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

U.S. 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.

National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. 

Headquarters: 11 Mile Hill Road

 Newton, 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: Sgt. Richard Beckman

 Membership: 50,000

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 50,000+ 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.

Gun Owners of America 

Headquarters: 8001 Forbes Place

 Suite 102

 Springfield, VA 22151

 Telephone: (703) 321-8585 

Executive Director: Larry Pratt 

Gun Owners of America (GOA) was founded in 1975. It is a nonprofit lobbying organization formed to preserve the rights of gun owners. GOA lobbies Congress and state legislatures and is active in electoral politics. GOA operates a California office and has a federal political action committee, Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund (GOAPVF). Also associated with GOA is the Gun Owners Foundation. GOF is the tax-deductible research and education arm of GOA.

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 5320

 Telephone: (414) 673-9745 

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 bard 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.

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