Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The gold-shirted gun owners of Illinois marched down Capitol Avenue Wednesday as part of the annual Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (I-GOLD).

The crowd was biggest, says Illinois State Rifle Association executive director Richard Pearson, in 2013, right before Illinois passed “concealed carry.”

“Here in Illinois,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie (R-Savanna), “we are constantly facing policies that punish the wrong people. Democrats in Springfield think the only answer to crime is to take away guns from law-abiding citizens. They blame us. They blame you – legal gun owners – instead of going after criminals.”

Pearson said his major concern this year is gun storage legislation, which he says criminals will ignore anyway.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Sign up for our free Capitol City Now app