2nd Amendment Advocates Gather in Phoenix to Get Up to Speed, Recharge

Conference attendees say the annual gathering provides them with information, motivation.

Attendees of the 38th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conferene check out merchandise available at the event on Sept. 23, 2023. Michael Clements/The Epoch Times

PHOENIX—The Second Amendment Foundation wrapped up the first day of its 38th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in Phoenix on Sept. 23. Many say the event reminds them of the importance of their fight.

“For one thing, it’s a recharging of the batteries,” foundation President and noted defensive gun expert Massad Ayoob told The Epoch Times. “It’s a positive reinforcement of what we all believe.”

This year’s event featured 70 speakers on topics ranging from state weapons bans to how to engage with political opponents and the current political climate.

Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the foundation, joked that the recent announcement by President Joe Biden of the creation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention is the sort of political situation that often requires taking a good news versus bad news attitude.

“The bad news is that Biden set up this gun violence prevention thing right in the White House,” he told The Epoch Times. “The good news is he put [Vice President] Kamala Harris in charge of it.”

Members of the Arizona Junior High Power competition shooting team speak to attendees of the 38th Gun Rights Policy Conference in Phoenix on Sept. 23, 2023. Michael Clements/The Epoch Times

Mr. Gottlieb said the Biden administration’s position on gun control is precisely why he started the Second Amendment Foundation. According to Mr. Gottlieb, the foundation has been working with Congress to stop President Biden’s agenda.

“It’s true; once an agency or task force like this is set up, it’s hard to get rid of it. On the other hand, we have a number of Republican members of Congress that are trying to defund it,” he said.

Doug Taylor of Savage, Minnesota, said this was his fourth conference; he says he’s enjoyed them all.

“They always do a great job here. Great presentation, great speakers, and a great reception,” Mr. Taylor told The Epoch Times.

He said he enjoys the camaraderie and the opportunity to be with people with a similar worldview. Like Mr. Ayoob, he said he finds the event reenergizing.

Camaraderie Energizes Attendees

“It really energizes the Second Amendment advocates, the people who are there are supporting gun rights, civil rights. Coming to one of these events gets you reenergized for the rest of the year,” he said.

Jennifer Boehme helped attendees register and said 700 had signed up for the conference. She estimated that at least 600 people were in the conference venue at any time, as some attendees came to hear specific speakers. She said the participants she had spoken with had nothing but positive comments.

“So far, we’re hearing that participants are really enjoying the variety of the speakers, that they’re also appreciating the fact that they’re getting kind of the nitty-gritty of what’s going on on the ground, and how they can be involved,” she told The Epoch Times.

Pamela Tyrrell traveled from Elephant Butte, New Mexico, to attend her 10th conference. She said that as a woman, she has always felt the responsibility to do whatever was necessary to protect her family. That includes being proficient with a gun.

“I’m a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. And I think that we should all protect ourselves because the crimes aren’t [going to] go away,” she told The Epoch Times.

Growing Crime

Ms. Tyrrell said the recent actions by her state’s governor highlight the problem of crime in her state and how some anti-gun politicians react to it. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, recently tried to implement a 30-day ban on the public carry of firearms in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County in New Mexico.

The governor scaled back the prohibition but didn’t drop it altogether. Her actions drew a swift and robust response from state law enforcement officials, gun rights advocates, Republicans, and even members of her party and gun control activists who said the order went too far.

“I am so upset. I am so not like-minded with her at all. My mother once told me if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything,” Ms. Tyrell said.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham listens to President Joe Biden's speech about student debt relief at Central New Mexico Community College Student Resource Center in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 3, 2022. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

The foundation was among a host of gun rights groups that sued Ms. Grisham and other state officials over the ban. They won a temporary restraining order on Sept. 13, so the action is on hold until a hearing in October.

David Laird of Arizona said that story is why he supports the foundation. Some other better-known groups have been distracted trying to compromise when they should stand firm, Mr. Laird said.

Self-Defense Is ‘a Human Right’

“I think that other groups and organizations have been focusing on all the wrong things and have painted gun owners in the wrong light and have had the opposite effect of what we’re trying to achieve by protecting constitutionally protected rights,” Mr. Laird told The Epoch Times. “And this organization, I think, has just done more of the law and legal work.”

As the first day wound down, Adam Kraut, the organization’s executive director, said he was pleased with the event. Although he has attended previous conferences and appeared as a speaker at some, this was his first as director.

The lawyer from Philadelphia told The Epoch Times that the conference appeared to be on track to accomplish one of his goals for the event: to frame the issue as being about much more than just about guns.

“At the end of the day, you know, the Second Amendment and the debate surrounding it is really about the fundamental right to armed self-defense. And that’s a human right that transcends everything else.”