2014 GRPC Archives -

I leave in a couple of hours for my flight to Chicago to attend the Gun Rights Policy Conference. It has been a momentous week leading up to the conference.

First, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain said he would be recommending pre-trial intervention for Shaneen Allen. This comes after the Attorney General John J. Hoffman “clarified” his directive to prosecutors regarding the prosecution of legally licensed visitors to the State of NJ who ran afoul of their onerous laws. And it formally happened yesterday as Ms. Allen stood before NJ Superior Court Judge Michael Donio “who formally put on record that she had been entered into PTI, and that all motions have been withdrawn and all pending court dates — including an Oct. 20 trial — suspended.”

As for Ms. Allen herself, she had this to say:

“I have no words for how I feel,” Shaneen Allen said outside the courtroom. “I won’t be going to jail and can stay home with my kids and get back to my life.”

That includes finding work after losing her three jobs as a result of a felony charge hanging over her head.

Now, she wants to head to nursing school — a plan detoured after she was arrested and jailed for 46 days after she was stopped on the Atlantic City Expressway with her gun.

Frankly, I don’t think this would have been the outcome if she hadn’t been such a sympathetic figure AND if Ray Rice hadn’t gotten a slap on the wrist after brutally knocking out his wife-to-be. It also goes to show that politicians can find ways to act correctly if the heat is high enough.

Second, Alan Gura chalks up another win for the Second Amendment with a case from Pennsylvania. Binderup v. Holder involved a guy who lost his Second Amendment rights for sleeping with the wrong woman. Dan Binderup had pled guilty to a the misdemeanor crime of “corruption of a minor” which could have carried a five-year sentence. He got a fine and probation. However, under Federal law, you lose your Second Amendment rights if the crime could carry a penalty of more than a year. Dave Hardy give a good explanation of that here. It is a shame that Jefferson Schrader didn’t live long enough to see this decision.

Finally, Eric Holder resigned as Attorney General of the United States. I was so busy with work yesterday I didn’t know about this until the Complementary Spouse came home and told me. As the editorial headline from Investor’s Business Daily said, “Holder’s Exit Not Fast Or Furious Enough”.

In a just world, Eric Holder would be headed to prison. As it is, he’ll become just another Obama Administration alumnus getting his multi-million dollar payday from some business or law firm that wants an “in” with Obama.

More will be written about Holder’s departure in the coming days but right now it is my own departure for Chicago that is more pressing.

UPDATE: After having my first flight cancelled at 8:45 this morning, going to the airport (5 minute drive) and waiting a half hour for a United ticket agent, getting rebooked out of Greenville-Spartanburg, driving to GSP, waiting 3 hours, and then having my second flight cancelled at 4:00 pm, attending this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference will be nothing more than a fond dream. It sucks but it also is a good lesson in the fragility of technology. Who would have thought one suicidal man could have wreaked so much havoc?

The Second Amendment Foundation sponsored Gun Rights Policy Conference is almost here. It starts this coming Friday evening in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency – O’Hare Airport. The draft agenda has been released and it is jam-packed.

I plan to be there as will my fellow co-hosts of The Polite Society Podcast, Paul Lathrop and Rob Morse. If you are going to be there, please make sure you introduce yourself.

Herewith is the draft agenda:

29th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference
September 26-28, 2014
Hyatt Regency Chicago O’Hare Airport

FRIDAY, September 26, 2014—International Ballroom

7:00 p.m. Registration Table Opens

7:00-9:00 p.m. Reception with Cash Bar

Co-hosted by Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms & National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)

SATURDAY, September 27, 2014—Rosemont Ballroom

7:30 a.m. Registration Table Opens

Beverages hosted by Women & Guns Magazine and Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

8:00 a.m. CALL TO ORDER

Moderator—Julianne Versnel, publisher, Journal on Firearms & Public Policy, director of operations, SAF
Star Spangled Banner – Colleen Lawson, plaintiff, McDonald v. Chicago
Trooping of the Colors – American Legion Post 206 – Arlington Heights, Illinois
Pledge of Allegiance—Rhonda Ezell, plaintiff, Ezell v. Chicago
Invocation—TBD

