Gun Rights Policy Conference

by Daniel E. Zelenka, II

Our good friend and LSA Life Member Tom Gresham has been telling me for several years that I needed to attend the Gun Rights Policy Conference. He was right. Words cannot express how right he was. Imagine for a minute a conference attended by more than 1,000 gun rights activists. I am not talking about the few of us who go to rallies or attend a hearing or two at the capital. Rest assured there were plenty of those guys and gals in attendance. However, also attending and speaking were the attorneys that are handling the most important gun rights cases of our time like Heller, McDonald, and Ezell. There were gun rights advocates of every description. Maj Toure from Black Guns Matter, Lara Smith from the Liberal Gun Club, representatives from Pink Pistols, Alan Korwin of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, representatives from Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership and a host of representatives from state associations and other groups connected with the gun rights movement including John Lott and Alan Gottlieb. It was awesome and eye opening.

We spent three days listening to speakers and networking with like minded individuals. It was great hearing from the national spokesperson for the Liberal Gun Club state that she was a true liberal but also owned an AR-15 and that she would not let the government take her 2nd Amendment rights or her AR-15 away. The Liberal Gun Club by the way has over 10,000 members. Who would have thought that? Many of the speakers spoke of their community outreach. An African American trainer from Detroit told of his outreach to inner city women who he trained for free. Last year he trained over 800 new shooters. This year it will be more than 1,000. The LGBTQ community has several groups who are spreading firearms ownership and more importantly the necessity of supporting the right to keep and bear arms to those non-traditional gun owners. I made a great number of connections with these non-traditional groups and look forward to working with them. We have more allies than you can believe if we just open our eyes and reach out to them.

We spent a lot of time discussing gun rights related facts, how to take back the dialog and how to get our message across. There were lifetimes of experience in the gun rights struggle on tap. My biggest takeaway from the conference were that we have more allies than the media wants us to believe. This was not a gathering of “Old White Guys.” At least a third of the attendees were women and there were significant numbers of minority participants. All of these “non-traditional” gun owners were just as passionate about their gun rights a am I. After all, gun rights are civil rights and gun control in America has its roots in racism and prejudice. Be very careful that you don’t alienate these allies by being inconsiderate or prejudiced.

The next takeaway was the importance of personal contact in spreading the word about gun ownership and gun rights. The easiest way to bring someone into the gun rights fold is to introduce him or her to the shooting sports. The best way to do that is to bring them to the range. Many of the speakers discussed outreach programs in which they introduced new people to firearms and shooting. This outreach can be as simple as taking a non-gun owning friend or acquaintance to the range or in the case of professional trainers, volunteering to provide free introductory classes on a quarterly or even monthly basis. Take care to make the experience safe and enjoyable and more often than not you will create a new gun owner or at the very least a person who no longer views guns as frightening and gun owners as dangerous. Many people do not exercise their 2nd Amendment rights because they are ignorant of firearms, firearms ownership laws or even how to legally purchase them. Be helpful and you may create a convert to our side, and as we all know, converts tend to be the most zealous in their causes. If you cannot get to the legislature for a rally or a hearing, take a new person shooting. It is just as important.

Many speakers addressed the importance of language. We all get our hackles up when we hear someone talk about “assault weapons” because we know that it is a made-up term that can be infinitely expanded to mean any firearm the government wants to ban. However, there are many other terms that are in use by the anti-rights crowd that need to be corrected. As an example, note that I used the term “anti-rights” to describe what the media used to call the “anti-gun” and now calls “gun safety” crowd. We are not “pro-gun,” we are “pro-rights.” Likewise, they are not “anti-gun” (and for damned sure they are not for “gun safety”), they are “anti-rights.” It may be a little thing, but isn’t painting the opposition as “anti-rights” a more powerful statement than simply calling them “anti-gun?” Another example is the media referring to mass murders as “shootings” and mass murderers as “shooters.” Shooting is one of the most popular sports in the United States with a long tradition. Referring to mass murders as shootings and their perpetrators as shooters demeans the shooting sports and all its participants. Don’t allow it. When you hear someone using a term that has prejudicial connotations, correct the speaker in a respectful manner. Hopefully, through doing so we can change the dialog to one more favorable (or at least neutral) for our side.

