SAN FRANCISCO — “Our single issue is liberty.”
So stated Jeff Knox, son of the late gun rights crusader Neal Knox, just one of several speakers who fired up the crowd during the first day of the 25th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference. A strong turnout, fiery speakers and a reminder from GRPC organizer Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue, WA-based Second Amendment Foundation that the last time the conference was held in San Francisco was 1994, the year Congress changed hands thanks to a heavy turnout of gun owners, was enough to energize the crowd.
Activists from all over California, and much of the country, are gathered here for the event, which wraps up Sunday afternoon. Representatives from the Gun Owners Action League in Massachusetts, the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA), Gun Owners of America, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Safari Club International, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Canada’s National Firearms Association, CalGuns Foundation, Montana Shooting Association, Pink Pistols and other groups are gathered here to discuss gun politics and get ready for November’s mid-term elections.
Noticeably absent is the National Rifle Association, the first time since the event was held that the NRA has not had some kind of representation. One might technically argue NRA is represented. NRA Directors Bob Barr and Todd Rathner are here, but not in their capacities as members of the NRA Board. Barr, a former Georgia congressman, delivered one of two keynote speeches Saturday at the annual Awards luncheon, warning people that it is “not a conspiracy theory, it’s a conspiracy fact” that the United Nations is working in global gun control initiatives.
Also noticeably absent is the press. Only a freelance camera crew and a blogger with Defense Review have shown up. But there is a hum in the crowd, duly noted by Defense Review, that SAF has seized the spear point of gun rights legal action with its victory in the McDonald case and several new lawsuits around the country.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) may have the numbers and the name, but the SAF/CCRKBA (led by the formidable Alan Gottlieb) and Alan Gura appear to be initiating and engaging in the most important Second Amendment/civil rights litigation in the country.—Defense Review
The audience heard some interesting statistics:
• Veteran gun researcher John Lott noted that there are now approximately 6.2 million American citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns, which is up 1.2 million over the past three years. In 2007, he recalled, there were about 5 million licensed citizens.
• Since the Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago, approximately 5,000 residents of the Windy City have obtained Illinois Firearms Owners Identification Cards, noted Richard Pearson, executive director of the ISRA.
• To fight lawsuits against the firearms industry, the industry spent some $200 million, money that could have gone into research and development, according to Tom Gresham, host of the popular syndicated Gun Talk radio program, which will broadcast Sunday from the conference.
Attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued the McDonald case for SAF and ISRA, got a standing ovation and delivered sizzling remarks about the case.
Gresham described Gottlieb as a visionary in his keynote remarks during the annual awards luncheon. The radio host recalled how Gottlieb, almost 30 years ago, began investing time and money in promoting Second Amendment scholarship in the legal community. Gura acknowledged that this effort had paid off as some of that scholarship had been quoted by majority opinions in both the Heller and McDonald rulings.
“We’ve done a lot of good,” said Gresham, “and we have a lot of things to do, still.”
With November elections just five weeks away, a lot of that work will be done during that time frame.
That includes getting gun rights activists to the polls in Washington State, where GOA’s John Valleco noted that a campaign to unseat anti-gun Sen. Patty Murray is one of several to watch. Poll numbers in several critical races are tightening, and Republican challenger Dino Rossi could have a good chance of unseating the three-term Democrat.
Meanwhile, Seattle police are still sorting out the details of Thursday’s West Seattle shooting, and one detail has emerged that will no doubt be exploited by gun prohibitionists who want to push so-called “safe storage” in Washington State. According to the Seattle Times, the two guns used by Saroeun Phan — a 9mm Taurus and .25-caliber Beretta — had been owned by her husband for about ten years and “had been carefully hidden from her because of her mental health problems.” Still, she found them. According to the on-line Seattle Post-Intelligencer, she fired at least 20 rounds, killing three people before turning one of the guns on herself.
‘…there's no law against owning a gun and keeping it in your house.”—Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel
Solution? For gun prohibitionists, it would mean mandatory gun lock-up, and maybe a prohibition on firearm ownership or possession for anyone living with a person who suffers from mental health issues. Think about that for a moment: Because of someone else’s problem, you lose your civil rights.
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ALSO VISIT:
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READ:
America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age
These Dogs Don’t Hunt: The Democrats’ War on Guns
Comments
I only have a Question. Was there any reason why the NRA was not there in a Official Capacity to show support for our Second Amendment Rights?
Seems rather strange that they were not!
Not that strange Kelly. Why should they be there after they tried to steal all of the credit for the McDonald win. The cover of their September First Freedom magazine was all about how "they" won the McDonald case. I wouldn't want to show my face around the real winners either.
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