2015 Gun Rights Policy Conference
Phoenix was hot last weekend, but it’s a dry heat. And nobody at the three-day Gun Rights Policy Conference cared anyway, because all eyes were on pro-gun rights luminaries such as Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb, Dave Kopp of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, D. Allen Youngman from the Defense Small Arms Advisory Council, rock star lawyer Alan Gura, Rashad Gray from the National African-American Gun Association, John R. Lott, Jr., and Breitbart.com columnist AWR Hawkins.
In rapid-fire succession, speakers of national and local prominence delivered ten-minute speeches covering topics ranging from trends in crime and concealed carry to media coverage of firearms.
Attorney Alan Gura discussed concerns with ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations). ITAR is a set of federal regulations governing the export and import of certain defense-related articles and services. Gura cautioned that the government is using ITAR to limit the new technology of 3D printing, which has been used for individual manufacture of firearms. New limits tested by government include strict prohibitions on posting such information on the internet.
D. Allen Youngman, a retired Army major general and executive director of the Defense Small Arms Advisory Council, reassured the conference attendees that despite ominous rumors, the ongoing United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) poses no immediate threat to the Second Amendment. Youngman, along with SAF’s Julianne Versnel, has for years been a regular presence at U.N. deliberations on the ATT.
The ATT developed through a U.N. initiative that came to bear the name “Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects”. General Youngman deserves a medal for meritorious service in hanging out with the kind of world-class bureaucrats who actually talk like that.
Those who follow firearm civil rights issues generally know about the National Rifle Association’s national policy positions, but few know of the fierce fighters for our rights who work on the state level. An entire panel was devoted to presentations from attorneys Paloma Capanna (New York’s abominable S.A.F.E. Act), Eric Friday (Florida Carry and SAF), Don Kilmer (SAF’s attorney in several California cases), Dan Schmutter (legal counsel for the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs), David Sigale (SAF attorney in several crucial Illinois court cases), and SAF General Counsel Miko Tempski.
David T. Hardy, Esq. is a Tucson attorney, video producer, author, and historian who reviewed the history of the landmark Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases. And one of the law professors he credited for starting the run of legal scholarship leading to recognition of the Second Amendment as an individual right was present in the audience—Professor Joe Olson of Hamline University School of Law. Professor Olson was formally recognized by SAF leadership for his foundational role in advancing the jurisprudence of firearm civil rights. And I got to say hello to Joe, who I had not seen for some years.
Every year the GRPC features new entities on the gun rights landscape. Rashad Gray from the Cleveland chapter of the National African-American Gun Association had the audience on the edges of their seats with his appeal for inclusion of those groups not often considered firearm civil rights supporters—the young, women, and minorities. He dispelled some myths, noting that many city-dwelling African-Americans quietly own firearms and would welcome outreach from the more high-profile members of the gun culture. In fact, SAF is launching an Urban Initiative to work on bringing these growing groups of gun owners into the fold.
John R. Lott, Jr. is a yearly contributor to GRPC, and he has recruited a Director of Communications to his Crime Prevention Research Center. Nikki Goeser will help John with the ongoing task of publicity for CPRC’s crucial research on firearms and crime.
And finally, SAF brass was kind enough to give DRGO’s leadership team an entire panel on Saturday afternoon. We (Drs. Przebinda, Young, Edeen, and I) briefed the audience on the phenomenal growth of our project over the last year. Dr. Przebinda gave a quick summary of DRGO’s agenda and invited collaboration with other activists. Drs. Young and Edeen talked on mental health and terrorism in hospitals, respectively. We networked extensively with activists all over the country and came home with some exciting new opportunities to advance firearm civil rights. Our guest Sean Brodale, DO from Bloomfield, Iowa has agreed to help DRGO with outreach to the crucial millennial demographic.
I haven’t even mentioned half of the great speakers who came to Phoenix to educate, motivate, and inspire the attendees, who were so numerous they were packed into extra rows of chairs in the conference hall.
If you haven’t attended a Gun Rights Policy Conference you are missing out on an unparalleled opportunity to join the cause. Attendance is entirely free. As if that weren’t amazing enough, every attendee also gets a stack of free books, including the latest issues of the Journal on Firearms & Public Policy and DRGO’s book Keeping Your Family Safe: The Responsibilities of Firearm Ownership. We hope you join us at next year’s GRPC in Tampa, Florida at the end of September. As Jim Morrison said in the immortal Doors song The End, “Get here and we’ll do the rest.”
[Editor’s note: DRGO’s 30-minute presentation to the 2015 Gun Rights Policy Conference can be seen here at DRGO’s new YouTube channel.]
—Timothy Wheeler, MD is director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, a project of the Second Amendment Foundation.