Brandon Combs

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Brownells To Donate To Firearms Policy Foundation

June 23, 2021 by

I received a press release yesterday from Roy Hill with Brownells. It was announcing that Brownells will donate 2% of sales on American-made products from yesterday until July 4th to the Firearms Policy Foundation. You can read the full release at the end of this post. I applaud them for doing this as I think the Firearms Policy Foundation is a great organization and I have donated to them multiple times. They are the 501(c)(3) component of the Firearms Policy Coalition.

Now think about this. The Chairman of Brownells is Pete Brownell. He is a former president of the National Rifle Association and was a board member for many years. He has been rather quiet as the controversies surrounding the NRA have played out over the last couple of years. By contrast, Larry Potterfield of Midway-USA seems to have bought into Wayne LaPierre’s line that nothing is wrong and all has been put right. While I am not knocking Mr. Potterfield, I think it speaks volumes that Brownells is donating to the the Firearms Policy Foundation and not to the NRA or its foundation.

The full press release is below:

GRINNELL, Iowa (June 22, 2021) – Brownells will take a stand for freedom and declare support for the Second Amendment by donating 2% of sales on American-made products from June 22 through July 4, 2021 to the Firearms Policy Foundation.

The Firearms Policy Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that supports the charitable legal, research, and education programs of the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Law, the nation’s first and largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

“FPF and FPC have been effective partners in the defense of freedom,” said Brownells Chairman of the Board Pete Brownell. “Freedom is never free, and over these 13 days, your purchase helps defend our gun rights.”

“We are honored to have the Brownell family and Brownells team standing with us in this incredibly important and pivotal time,” said FPF Chairman and FPC President Brandon Combs. “Their generous support of our work to defend the rights of the People and expand liberty evidences their resolute commitment to the fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms and will allow us to apply critical resources to issues that affect millions of law-abiding people.”

The FPF is a key contributor to many important pro-rights efforts, including a Second Amendment challenge to California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” (Miller v. Bonta) that resulted in a post-trial judgment and permanent injunction against the challenged regulations, the first such victory in United States history, as well as recently filed challenges to Nevada’s new confiscatory ban on home-built firearms (Palmer v. Sisolak) and Illinois’ ban on handgun carry by law-abiding adults under the age of 21 (Meyer v. Raoul). 

To learn more about how to support the restoration and expansion of freedom, liberty and gun rights, visit the Brownells “Take Action” page.

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Daniel Easterday Talks About Gun Rights In Deerfield

June 15, 2018 by

Daniel Easterday, a resident of Deerfield, Illinois and the name plaintiff in the lawsuit against Deerfield, was interviewed by Dana Loesch of NRA-TV. It’s a short interview – less than two minutes – but the most interesting part in my opinion is who he first credits. It is my friends from the Firearms Policy Coalition Brandon Combs and Alan Normandy.

The Firearms Policy Coalition is a small gun rights group on the national scene when compared to the NRA, GOA, and SAF. Their size and their background from the fight for gun rights in California has given them an agility that is essential in the fight against the corporate, big money, gun control lobby.  A few bucks sent their way goes a long way.

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The Follow-Up Question 60 Minutes Should Have Asked

February 12, 2018 by 3 Comments

I just finished watching Steve Kroft’s report on the battle for concealed carry reciprocity on 60 Minutes. I would suggest everyone either watch it or read the transcript. The episode was better than I hoped though you still could hear the sneer in Kroft’s voice when he asked Tim Schmidt if you should be allowed to carry “anywhere”. Schmidt, to his credit, gave a one word answer – “yes”.

One of the people interviewed was Robyn Thomas of the Giffords Law Center who is adamantly opposed to carry reciprocity. Trying to make a point on how much stricter a may-issue state like California is on who gets a permit, she said:

Someone who lives in Nevada, who’s able to carry a loaded, concealed weapon in Nevada could now bring that loaded gun into Los Angeles, into San Francisco, and carry their loaded weapon, even though in San Francisco that’s not someone who would get a permit.

