Buses from all corners of Illinois brought throngs of gun rights activists to the state capitol for IGOLD today, with the signature gold shirts and caps indicating their stance against the flood of gun control that has so far marked 2019. Estimates of up to 8,000 people were in attendance to assert their rights in keeping the state and families safe.
The indoor rally inside the Bank of Springfield Center featured keynote speaker David Keene, former President of the NRA, former President of the American Conservative Union, author, and television commentator.
It ran for only a little over an hour, leaving plenty of time for the march to the capitol steps afterward, where more speakers stirred the crowd.
Hundreds entered the building then, to meet with their representatives and hear speakers in various chambers.
Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, was quoted as saying beforehand,
“I promise you, when that line is drawn on the sand, we are going to be one of the first ones there, because I will never, ever, give up my AR-15, or any other gun.”