Morgan County GOP Invites Gun Rights Lobbyist to Jacksonville Meeting Tonight

Joshua Witkowski, who operates a small lobbying firm called XLN Services, is the featured guest at the Morgan County Republican Club's meeting tonight, bringing Springfield-level gun-rights advocacy directly to Jacksonville.

The club is hosting Witkowski at the Jacksonville Municipal Building, with doors opening at 6 p.m. In addition to XLN Services, Witkowski has been serving as the State Legislative Coordinator for ABATE of Illinois since 2018, giving him a long record of navigating the statehouse on behalf of advocacy organizations. He has been involved in grassroots activism and politics for over 20 years.

Witkowski is no stranger to Springfield's most contentious firearm debates. Testifying before the Illinois House as a representative of the Illinois Federation for Outdoor Resources, he has opposed bills he characterized as penalizing gun owners, arguing that "law abiding firearms owners engaging in legal transactions are being asked to pay extra to handle individuals who are not in compliance." He has also appeared before House committees on lobbying transparency issues, arguing that contracts between lobbyists and their clients are private business transactions that should not be placed in a public database.

Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard is listed among the members of the Morgan County Republican Club, underscoring the club's standing as a hub for elected officials and civic figures in the county. The club has a track record of bringing substantive policy voices to its meetings; earlier this year, the club hosted a Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate forum it called "The Pathway to Victory."

Tonight's event focuses on gun rights advocacy, a topic with considerable resonance across west-central Illinois. Effingham County, in southern Illinois, declared itself a "Second Amendment Sanctuary" in 2018, and dozens of other Illinois counties have since passed similar resolutions. Gun rights remain a live legislative battleground in Springfield, where Witkowski has testified repeatedly in recent sessions.

The Morgan County Republican Club meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Jacksonville Municipal Building.