29th Gun Rights Policy Conference Kicks Off Next Week
Gun Rights Leaders to Speak at Event
WHO: National gun rights leaders
WHAT: Speaking at the 29th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference
WHEN: September 26-28, 2014
WHERE: Chicago O’Hare Airport Hyatt Regency, 9300 Bryn Mawr Ave, Rosemont, IL 60018
For more information and discussion, visit the GRPC discussion thread on the Events board of the GunLink Forums. Read the event press release here.
BELLEVUE, WA – Virginia attorney Alan Gura, who won both the 2008 Heller case and the 2010 case of McDonald v. City of Chicago before the U.S. Supreme Court, and also won Moore v. Madigan before the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, forcing the state of Illinois to adopt a concealed carry statute, will be one of the highlight speakers later this month at the 2014 Gun Rights Policy Conference at the Chicago O’Hare Airport Hyatt Regency, an event that will also feature several national gun rights leaders.
Also on the schedule are attorney and Second Amendment scholar Stephen Halbrook; Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), John Fund, national affairs columnist at National Review Online and senior editor at The American Spectator, and John Lott, author of More Guns = Less Crime and a Fox News.com contributor. Continue reading
Release: 29th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago – September 26-28
BELLEVUE, WA – More than 600 gun rights activists have already pre-registered for the 29th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, which is being held Sept. 26-28 at the Chicago O’Hare airport Hyatt Regency.
SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said this year’s GRPC will attract gun rights leaders and grassroots activists from across the country. It is being held in Chicago in recognition of repeated SAF court victories in Illinois, including the landmark Supreme Court 2010 ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago, plus Ezell v. Chicago and Moore v. Madigan, the case that forced the Illinois Legislature to adopt a concealed carry statute, thus bringing the Prairie State in line with the rest of the nation.
“Our last foray in Chicago three years ago was a great success,” Gottlieb recalled, “and we have a full agenda that is certain to educate and perhaps even inspire activists from across the country.
“We take this annual conference around the nation,” he continued, “to areas where our rights might be threatened. Chicago has been ‘ground zero’ for gun some of our most important litigation and the legal precedents that we’ve been setting are now showing up as footnotes in rulings all the way to California.”
This year’s agenda is loaded with panel discussions about lawsuits and the courts, gun politics, legislative challenges and more. Experts from virtually all corners of the gun rights movement will be on hand, and the annual awards luncheon on Saturday promises to be a crowd pleaser.
“We anticipate an exciting, intense weekend of discussion and interaction,” Gottlieb stated. “As always, attendance at the GRPC is free. Registration is still open at www.saf.org.”
SAF Announces Merger Of Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership
The Second Amendment Foundation today announced that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) has become part of the SAF family, bringing together two stalwart gun rights organizations under one banner.
“We’re both delighted and proud to announce this merger,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “JPFO was founded 25 years ago by the late Aaron Zelman, and it has become a strong voice in defense of the Second Amendment. I’m personally confident that bringing JPFO into the SAF extended family will benefit firearms owners at many levels.”
Zelman passed away in 2010, and for the past four years, the JPFO has worked hard to maintain its position in the gun rights community.
“We see this as a tremendous opportunity,” said Gottlieb. “With SAF’s resources, we expect JPFO to continue its important work and grow to meet new challenges, educating people about the pitfalls of gun control, and the benefits of gun ownership and personal protection.”
Gottlieb said JPFO operations will be transferred from Wisconsin, where it was founded by Zelman in 1989, to the SAF offices at Liberty Park in Bellevue, Wash. JPFO editorial support staff will stay on and help maintain Continue reading
JPFO Joins Second Amendment Foundation
Open Letter Details Merger Between the Two Pro-Gun Organizations
Dear JPFO Members and Supporters,
Even before the passing of founder, Aaron Zelman, there was serious doubt as to whether or not JPFO could survive. For years Aaron struggled heroically with chronic health problems.
The results were rapidly expanding problems in administrative, database and member support and new product operations, along with no systematic fundraising program — to name just a few. Aaron delegated painfully little… But considering it all, what he accomplished goes well beyond the heroic to near miracles.
The regular staff was reduced to a devoted office manager of some 15-years, LaVonne, an equally devoted webmaster, Chris and Aaron’s two Board members, Bruce and Bob serving with him since the mid-1990s. The effort to rebuild JPFO began in earnest, facing the ominous headwinds of a diminished database and largely empty coffers.
After some months, Charles Heller stepped-in to provide Executive Director services; including media contacts.
One bright spot was the wise counsel of the JPFO advisor on spiritual matters, Rabbi Dovid Bendory, known affectionately as the “Gun Rabbi.” Continue reading
Kroger Says “No” to Moms Demand: Our Customers Can #ShopSafe
Grocery Chain Refuses to Bow to Bullying from Moms Demand Action
Gun control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America are back at their antics. This time, however, the winner is real common sense, not the anti-gun group’s misguided, misappropriated version of the phrase.
After bullying other retailers with varying results, MDA moved their attention toward their biggest target yet, Kroger – the world’s fifth largest retailer – and their subsidiary, Fred Meyer. Chipotle, Chili’s, Sonic, Jack-in-the-Box, Starbucks, and Target have all either outright banned guns or issued statements asking customers not to carry in their stores. Staples, on the other hand, ejected Moms Demand Action from their property as they tried to deliver their anti-gun propaganda to the company’s CEO, Ron Sargent.
Kroger has indicated that they want to focus on selling groceries, not enter the heated political debate on gun control. In their statement, the company said “Our long-standing policy on this issue is to follow state and local laws and to ask customers to be respectful of others while shopping.” Unlike some of MDA’s other targets, Kroger expressed trust in their customers, choosing to treat them as responsible citizens rather than criminals. “We know that our customers are passionate on both sides of this issue, and we trust them to be responsible in our stores.”
Kroger’s statement makes it clear that they want their patrons to be able to shop in safety. Like a frustrated child, when MDA didn’t get their way, they resorted to their usual tactics and threw the equivalent of a temper tantrum, calling for a boycott Continue reading
22 State Attorneys General Join Pro-Second Amendment Brief in SAFE Act Appeal
Amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs have been filed in Nojay v. Cuomo, the appeal from the decision of Judge William Skretny last year that largely upheld New York’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (“SAFE”) Act. The plaintiffs challenged bans on large-capacity magazines and “assault weapons” (as redefined), the requirement that magazines contain no more than seven rounds, and new rules on ammunition sales, as unconstitutional. After Judge Skretnty denied most of these claims, the case (decided as New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Cuomo) was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Attorneys General for 22 states – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming – have filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs.
In contrast, the chief legal officers for only nine states (plus D.C.) – Maryland, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Oregon – have opted to support the SAFE Act through their own amicus filing. Predictably, many of these Continue reading