8:15 a.m. State of the Gun Rights Battle

Welcoming Remarks

The Road Traveled—Joseph P. Tartaro, editor of TheGunMag.com, president,
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF)
The Road Ahead—Alan M. Gottlieb, chairman, Citizens Committee for the Right to
Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) and founder, SAF

8:30 a.m. Federal Affairs Briefing

Mark Barnes, President, Mark Barnes Associates, CCRKBA federalist lobbyist
Jeff Knox, Director, The Firearms Coalition, founder of GunVoter.org
Larry Pratt, Executive Director, Gun Owners of America
Seth Waugh, director of Government Relations- Federal Affairs, NSSF

9:00 a.m. Disarming the Jews and “Enemies of the State”

Stephen P. Halbrook, Esq., Research Fellow at the Independent Institute

9:15 a.m. State Legislative Affairs Briefing I

Philip Van Cleave, president, Virginia Citizens Defense League
Scott Bach, chairman, Association of NJ Rifle and Pistol Clubs, board member, NRA
Jim Wallace, executive director, Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) Massachusetts
Richard Pearson, executive vice president, Illinois State Rifle Association
Sean Maloney, Esq., Buckeye Firearms Association leader
Stephen Aldstadt, president, Scope NY, Inc. (Shooters Committee on Political Education)

10:00 a.m. Beverage break hosted Ruger

10:15 a.m. State Legislative Affairs Briefing II

Jerry Henry, executive director, Georgia Carry.org
Paul Valone, president, Grass Roots North Carolina
Sean Caranna, co-executive director, Florida Carry.org
Tony Montanarella, board member & past president, California Rifle and Pistol Association
Andrew Rothman, vice president, Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance MN
Hon. Phillip Journey, vice president, Kansas State Rifle Association

11:00 a.m. Collision Course: Our Second Amendment and the International Gun Control Agenda

Mark Westrom, president, Defense Small Arms Advisory Council
D. Allen Youngman, executive director, Defense Small Arms Advisory Council
Julianne Versnel, director of operations, Second Amendment Foundation

11:30 a.m. Special Address

Jack McCauley, former Captain, Maryland State Troopers, investigative consultant

11:45 a.m. Recess and break to prepare for box luncheon

12:00 p.m. Awards Luncheon

Hosted by American Legacy
Master of Ceremonies, Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk radio
Address by Alan Gura, Esq., litigator in the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases

Awards presentations

1:30 p.m. Recess Break

1:45 p.m. Winning Firearms Freedom One Lawsuit at a Time

Dan Schmutter, Esq., legal counsel, Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs
Eric Friday, Esq., litigator for Florida Carry and Second Amendment Foundation
Miko Tempski, Esq., general counsel, Second Amendment Foundation
David Sigale, Esq., attorney for SAF in several gun rights actions
David Jensen, Esq., attorney for SAF in several gun rights actions
David Kopel, Esq., law professor and litigator in Colorado gun law challenge
Paloma Capanna, Esq., litigator and policy analyst, Second Amendment Coalition Resource Center (NY)

2:45 p.m. Pro-Second Amendment Allies and Resources

Bill McGrath, legislative director, Safari Club International
Rick Patterson, vice president, Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers Institute

3:15 p.m. Beverage service hosted by Cheaper than Dirt

3:30 p.m. Gunowners and the Mid-Term Elections

John Fund, national affairs correspondent, National Review Online

3:45 p.m. The Anti-Gun Troika: Background Checks, Microstamping & Smart Guns

Alan Gottlieb, chairman, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
George Owens, director of legislative affairs, Alabama Gun Rights
Stephen D’Andrilli, president, ArbalestQuarrel.com

4:15 p.m. Bloomberg’s false claims about guns.

