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.