From: [richard comer] at [rcbbs] (Richard Comer)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
Subject: Pro-gun Organizations 1/3
Date: Tue, 2 Jan 1996 14:33:00 GMT
ACTIVE NATIONAL PRO-FIREARMS ORGANIZATIONS (other than the National
Rifle Association of America)
** CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
Headquarters: Liberty Park
12500 N.E. 10th Place
Bellevue, WA 98005
Telephone: (206) 454-4911
US Capitol Office: 600 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.
Suite 205
Washington, D.C. 20003
Executive Director: Paul Williams
Chairman: Alan Gottlieb
Membership: 550,000
Publications: Point Blank, Monthly
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA)
originated as an ad hoc committee of the Young Americans for Freedom. It
has been in independent operation since 1971. CCRKBA believes "in the
Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution upholding the right of the people
to keep and bear arms; that firearms registration does not and cannot solve
the problems of rising crime in our streets, and that registration leads to
the eventual confiscation of firearms; that a mandatory sentence on
conviction of a felony involving the use of a firearm is a deterrent to
crime"; and "that the disarming of individual law-abiding citizens will
result in the loss of individual freedoms." CCRKBA employs one full-time
lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
The Citizens Committee does have a political action committee, entitled
Right to Keep and Bear Arms Political Victory Fund, which supports state and
federal pro-gun candidates. Unlike the NRA, CCRKBA also involves itself in
other issues besides firearms-related issues.
** THE SECOND AMENDMENT FOUNDATION
Headquarters: 12500 N.E. 10th Place
Bellevue, WA 98005
Telephone: (206) 454-7012
Executive Director: Alan Gottlieb
Research Director: John Iou
Membership: 550,000
Publications: Weekly Bullet, weekly.
Second Amendment Reporter, quarterly.
Women and Guns, monthly.
The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) shares its staff with CCRKBA, but
the organization does not lobby, given its status as an educational
foundation.
An offshoot of the Citizens Committee, the Second Amendment Foundation
raises funds ostensibly to provide educational and legal services for gun
owners. It has an interlocking directorate with CCRKBA and adjoining
offices in Bellevue, Washington.
The SAF produces educational materials "to promote a better
understanding of the Second Amendment." Both CCRKBA and SAF conduct
extensive and frequent fundraising campaigns. SAF produces issue monographs
and has established an attorney referral service.
** AMERICAN SHOOTING SPORTS COUNCIL, INC.
Headquarters: 9 Perimeter Way
Suite C-950
Atlanta, GA 30339
Telephone: (404) 933-0200
Chairman: Michael Saporito
Executive Director: Richard J. Feldman
Membership: 113
Publications: Bi-monthly Newsletter
The American Shooting Sports Council (ASSC), founded in March 1989,
represents the firearms industry and performs general promotion of
legislation. The ASSC's primary focus is to unify and cohesively protect
the firearms industry on economic, liability and other legal/social issues
that directly affect the future and growth of the industry.
** NATIONAL SHOOTING SPORTS FOUNDATION
Headquarters: Flintlock Ridge Office Center
11 Mile Hill Road
Newtown, CT 06470-2359
Telephone: (203) 426-1320
Fax: (203) 426-1087
President/
Executive Director: Robert Delfay
Membership: 1,100 Companies
Publications: Gun Club and Individuals Directory
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) employs 13 at their
Connecticut headquarters and is not a lobbying organization.
The NSSF was chartered in 1961, "to foster a better understanding and a
more active participation in the shooting sports." The NSSF maintains a
tax-exempt educational fund, in addition to its regular organization. The
NSSF serves as a spokesman for the firearms industry and the legitimate
sportsman through press releases, pamphlets and brochures, and sponsors
factual research into gun ownership and the "Hunters Pay for Conservation"
educational program.
** LAW ENFORCEMENT ALLIANCE OF AMERICA
Headquarters: 7700 Leesburg Pike
Suite 421
Falls Church, VA 22043
Telephone: (703) 847-2677
Executive Director: Jim Fotis
President: Lt. Brenda Maples
Membership: 25,000
The Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA), founded in 1990, is a
non-profit advocacy group that takes a tough stand on law and order issues.
LEAA's 25,000+ members consist of law enforcement professionals, citizens,
and victims of crime who are fighting for street-smart, common sense
solutions to America's crime problem, such as: mandatory sentencing for
violent criminals and repeat offenders; life without parole for certain
violent crimes; capital punishment for heinous crimes of murder and
aggravated rape; and legislation to protect the victims of crime.
LEAA also defends the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,
including the Second Amendment. LEAA represents tens of thousands of police
officers across the country who do not believe that law-abiding firearms
owners should be blamed or punished for America's crime problem.
