The National Rifle Association may be the official whipping boy of the national media these days, but Alan Gottlieb seems to have had a good time in Houston this past weekend. In fact, The Second Amendment Foundation’s taken the time to issue a press release congratulating the NRA on a very successful shindig . . .
BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today congratulated the National Rifle Association for its record-breaking turnout over the weekend at the 142nd annual meetings in Houston, Tex.
“With a turnout of more than 86,000 members and guests, many of whom became new members, the NRA can be justifiably proud,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, himself an NRA Life member. “It sends a strong signal to the gun prohibition lobby that America’s firearms owners are more committed than ever to protect their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”
Gottlieb also offered sincere congratulations to Jim Porter, the newly-elected NRA president, succeeding Gottlieb’s longtime friend David Keene.
“There is no doubt that Jim Porter is devoted to protecting the Second Amendment,” Gottlieb stated. “We offer him our best wishes and hopes for a very successful presidency.”
SAF exhibited at the event and staff was in attendance at the members’ meeting, and Gottlieb noted that Houston made all NRA members feel very welcome.
“Without doubt,” he said, “this was a truly well-organized gathering, and considering the turnout, NRA staff clearly did a monumental job.
“We’re looking forward to late September,” he concluded, “when SAF and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms will be back in Houston for the 27th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference. After this weekend’s remarkable experience, it’s certain that Texans are not only ready to stand and fight to protect their firearms rights, but they will, as always, fight to win.”
since we are winning. gun rights groups should be going on the offensive. roll back on EO’s that restrict import of arms to only sporting type. REPEAL THE HUGHES AMENDMENT! etc etc. the fight doesn’t just stop here we need to keep pushing.
Never forget the Gottlieb-Manchin-Toomey bill.
Oooo, that was mean, J&D. Funny, but mean. But mostly funny.
High praise right there!
Quite right J&D! Gottlieb really stepped on his dick by supporting this bill and its going to take a while to get his cred back…just sayin…
SAF pulled support from the bill, and Alan Gottlieb has done more than most people in this country to defend the 2nd Amendment. It’s fine to disagree with his support of the bill (and he too eventually disagreed with his initial position), but for his credibility to be damaged because he was genuinely trying to get gun owners a win? How? He’s not in the same class as a politician who is “pro 2nd amendment” until a shooting happens, he just put his money on the wrong horse and realized it.
What actually happened in the vote – that was a win. What Alan Gottlieb tried to do was lose gently. You may not win every time, but if winning isn’t what you’re going for, you never ever will.
I don’t know if Manchin-Toomey qualifies as a “never-forgiven” or not, but Alan is still in the doghouse.
Jinx! Paul owes me a soda!
The guy can no longer be trusted, just like Toomey and Manchin. If he will betray us once…
Gottlieb made a mistake, and so did I in my initiatial support of the bill – when I thought it contained national carry reciprocity. I believe Ralph also initially supported it. Still, Gottlieb has helped engineer some wonderful litigation and advocacy in support of the 2A, so he’s no longer on my ‘naughty’ list.
No way you get it bed with the devil. Manchin fell for it and Gottlieb fell for it. Politics is no longer cooperation or compromise. Politics is now good vs evil, with both sides claiming the good, of course. This ain’t our parents parties any more.
Not sure Manchin fell for anything. It could be he has hopes for 2016 and no democrat will get the nomination if he is perceived as pro-2A. Just a thought.
I wonder if any of the people touting the 99% common sense Americans notice the “142nd” in front of NRA ANNUAL meeting?
My wife said I need that sticker. I agree!
I rock the shirt sometimes. Always a big hit 🙂
Well, it’s good the SAF and the NRA aren’t enemies, but I wonder if Gottlieb’s gaffes last month were part of an elaborate good cop, bad cop deal with the NRA.
I sincerely hope they are that smart and united.
I look upon the NRA and SAF as complementary, not comptetitive. Each has strong and weak points. The NRA does lobbying through its membership; the SAF is more focussed on litigation.
Re the so-called “background check” bill, I believe that Gottlieb signed on to something closer to what Oklahoma Sen. Coburn was proposing: something that did not have an implicit registration as part of it, and which also had some meaty protections. When the final bill had other stuff in it — especially registration items and minimal protections — Gottlieb dumped it. I think that is a reasonable trajectory: not one I’d’ve taken, but reasonable.
Legislative drafting is not the same as Constitutional Law. Both are tricky and require talent and intelligence, but being good at one doesnt’ always make you good at another.
Alan did a radio interview a few days after the vote on Toomey-Manchin: http://www.thegunmag.com/armed-america-radio-inter-view-with-alan-gottlieb-audio/
I found his reasons for seeking a compromise on expanded background checks reasonable at the time, and seeing how things have been shaping up in the meantime, it’s not yet clear to me that he was wrong.
And then there’s this: http://www.pagunblog.com/2013/05/08/with-friends-like-this/
Y’all better get it through your heads, Gottlieb is playing for the other team now, because he’s had a handwriting-on-the-wall moment. He THINKS he sees this thing like the NRA has on many occasions, as a time when the supposed inevitability of gun control means that if you get to the table on time, you can divert and water things down a little so you don’t lose the whole enchilada. But what he’ll wind up doing is giving the gun control morons more fodder, and media coverage, and we’ll still lose, but the sheep will nod and believe that gun owners are “reasonable”. Chamberlain thought he could placate Hitler too. And these collectivist bastards could teach Hitler some things.
Who in their right mind would trust this government with any information on who can, who owns, and who can’t exercise their Constitutional rights. We have been giving for years and their is not one shred of emperical evidence that nay kind of gun control works to nreduce violent crime. As a matter of fact the evidence shows just the opposite. The question we must ask is what was Gottliebs motives?
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