There were also panel discussions concerning what is happening in legislative fights in the states. We in Louisiana are lucky because we have been able to stave off the dozens of anti-rights bills that are filed in the legislature each year. We need to keep up the fight; and state associations, like LSA, are at the forefront of the struggle. One thing that I wanted to mention that caught my eye. Connecticut’s state association has over 30,000 members. LSA has barely over 1,000 members currently. We need to do better. If you are reading this but your current membership has lapsed, please renew. Also, for everyone reading this, please tell your friends about LSA and encourage them to join. The legislative fight for us is in Baton Rouge and at our local council meetings and having a strong state association is a great advantage.

Finally, the attorneys involved discussed recent court cases that have been handed down as well as those legal battles that were still being fought. You wouldn’t have to be an attorney to find these discussions interesting. In fact, much of the recent advancement in protecting and even expanding the right to keep and bear arms has come in the judicial arena, not the legislative. Court cases such as Heller, McDonald, Ezell and others have transformed the gun rights landscape. I cannot stress the impact of Heller’s holdings that the 2nd Amendment protects a fundamental, individual constitutional right and that those firearms in common use for lawful purposes are protected has had on our cause. These cases would not have come about but for the leadership and funding provided by the Second Amendment Foundation. I cannot recommend that organization highly enough. Each of us should support it.

The 35th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference will be held on September 19th and 20th in Orlando, Florida. There is no cost for attendance and discounted hotel rooms are available. I will certainly be there along with other members of the LSA board. I highly encourage any of you who wants to get involved in the gun rights movement to attend. You will be glad you did. Whether you attend or not, please join LSA in Baton Rouge next spring when the legislature again has hearings on gun rights bills. And last but not least, whether you do any of the above or not, please take a new person shooting and ensure that he or she has a safe and enjoyable time.

About the Author


Competitive shooter, hunter, fisherman, pilot, vizsla servant, father, son, scientist, and lover of Civil Rights.

Comments

  1. I just finished Dan’s article for the newsletter on the Gun Rights Policy Conference, sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation, which he recently attended.
    I cannot echo any comments more strongly than his about the conference. I attended in 2007, right after the publication of my book, “The Great New Orleans Gun Grab.”

    We had sent galley proofs of the book to Alan Gottlieb, the Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, and Dave Workman, the Senior Editor for Gun Week, the news magazine published by the SAF.

    Both of them kindly wrote “blurbs” for the cover of the book, and Alan invited me to speak at the conference (you got a highly regulated 15 minutes to speak!)

    My publisher funded the trip, and it remains one of the most powerful memories I have of my involvement in the gun movement. You will meet the most important movers and shakers in the gun world at one of these conferences, and come away inspired at the work being done around the country and the world to empower gun owners. Not to mention, you will need a second suitcase to bring home all the 2nd Amendment-related books you will receive free, just for attending.

    Like Dan, I strongly recommend joining the SAF. Few people know they initiated the first lawsuits against the City of New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish for confiscation of personal firearms from the public immediately following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

    Many also fail to realize how frequently litigious they are as an organization in defense of your gun rights. The SAF was a strong, early supporter of Heller Vs. Washington, D.C. And if memory serves, the SAF was one of the litigants funding the lawsuit in MacDonald Vs. Chicago. In fact, Alan Gottlieb told me himself, after Heller, to watch the news, there would a suit filed shortly against Chicago to “engrave” the 2nd Amendment to the rights of the individual states.

    Frequently, it has been the SAF to lead the charge in filing lawsuits defending our 2nd Amendment rights, having other gun rights groups leap on board and “steal their thunder” so-to-speak.