Rank-and-file cops disapprove of politically-appointed bureaucrats claiming
to represent them while supporting unconstitutional restrictions on the
rights of citizens to own firearms for self-defense and other lawful
purposes. LEAA believes that any law requiring the registration of firearms
or a waiting period for the purchase of firearms benefits the criminal, not
the law-abiding citizen.
** CONGRESS OF RACIAL EQUALITY
Headquarters: 30 Cooper Square
Ninth Floor
New York, NY 10003
Telephone: (212) 598-4000
Chairman: Roy Innis
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is a group which began in
Brooklyn as a civil rights organization to promote the rights of blacks
including their right to keep and bear arms. CORE currently has five
regional groups, 39 state groups, and 116 local groups and maintains its
headquarters in New York City. The organization is active in several
anti-crime programs on the grassroots level and emphasizes individual
participation in crime prevention.
** JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
Headquarters: 2872 South Wentworth Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53207
Telephone: (414) 769-0760
Executive Director: Aaron Zelman
Research Director: J.E. Simkin
Membership: 2,000
Founded in 1989, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO)
does research to find new ideas and methods to discredit gun control. JPFO
uses print and electronic media to accomplish this goal.
JPFO is a non-partisan group which seeks to destroy the concept of gun
control and of all gun control laws that target the law abiding citizen.
They believe in a constitutional right allowing law-abiding citizens to be
armed. JPFO considers gun control to be moral perversion because it equates
the criminal to the law-abiding citizen.
** DUCKS UNLIMITED
Headquarters: 1 Waterfowl Way
Memphis, TN 38120
Telephone: (901) 758-3825
President: John E. Walker
Executive
Vice President: Matthew Connolly, Jr.
Membership: 510,000
Publications: Ducks Unlimited Magazine, bi-monthly
Ducks Unlimited employs 120 people in its Tennessee office.
Ducks Unlimited was established in 1937 to help preserve wetlands for
waterfowl after the droughts of the 1930s. It continues its conservation
efforts while promoting hunting rights. It has several projects to increase
duck populations including the North American Waterfowl Management Plan
whose goal is to bring the North American Waterfowl population up to its
1970 level of a fall flight 100 million birds. Ducks Unlimited works with
various federal and state agencies as well as the private sector to meet its
goals.
** IZAAK WALTON LEAGUE
Headquarters: 1401 Wilson Boulevard
Level B
Arlington, VA 22209
Telephone: (703) 528-1818
Executive Director: Maitland Sharpe
Membership: 55,000
The Izaak Walton League has a staff of 22 in Virginia and has 20 state
groups and 400 local groups.
The League works to educate the public on conservation, soil
restoration, forest, water, and other natural projects. It promotes the
recreational use of lands and has a pro-hunting policy. The League has
several environmental programs including the Wetlands Watch and Outdoor
Ethics Information Center, as well as a weekly television program, "Make
Peace With Nature." It also has several workshop programs for various
interests.
The Izaak Walton League maintains the Izaak Walton League Endowment
which is a program to purchase land for eventual sale to the U.S. Forest
Service. The Endowment also provides funding for youth camps and education.
** SAFARI CLUB INTERNATIONAL
Headquarters: 4800 West Gates Pass Road
Tucson, AZ 85745
Telephone: (602) 620-1220
President: Don Kirn
Membership: 20,000
The Safari Club has 115 chapters around the world including 90 chapters
in the United States, and was founded in 1971.
The Safari Club is a sportsman's organization to encourage conservation
of wildlife. The group promotes hunting as a wildlife management tool and
seeks to educate people to this effect. The club's aim is to protect the
rights of hunters. It maintains the Safari Club International Conservation
Fund which works with other conservation groups and grants scholarships to
students who have attended their American Wilderness Leadership School.
** INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES
Headquarters: 444 North Capitol Street, N.W.
Suite 544
Washington, D.C. 20001
Telephone: (202) 624-7890
Executive
Vice President: Max Peterson
Membership: 450
The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA) is
comprised of 68 state and provincial fish and wildlife agencies and 382
officials.
Founded in 1902 as the International Association of Game, Fish, and
Conservation Commissioners, the IAFWA has organized to educate people on the
"importance of conserving natural resources and managing wildlife properly
as a source of recreation and food supply." It maintains several committees
including Hunter Education, Migratory Wildlife, and Wildlife Habitat
Protection.
** WILDLIFE LEGISLATIVE FUND OF AMERICA
Headquarters: 801 Kingsmill Parkway
Columbus, OH 43229
Telephone: (614) 888-4868
President: James H. Glass
Membership: 1.5 million
The Wildlife Legislative Fund of America (WLFA) has a staff of 17, with
the goal of protecting the legal right to hunt, fish, and trap and promote
scientific wildlife management practices. Formed in reaction to
anti-hunting efforts of animal rights groups and related organizations, the
WLFA offers legislative lobbying, legal defense, and educational services
for sportsmen. It is the legislative and political arm of the Wildlife
Conservation Fund of America.