Last month’s Gun Rights Policy Conference was one of the best, according to every “after action” report I’ve seen or heard from people in charge, including Alan Gottlieb, his wife, Julianne and — more importantly — people who have attended these things over the years, all over the country.

It started off with appearance by veteran political journalist and analyst whose byline has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, American Spectator, National Review and elsewhere. For an opening act, it’s pretty hard to beat John Fund, and he didn’t disappoint anyone in the standing-room-only ballroom. He started off with this observation: “Love him or loath him, Donald Trump lives rent-free in the White House’s head.” Still, he predicted the 2024 presidential race will not be a rematch between Trump and Joe Biden. We’ll see how accurate that forecast is in about six months, as the campaign season shifts into high gear and would-be candidates start dropping off the campaign trail.

Fund is a fun guy, and he hung around the conference for almost the entire event, chatting with people, paying attention to what was being said by other speakers, and generally taking it all in as only a veteran journalist could. My guess is he got more out of the conference than most other people because it goes with the job.

He offered a fair bit of political savvy, telling the audience, “The most important thing you have to understand, is almost all of the conventional wisdom about politics is wrong or incomplete.”

His advice is straightforward: Watch to see whether, and how soon, top Democrats start dropping hints that a Congressional investigation into allegations surrounding Hunter Biden and Biden family finances “might not be a bad idea, just to clear the air.”

Here’s an Insider observation: If that sort of talk starts gaining traction, watch the administration ramp up its war on guns, as a distraction from what Fund said is Joe Biden’s major problem: His family affairs.

Now, if you missed the Gun Rights Conference, you can still take it all in on YouTube. You can find the Day One morning session here. The afternoon session, including the annual awards luncheon, may be viewed here. And, you can watch the Day Two wrap-up session here.

On Background

The GRPC doesn’t just happen. Months of planning goes into one of these events, including finding and selecting the best venue, picking a hotel with adequate facilities and negotiating an affordable cost, make sure it’s easy to reach by people flying in from all over the map (a reliable major airport nearby is a must), and be sure it’s in a major population area to guarantee a good local turnout.

That’s only part of it. One of the biggest jobs is lining up speakers. You want to invite speakers who are able to inform and even entertain. From experience, you can identify people who have something to say, are able to say it in a limited time frame, don’t drone on and on — thereby knocking your schedule out of sync — and actually leave an audience better informed than when they arrived.

Because this event is held in late September, it’s also a good idea to have at least some knowledge of seasonal weather patterns. After all, who wants to schedule a conference which might be derailed by a hurricane?

There are two receptions at these things, one Friday evening and one Saturday evening. Coordinating these events is no small task, but the small crew from the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms — which co-sponsor the conference — handle the job, and normally get some help from local volunteers.

The GRPC is free to attend, including the Saturday awards luncheon. Traditionally, people who attend go away with lots of free books and other materials.

Mas-ter of Ceremonies

None other than American Handgunner and GUNS veteran contributor Massad Ayoob, who also serves as president of SAF, opened the two-day event telling the audience, “If you have chosen to arm yourself to defend yourself and your family, and protect that right for others, you can identify as pro-life and pro-choice.”

I’ve known Ayoob for decades, and he can captivate an audience. This time around was no different, as he discussed homicide and suicide, and explained why gun rights will prevail.

“Our side has won its fights with logic and application of law,” he said. “The other side tends to win on emotion. These are not mutually exclusive tools. I think we should be using emotion as well.”

He asserted that gun owners have the facts, and the law, on their side. If it were not so, “We wouldn’t have gotten as far as we already have.”
Meanwhile, he observed, “The other side dances in the blood of the victims.” And, they’re deceptive about it, frequently combining the numbers of suicides and homicides, for a more dramatic total.

“It is unfair to conflate that (suicide) with the murder of the innocent,” Ayoob said.

He lauded the acts of armed private citizens who prevent violence, pointing to studies that suggest defensive gun uses number as high as 1.67 million annually. Over 90% of these incidents “end up with no bloodshed on either side.” He also noted that at least some of these self-defense incidents involve dangerous animals, not criminals.

As if to underscore Ayoob’s remarks, a news agency in Helena, Montana recently reported two separate incidents in which people shot and killed grizzly bears in self-defense. One incident involved a fisherman in the Tom Miner Basin, north of Yellowstone National Park. The other occurred a few miles north of Whitefish, and involved two men who were scouting places for a hunting camp when they were charged by a bear.

My good friend Bob Cottrol, who teaches law, history and sociology at George Washington University, is co-author of a new book worthy of a read sometime over the winter months when being cozy near the fireplace has its benefits.

Cottrol authored the book along with Prof. Brannon Denning. It is titled, “To Trust the People with Arms: The Supreme Court and the Second Amendment,” from University Press of Kansas. It’s a hardcover spanning 376 pages, and if you plan on arguing gun rights with somebody, give this one a read.

Cottrol, who has an uncanny knowledge of a classic Burt Lancaster/Lee Marvin film “The Professionals,” spoke at the gun rights conference. Describing himself as a liberal, he nonetheless is one of the most pro-Second Amendment people I know. My personal highlight of his report to the conference audience was telling them there is no research showing that gun control has decreased crime, while there is “robust evidence that there was a significant amount of deterrence and defense against crime because ordinary citizens had the means to protect themselves and did so in large numbers throughout the years.”

California Bad Dreamin’

Just when you thought nothing in California could get crazier, along comes a report from Fox News which could loosely translate to, “Here, hold my beer.”

The state, in an effort to bring the deer population on Catalina Island under some semblance of control, was planning to hire somebody to gun down deer from a helicopter. Just like the wildlife “managers” in Washington state hiring hunters to zap troublesome wolves, rather than set up a lottery for wolf tags so hunters could take care of the problem, and enjoy a challenging hunt in the process.

The Catalina Island story revealed that issuing 200 permits to hunters hasn’t reduced the deer population adequately, but when the helicopter scheme surfaced, so did a petition opposing the idea. It gathered thousands of signatures. One would think all the state needs to do is up the permit quota, turn loose handgun and bow hunters, and maybe black powder hunters, to thin the herd. But that might be too easy.

Mailbox

I’m wondering if it’s possible to get a picture(s) along with diameter, cutting sizes and joint connections of the PVC pieces that make up Dave Workman’s makeshift target stand. I would like to try making one to use in my back woods area. (Insider, Sept. 21, “Take Your Range.”) 

Have been a very long-term subscriber to American Handgunner. I’m a current subscriber good through 2028 and read every issue cover to cover. As a very senior citizen (90 in Nov.), I really enjoy articles that are about good old blue steel and beautiful wood gripped guns. Sorry, I can’t get used to referring to them as “stocks” like some writers. To this old mind long guns have stocks, handguns have grips so sue me. The “Duke” has some of the most enjoyable articles about vintage arms of anyone around. Love his writings.

Appreciate your help & keep that great publication. And yes, I also subscribe to GUNS.

— Bob Olinick

Dave Replies: Bob, I built the stand using plain old hardware store 1-inch PVC tubing. The legs measure 5 feet and the crossbar at the top is 25 inches. I fit them together with corner joints—don’t glue them!) and use T-joints on the bottom for the feet.

Each foot section measures 15 inches, so when they are assembled, the base sections total 32 inches on either side. The sections can be cut with a hacksaw or a jigsaw.

As I mentioned in the column, you can make the target stand even more compact by cutting the legs in half — say at 30 inches — and joining them together with couplers.

Thanks so much for reading American Handgunner and GUNS, and allow me, on behalf of my colleagues here, to wish you a great 90th birthday this month!