SPRINGFIELD - With the rallying cry of "Concealed Carry Now," a crowd estimated at 3,000 to 5,000 surged down a Springfield street Wednesday to the Capitol, where the gun owners hoped to convince legislators of their message.

Despite the cold, participants in IGOLD, Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day, marched with some renewed urgency given the failure Tuesday of a concealed carry bill to make it out of a Senate committee.

Carrying signs reading, "Fight Crime, Shoot Back," "Dial 911 and Pray," and "48 other states can't be wrong," the c1rowd expressed their support of legislation that would allow citizens to carry concealed weapons after passing licensing requirements.

State Rep. John Bradley, who is sponsoring similar legislation in the House, was greeted like a rock star by the revved-up crowd.

"Illinois needs to quit being the oddball," Bradley said. "We need Illinois to recognize that the U.S. Constitution has a Second Amendment that is an individual liberty as expressed by a recent Supreme Court ruling."

That ruling overturned a Washington, D.C., ban on handguns when the Court found people had a right to own them.

"You talk to any gun-dealer shop, and they just can't keep guns on the shelf. And there's a reason for that. People are concerned over the economy, the way it is. People want to protect themselves," said Sen. John O. Jones, R-Mount Vernon.

The Second Amendment was on the minds of many in the crowd, especially the large contingent of Southern Illinoisans who attended the event.

Ron House of Benton, who described himself as a gun collector, gun owner, hunter and supporter of the Second Amendment, attended his first IGOLD rally to show support for the cause.

"I hope this rally sends a message to legislators that there is a very high interest on the part of the citizenry to enforce the right granted us by the Second Amendment," he said. "We have the right to protect ourselves and our families whether in our homes, cars or in public places."

Dan David of Carbondale joined dozens of other Southern Illinoisans who traveled by bus to the state capital.

"I'm here to support Second Amendment rights and the concealed carry legislation, even though its chances of passage are slim due to the mayor of Chicago, the governor and just about all of Cook County," David said. "They restrict our right to own guns, but they don't keep them out of the hands of criminals."

While a rumored four bus-loads of Chicago anti-gun protestors failed to show up, rally participants said they knew any pro-gun rights legislation would face an uphill battle. They headed inside the Capitol after the rally to express those concerns to legislators.

David said local legislators are on board with Second Amendment rights, but he would visit them after the rally to reiterate his concerns.

Mark Wilson, a retired Carbondale police officer, said he attended lobby day because, "I believe honest citizens should be able to protect themselves. As a law enforcement officer, I had no fear of honest citizens with guns; only politicians fear honest citizens with guns," he said with a laugh.

Gun-control groups disagree that concealed carry helps reduce crime and they argue that carrying guns in public means a greater chance of gun-related violence, including accidental shootings and suicide.

"We're not going to oppose you having a firearm in your home. When you bring that firearm in the street, that becomes everybody's problem," said Chris Boyster, downstate coordinator for the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.

This year the council is pushing a ban on private gun sales to ensure that everyone who buys a gun submits to a background check. The group also wants to strip gun licenses from gun owners who twice fail to report a lost or stolen firearm.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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