John Lott, PhD, economist and columnist for Fox News, president, Crime Prevention Research Center

4:30 p.m. Targeting ‘Gun Free’ Zones

Massad Ayoob, trustee, Second Amendment Foundation, author, founder, Lethal Force Institute
John Edeen, MD, pediatric surgeon, Texas Hospital activist
Chris Bird, firearms instructor, author, Thank God I Had a Gun, Second Edition

5:00 p.m. Building Effective State Legal Action Organizations

Gene Hoffman, CalGuns Foundation
Thomas Bolioli, Commonwealth Second Amendment Foundation

5:20 p.m. Expanding Train Me Arizona Nationwide

Alan Korwin, author & publisher of Firearms Law Books

5:30 p.m. Q & A on Saturday session

6:00 p.m. Announcements and Adjournment

6:30-9:00 p.m. Reception with Cash Bar— International Ballroom

Hosted by Second Amendment Foundation and US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA)

SUNDAY, September 28, 2014—Rosemont Ballroom

8:15 A.M. Registration Table Opens

Beverage service hosted by TheGunMag.com and Keep and Bear Arms.com

8:50 a.m. CALL TO ORDER

Moderator: Peggy Tartaro, editor of Women & Guns, board member CCRKBA

9:00 a.m. Shootout at the Airwaves Coral

Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk radio and TV shows, CCRKBA board member
Mark Walters, host of Armed America Radio

9:30 a.m. A First Amendment Guide to the Second Amendment

David Kopel, Esq., research director, Independence Institute, adjunct professor of constitutional law,
Denver University Sturm College

9:45 a.m. Science vs. Fiction in Public Health Policy

Vikram Khanna, Editor at Large, THCB’s Wellness, blogger at “Khanna on Health”
Robert B. Young, MD, distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association
Timothy Wheeler, MD, Founder, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, co-author, Keeping Your Family Safe

10:15 a.m. Expanding Carry Options for America

Tim Schmidt, Founder, U.S. Concealed Carry, Inc., Publisher, Concealed Carry Magazine

10:30 a.m. Tackling Media Bias on Guns and Gunowners

Charles Heller, host, Liberty Watch Radio
Malia Zimmerman, editor, Hawaii Reporter
Don Irvine, president, Accuracy in Media

11:00 a.m. Investigating Gun Related News and the Rise of the Citizen Journalist

David Codrea, Unauthorized Journalist
Dave Workman, senior editor, TheGunMag.com

11:20 a.m. The Bigger Picture Second Amendment

Doug Ritter, founder and chairman, KnifeRights.org
Jennifer Coffey, former NH state representative, legislative liaison Second Amendment Sisters

11:45 a.m. Q&A on morning panels

12:00 Noon Report of the Resolutions Committee

Genie Jennings, Maine activist and Women & Guns columnist
Don Moran, president, Illinois State Rifle Association
Stephen Aldstadt, president, Shooters Committee on Political Education (SCOPE, Inc.) NY
Herb Stupp, Board Member, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Robert Weist, Trustee, Second Amendment Foundation
Ainsley Reynolds, Citizens for a Safer New Jersey
Joe Waldon, Legislative director, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Andrew Queen, president, Fidelity Security

1:00 p.m. Closing remarks and adjournment

Alan M. Gottlieb and Joseph P. Tartaro

After the conference ends, there will be a workshop led by the Leadership Institute entitled, “The Gun Owners Elected Official Accountability Workshop” that will run from 1:30pm until 3:30pm. It is a free workshop that is intended to maximize the effectiveness of gun owners as citizen lobbyists. If you have a late flight or are local to the Chicago area, I think it would make a worthwhile add-on to your time at the conference. Did I mention it was free?

If you’d like to attend the workshop, let Jessica Brown know at Jessica.Brown@liberty.seanet.com

2014 GRPC

Off To The 2014 Gun Rights Policy Conference

Draft Agenda For The 2014 Gun Rights Policy Conference Released