{"id":1595,"date":"2014-09-05T13:16:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T13:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/2014\/09\/05\/jpfos-official-statement-on-merger-wi\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:24:30","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:24:30","slug":"jpfos-official-statement-on-merger-wi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/?p=1595","title":{"rendered":"JPFO&#8217;s Official Statement On Merger With SAF"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:11546,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/saf-jpfo-merge.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:11547,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/jpfo.org\\\/articles-assd04\\\/jpfo-joins-saf.htm&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/jpfo.org\\\/articles-assd04\\\/jpfo-joins-saf.htm&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4994,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.saf.org&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:11548,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/jpfo.org\\\/articles-assd04\\\/massad-ayoob-message.htm&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/jpfo.org\\\/articles-assd04\\\/massad-ayoob-message.htm&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>\nThe official statement from the board of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership is below. I covered some of the controversy on the decision to merge <a href=\"http:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com\/2014\/09\/saf-jpfo-merge.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in my earlier post announcing the merger<\/a>. As I said there, I hope it works out so that both organizations can keep up the good fight for the Second Amendment and our rights.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/jpfo.org\/articles-assd04\/jpfo-joins-saf.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/jpfo.org\/articles-assd04\/jpfo-joins-saf.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">From JPFO<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<br \/>\n<i>Dear JPFO Members and Supporters,<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Even before the passing of founder, Aaron Zelman, there was serious<br \/>\ndoubt as to whether or not JPFO could survive. For years Aaron struggled<br \/>\nheroically with chronic health problems.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>The results were rapidly expanding problems in administrative, database<br \/>\nand member support and new product operations, along with no systematic<br \/>\nfundraising program &#8212; to name just a few. Aaron delegated painfully<br \/>\nlittle? But considering it all, what he accomplished goes well beyond<br \/>\nthe heroic to near miracles.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>The regular staff was reduced to a devoted office manager of some<br \/>\n15-years, LaVonne, an equally devoted webmaster, Chris and Aaron&#8217;s two<br \/>\nBoard members, Bruce and Bob serving with him since the mid-1990s. The<br \/>\neffort to rebuild JPFO began in earnest, facing the ominous headwinds of<br \/>\na diminished database and largely empty coffers.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>After some months, Charles Heller stepped-in to provide Executive<br \/>\nDirector services; including media contacts.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>One bright spot was the wise counsel of the JPFO advisor on spiritual<br \/>\nmatters, Rabbi Dovid Bendory, known affectionately as the &#8220;Gun Rabbi.&#8221;<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>The task was truly immense. It seemed to grow in difficulty as each step<br \/>\nforward unearthed more challenges. Tragedy struck again a year later<br \/>\nwhen our office manager, LaVonne passed away unexpectedly. She had<br \/>\nloyally worked with Aaron for over 15-years. Her husband, Doug resigned<br \/>\nhis regular employment as her fulltime replacement. Without his<br \/>\ncommitment it is a virtual certainty JPFO would have collapsed more than<br \/>\na year ago.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Adding to these losses was the death of another key writer, Kirby<br \/>\nFerris. More recently a board member was blindsided with two major heart<br \/>\nsurgeries and is still in rehabilitation.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Then just weeks ago another key writer, the prolific 2A and science<br \/>\nfiction author, L. Neil Smith, who worked with Aaron on various books<br \/>\nand other major editorial projects, suffered a stroke, right in the<br \/>\nmiddle of our Fall educational and fundraising product developments.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>In spite of all this seemingly endless ?damage control? we were able to<br \/>\nincrease the membership; and thanks to the contract writers and the<br \/>\nwebmaster, who maintain a flow of quality editorial material; while<br \/>\norganizing first-rate office operations; including tight inventory<br \/>\ncontrols with a quick turnaround of member requests.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>From day one, due to the highly specialized Jewish orientation, the<br \/>\nprimary target constituency was extremely small. Fortunately, non-Jews,<br \/>\nso taken with the powerful JPFO message, have also consistently been a<br \/>\nvital source of revenue; while donating impressive amounts of time and<br \/>\ntalent to various projects, from 1989 to this very day.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>However, all along was the paradox that as a skeletal crew of fiercely<br \/>\ndevoted workers salvaged and refined after Aaron&#8217;s passing, the Stalking<br \/>\nHorse of poor cash flow was always there. We came to realize that JPFO<br \/>\nneeded one or more major supporters to break through to the next level.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>Many inquiries yielded nil, it became clear that the most logical and<br \/>\nefficient solution was to ally with another 2A organization, while<br \/>\npreserving our identity.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>That&#8217;s not all. We realized we must have an organization with longevity,<br \/>\nsolid management, financial depth and marketing powers to insure JPFO<br \/>\ncarried on.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>The urgency of this search accelerated as the monthly revenue streams,<br \/>\nfrom all sources, began a steadily decline early this year. Recent<br \/>\nfundraising efforts have yielded little. The headquarters was reduced to<br \/>\nbeing run by the managing director, with part-time secretarial help.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>To solve these problems, the JPFO Board of Directors sought out and<br \/>\nelected to merge with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.saf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Second Amendment Foundation<\/a><br \/>\n (SAF).<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1974, now with over 650,000 members, SAF is the oldest and<br \/>\nlargest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action<br \/>\ngroup focusing on the right to keep and bear arms.<\/p>\n<p>JPFO will be operated independently by SAF and current JPFO private and<br \/>\nindustry members and contributors will continue to receive all benefits<br \/>\npromised. It will maintain a separate board of directors.<\/p>\n<p>The JPFO website will continue to run independently as a stand-alone<br \/>\nentity but will now include links to it from TheGunMag.com,<br \/>\nKeepandBearArms.com, plus SAF.org. JPFO will also become a member<br \/>\norganization of the International Association for the Protection of<br \/>\nCivilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR) to expand its reach internationally.<\/p>\n<p>Certain JPFO editorial and administrative staff are likely to remain or<br \/>\nbe available for the transition. Later, headquarters will move from<br \/>\nWisconsin to SAF headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.<\/p>\n<p>The decision to merge with SAF has generated powerful disagreements and<br \/>\nno small amount of vitriol&#8230; <u>But before making final decisions on this<br \/>\naction, <a href=\"http:\/\/jpfo.org\/articles-assd04\/massad-ayoob-message.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">please visit this page<\/a><br \/>\n<\/u><u> to discover<br \/>\nwhat firearms industry icon, Massad Ayoob, has to say about this<br \/>\ncontroversy.<\/u><\/p>\n<p>Adulation of Aaron Zelman is spot on; nevertheless, it would be<br \/>\nprofoundly unfair to not tip the hat of deep gratitude to all members,<br \/>\ndonors, plus those deeply devoted volunteers that have committed well<br \/>\ninto the thousands of hours of free services since 1989, so making many<br \/>\nof Aaron&#8217;s landmark projects possible even with the Stalking Horse of<br \/>\nfinancial distress continually behind his back, as it was for us until<br \/>\nthe merger.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>JPFO Board of Directors<br \/>\n<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The official statement from the board of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership is below. I covered some&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2512,1760,384],"class_list":["post-1595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-jpfo","tag-merger","tag-second-amendment-foundation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1595"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9990,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1595\/revisions\/9990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}