 Kroft’s follow-up question was a softball asking wouldn’t reciprocity “usurp” the gun laws of anti-gun places like New York, LA, and Chicago. This brought the expected “yes” answer.

The question that should have been asked – and the responsible question to ask if one wasn’t biased – is how many carry permits have been issued in San Francisco. While I had a good idea it was a slim number, I reached out to Brandon Combs of the Firearms Policy Coalition and Cal-FFL to get an accurate answer. According to him, historically, the total number for both San Francisco city and county for the last two decades has ranged between 0 and 15.

Think about that. In a city and county (they are coterminous) of approximately 800,000 residents, at most 15 permits have been issued at any one time. In other words, unless you are the most connected person in San Francisco, you are not getting a permit.

Moreover, while San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego issue very few, if any, permits, there are approximately 90,000 permits in California. Many of these are issued in a virtually shall-issue manner by a number of other California counties. These permit holders are legally able to carry in any city or county in the state including both LA and San Francisco.

Never forget that our civil rights opponents and their media allies will shade the truth when it serves their purpose. Robyn Thomas did it in the interview and Steve Kroft perpetuated it by not asking the questions that should have been asked.

UPDATE: Professor David Yamane details his experiences when he asked about getting a carry permit in San Francisco back in 2013. He knew the answer going in but thought he’d ask anyway.

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Great New Hire At SAF/CCRKBA

October 9, 2012 by 7 Comments

Brandon Combs of the CalGuns Foundation and Cal-FFL was just appointed Director of Programs and Outreach for SAF and Director of Advocacy and Coalitions for CCRKBA. I have corresponded with Brandon many times and this is a great appointment. He’ll bring a new vibrancy to both organizations’ outreach and advocacy efforts. Having cut his gun rights teeth in the notoriously gun unfriendly state of California where innovative tactics are a must to get noticed, I hope he’ll bring that same verve to SAF and CCRKBA.

There is a lot of innovative advocacy going on at the state level ranging from the guerrilla tactics of CalGuns to the outreach technology that Maryland Carry used to shut down the Maryland State Capital that need to be shared with other gun rights groups. I’m glad to see that the SAF and CCRKBA has recognized this need. For example, I would love to see the outreach technology of Maryland Carry used by Grass Roots North Carolina when we push for restaurant carry (again) in the next session of the General Assembly.

From the e-mail announcement:

SAN CARLOS, CA & BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment
Foundation announced today that Brandon Combs, a veteran California gun
rights advocate, has joined the Second Amendment Foundation as its
director of Programs and Outreach.  He will also serve as director of
Advocacy and Coalitions at Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and
Bear Arms.

In addition to his roles at SAF and CCRKBA, Combs will
continue working with The Calguns Foundation (CGF) and California
Association of Federal Firearms Licensees (Cal-FFL) as Secretary and
President, respectively, and as an elected member of the board of
directors for the California Rifle & Pistol Association, the Golden
State’s NRA affiliate organization.

“Developing relationships and effective programs are key to
really being successful in the long term,” explained SAF founder and
Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb.  “When you can add a creative,
experienced leader like Brandon to your arsenal, you do it.  I’m very
excited for the future and delighted he is here with us.”

“I’m excited for Brandon and thrilled that we have an
opportunity not only to export some of our gun advocacy culture and
concepts nationally, but also to develop a much closer relationship with
the larger network of gun rights organizations,” said Calguns
Foundation chairman Gene Hoffman.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to have this opportunity to
serve SAF’s and CCRKBA’s members and work to advance our fundamental
rights,” said Combs.  “I’m looking forward to building the next
generation of gun rights advocacy and the new gun rights culture with
supporters and fellow advocates from organizations across the United
States.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s
oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal
action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to
privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has
grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many
programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of
gun control.

The Calguns Foundation (calgunsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3
non-profit organization which serves its members by providing Second
Amendment-related education, strategic litigation, and the defense of
innocent California gun owners from improper or malicious prosecution.
The Calguns Foundation seeks to inform government and protect the rights
of individuals to acquire, own, and lawfully use firearms in
California.