    Like Dan, I strongly encourage all our members to attend a GRPC. You will come away from it enlightened, astounded, and having made impressive contacts with important gun rights people—with whom you will have met on a personal, one-on-one basis.

    Finally, like Dan, I urge everyone to do everything to talk up and encourage membership in our organization. I mention the LSA in every concealed permit class I teach, offer the web address, and strongly urge my students to join it, telling them it is one of the wisest and most effective investments they will make in defending their gun freedoms.

    Gordon Hutchinson
    LSA Board Member
    Member #3143

  2. Anthony Geeck says

    We should stop playing their game and using their narrative. All federal gun laws are unconstitutional, the NFA is a tax act not gun law, F-troop (aka BATFE) are/were revenuers.

    Our representation at the bargaining table should not be someone who penned a CCW law in Louisiana that forces a citizen to prove their innocence, to exercise a right. Someone who would openly argue to maintain the unconstitutional NFA for fear of a monetary lost. Someone who likes the process and procedure of gun laws over the free exercise of rights.

    Tony Geeck

    • Daniel E. Zelenka says

      Tony,

      It is so wonderful of you to once again provide us with your uninformed opinion. I will make the assumption that you are speaking of me when you refer to “our representation at the bargaining table” since you have attacked me on similar grounds by email and on the internet. You are the worst kind of gun owner. You spout off with totally ignorant crap AND you do absolutely ZERO to support efforts to maintain or increase the right to keep and bear arms.

      On April 19, 2021, several LSA board members along with about thirty gun rights supporters attended a hearing in the Louisiana Senate Judiciary C Committee on a constitutional carry bill. I noticed that you did not attend so I assume that you do not support constitutional carry. I testified for 30 minutes in support of SB118 as did LSA vice-president, Barret Kendrick. The bill passed the Senate 27-11 no thanks to you.

      On April 28, 2021, once again I, along with Barret Kendrick and about eighty gun rights supporters, attended 6 hours of hearings in the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee. Again, both Barret and I testified on multiple bills involving gun rights. Again, I noticed that you did not attend. We got four gun rights bills out of committee and defeated the only anti rights bill on the agenda all without your help or support.

      When you deride “our representation at the bargaining table,” I must laugh. You do not even know where the bargaining table is much less what it looks like. Shouting silly phrases that you either dreamed up in your uninformed mind or read somewhere on the internet will do nothing to advance gun rights in Louisiana or the US.

      However, the Louisiana Shooting Association is an organization controlled by its members. If you believe that you would be better able to lead the organization in our fight to maintain and broaden the right to keep and bear arms, you should run for its leadership. I would be happy to take up the challenge. I’ll just run on my record which includes Louisiana’s protection of gun manufacturers from lawsuits, legalizing hunting with silencers, preempting all local control of gun regulation, removing the authority of the executive to regulate guns in times of emergency, legalizing switchblades, concealed carry in restaurants, and other laws which improved gun rights. I also have successfully worked on preventing any anti gun rights bill from becoming law in the past nearly two decades. I did not do this alone. I had help from many gun rights supporters. However, you have never been counted among them.

      You should run on your record of gun rights accomplishments. What are they again? That’s right, absolutely nothing. Good luck.

      Finally, you continue to spew out absolute tripe concerning my position on the NFA. “Someone who would openly argue to maintain the unconstitutional NFA for fear of a monetary lost.” Pretermitting the fact that your statement is not even a sentence, I have no clue how on earth you formulated that opinion or why you maintain it when I and others have told you that you are absolutely wrong. If I believed that the NFA could be defeated either legislatively or in the courts, I would work diligently to do so. What would you do? Probably your usual nothing.

      In conclusion, you just go on your merry way enjoying the fruits of the gun rights activists who are in the trenches and who have a seat at the table working to preserve the right to keep and bear arms. We will just keep getting things done.

      Dan Zelenka
      President
      Louisiana Shooting Association

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