The NRA's annual convention kicks off in Pittsburgh today, and is expected to draw 65,000 to 70,000 members, and pump $23.7 million (by "conservative estimates") into the local economy. That makes it big news, even for many who have no interest in the gun rights/"gun control" debate.
This is fortunate, because some real good can come from the media scrutiny of the event. Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Dave Workman is in Pittsburgh already, and he expects "Project Gunwalker" to be a topic of much convention conversation:
With the NRA meeting this weekend in Pittsburgh, this expanding investigation will be a hot topic. The NRA and the Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms have been highly critical of the ATF’s and Justice Department’s handling of this controversy.
With the heavy media coverage of the goings-on at the convention, the mass media will be hard pressed to continue its steadfast refusal to notice the scandal (with CBS News, and that organization's investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson, being a very notable exception). Gun rights advocates in attendance, who are interviewed by the media, would do well to try as much as possible to steer the conversation to the U.S. government-sanctioned gun trafficking to Mexican killers.
In the face of the near silence from the mass media, a few voices have been raised. Without them, there would be no "Project Gunwalker" scandal--just a festering evil continuing to claim innocent lives, and continuing to work to undermine Americans' Constitutional rights. Sipsey Street Irregulars' Mike Vanderboegh and National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea were very nearly alone--for weeks, starting in January--in giving a voice to the courageous whistleblowers at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), who first endeavored to shed some light on this atrocity.
In recognition of their vital work, Messrs. Vanderboegh and Codrea, along with the aforementioned Dave Workman (who has also been on the story for a long time) and Sharyl Attkisson, will be honored by Soldier of Fortune magazine this weekend with the Soldier of Fortune 2nd Amendment Freedom Fighter Award for 2011.
In light of the heroic work done by the aforementioned individuals, SOF has decided to honor all four by awarding them the “Soldier of Fortune 2nd Amendment Freedom Fighter Award for 2011.” Now, somebody ought to nominate them for a Pulitzer. Presentation of the awards will be made at the NRA convention in Pittsburgh, 29 April–1 May. For details, check the SOF website.
A better-deserved award is impossible to imagine.
The award ceremony will be in Pittsburgh, in conjunction with the NRA convention, but the NRA, for reasons of its own, will not permit the presentation to be at the convention. The NRA's (self-inflicted) loss, it would seem.
Nevertheless, Mr. Vanderboegh, Mr. Codrea, Mr. Workman and Ms. Attkisson all deserve our gratitude, as does Soldier of Fortune, for recognizing their vital work.
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