the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump with a complimentary lifetime membership during an off-the-record private meet and greet in the western suburbs of Illinois.
Founded in 1903, the ISRA is one of the oldest and most respected gun groups in the county and is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year.
Donald Trump Jr. was visiting Illinois in his capacity as co-founder of Winning Team Publishing and as an invited special guest to promote Letters To Trump – a bestselling book and only the second official one since President Donald Trump left office. The book is a fascinating and rare collection of letters from some of the world’s most recognizable names including Oprah Winfrey, President Richard Nixon, President Bill Clinton, now-King Charles, Princess Diana, John F. Kennedy Jr., Sen. Ted Kennedy and North Korean President Kim Jong Un.
Trump Jr. is an unapologetic supporter of the 2nd Amendment and last year, he launched the 2nd Amendment Task Force – whose mission is to stand up against the radical left policies of the Biden Administration and “mobilize freedom-loving Americans to fight back.”
In April of 2022 when Trump Jr. launched the group, he told Fox News Digital,
“The Second Amendment is the whole ballgame; it’s the freedom that protects all of our other freedoms. Unfortunately the Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress are hellbent on eroding our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, whether it’s nominating radical gun-grabbers to senior positions in the executive branch or pushing anti-gun legislation.”
Trump Jr. concluded,
“The Second Amendment Task Force is entirely devoted to ensuring the Left is never successful in disarming American citizens.”
In September, the ISRA offered country music star Jason Aldean a complimentary lifetime membership after protestors burned American flags and chanted anti-American slogans in protest of Aldean’s number one hit song, ‘Try That In A Small Town.’ The scenes outside of Aldean’s concert in the suburbs of Chicago drew national attention and videos of the protestors burning flags and taunting the patriotic country music singer immediately began circulating on social media.
“Jason Aldean’s song, Try That In A Small Town, which hit number 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart has generated a lot of buzz, and even more controversy, but the lyrics represent what we’ve been fighting for as an organization for the last 120 years – and that’s the lawful right to protect yourself, your family and your community from danger. It’s not about promoting violence – it’s about preventing violence and allowing law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and others from those who wish to do harm.”
The organization then concluded their statement with,
“We applaud Jason on his success and standing up for our 2nd Amendment rights. As a token of our appreciation, we are honored to offer him a complimentary lifetime membership with the ISRA.”
On January 10, 2023, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) signed legislation banning so-called assault weapons, making Illinois just the 9th state to enact one of the strongest assault weapons bans in the country.
On January 18, 2023, the ISRA filed a federal lawsuit opposing Gov. Pritzker’s unconstitutional assault weapons ban.
