The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is a United States

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that supports

gun rights The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, including securi ...

. Founded in 1974 by

Alan Gottlieb Alan Merril Gottlieb is an American author, conservative political activist, gun rights advocate, and businessperson. Gottlieb has published 23 books. Biography He was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of Tennessee in the s ...

and headquartered in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has v ...

, SAF publishes gun rights magazines and public education materials, funds conferences, provides media contacts, and has assumed a central role in sponsoring lawsuits. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is the lobbying affiliate of the SAF. As of January 2015, both groups reported having over 650,000 members.

Legal action

In 2005, the Second Amendment Foundation and the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

(NRA) successfully sued New Orleans mayor

Ray Nagin Clarence Raymond Joseph Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010. A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane ...

and others to stop gun seizures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. On February 12, 2007, Ray Nagin and others were held in contempt of court for violating the consent order. The case is ''National Rifle Association of America, Inc., et al. v. C. Ray Nagin et al.'' In 2005, SAF and others sued to stop the San Francisco gun ban. On June 13, 2006, San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren struck down the ban, saying local governments have no such authority under California law. The City appealed Judge Warren's ruling, but lost in a unanimous opinion from the three-judge panel in the Court of Appeal issued on January 9, 2008. The City then appealed to the California Supreme Court, which reached a unanimous decision on April 9, 2008, that rejected the city's appeal and upheld the lower courts' decision. In 2006, a suit was filed in federal court against Washington state's North Central Regional Library District (NCRL). "The NCRL's policy of refusing to disable its

Internet filter An Internet filter is software that restricts or controls the content an Internet user is capable to access, especially when utilized to restrict material delivered over the Internet via the Web, Email, or other means. Content-control software dete ...

s upon request is restricting the ability of speakers, content providers and patrons of the NCRL's public-library branches to access the contemporary marketplace of ideas" by using Internet filters on publicly available computer terminals to block access to constitutionally protected speech, including publications such as ''Women & Guns'' magazine, which is owned by SAF. It is claimed the library refuses to unblock such access even at the request of the plaintiffs. Upon certification by the District Court, the

Washington Supreme Court The Washington Supreme Court is the highest court in the judiciary of the U.S. state of Washington. The court is composed of a chief justice and eight associate justices. Members of the court are elected to six-year terms. Justices must retire ...

held that a public library may, consistent with the Washington State Constitution, filter Internet access for all patrons without being obliged to disable the filter to allow access to web sites containing constitutionally protected speech upon the request of an adult library patron. Based on this ruling, the federal district court ruled in 2012 that the public library's policy, including not disabling an Internet filter at the request of an adult patron, was reasonable, was not constitutionally overbroad, and did not violate the First Amendment's content-based restrictions. In 2008, the Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA successfully sued

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, forcing the state to restart issuing and renewing Alien Firearms Licenses to legal resident aliens. On June 26, 2008, following the ruling in ''

District of Columbia v. Heller ''District of Columbia v. Heller'', 554 U.S. 570 (2008), is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service i ...

'' affirming an individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point ...

, the Second Amendment Foundation filed a suit, known as ''

McDonald v. Chicago ''McDonald v. City of Chicago'', 561 U.S. 742 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms", as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated ...

'', against the

City of Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to overturn its handgun ban.

Alan Gura Alan Gura is an American litigator practicing in the areas of civil litigation, appellate litigation, and civil rights law at Gura P.L.L.C. Gura successfully argued two landmark constitutional cases before the United States Supreme Court involvi ...

, who successfully argued ''Heller'' before the Supreme Court, was lead counsel in this case. On June 28, 2010, the Supreme Court held in ''McDonald'' that the

Second Amendment to the United States Constitution The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the Bill of Rights. In '' District of Columbia v. Helle ...

is incorporated by the

Due Process Clause In United States constitutional law, a Due Process Clause is found in both the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, which prohibits arbitrary deprivation of "life, liberty, or property" by the government except as ...

of the Fourteenth Amendment and applies to the states. In a noteworthy concurring opinion, Justice

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 19 ...

held that the application of the Second Amendment to the states was through the Fourteenth Amendment's

Privileges or Immunities Clause The Privileges or Immunities Clause is Amendment XIV, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution. Along with the rest of the Fourteenth Amendment, this clause became part of the Constitution on July 9, 1868. Text of the clause The c ...

. Following the ''Heller'' decision in 2008 in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

to possess a firearm for private use, the Second Amendment Foundation partnered with

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American firearm manufacturer headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the "Smith & Wesson Revolver Company" in 18 ...

to create a commemorative revolver. On the right side plate of the revolver, the scale of justice is depicted with the case name across the scale. The balance is in favor of the "Heller" name with the court date of "June 26, 2008" positioned across the top. Underneath the scale, the side plate reads "Second Amendment" and "The right to keep and bear arms" in white lettering. The revolver was presented to the six plaintiffs of the case. On June 29, 2010, following the ''McDonald'' ruling by the Supreme Court that the Second Amendment is incorporated against the states, the Second Amendment Foundation, along with Grass Roots North Carolina and three North Carolina citizens, filed a federal suit in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. The suit, known as ''

Bateman vs. Perdue Bateman may refer to: Places * Bateman, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth, Australia ** Electoral district of Bateman, an electorate of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, centred on the suburb *Batemans Bay, a town and bay in New South ...

'', seeks to prevent local officials and local governments from declaring states of emergency under which private citizens are prohibited from exercising their right to bear arms.

, who successfully argued ''Heller'' and ''McDonald'' before the Supreme Court, is lead counsel in this case. In 2018, the Foundation joined in a lawsuit against Alameda County, which had passed an ordinance that prohibits gun stores from being located within 500 feet of a residential zone. The plaintiffs won before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court, but the decision was reversed by the full appeals court sitting ''en banc''. The plaintiffs filed for a Writ of Certiorari seeking a hearing before the US Supreme Court. The Court rejected the request on May 14, 2017.

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is the lobbying affiliate of the Second Amendment Foundation. As of January 2015, both groups reported having over 650,000 members. The CCRKBA was founded by Gottlieb in 1971, three years before he founded the SAF. The organization was formed to advocate the individualist interpretation of the Second Amendment by firearm enthusiasts who felt that the

(NRA) was not taking a strong enough stand on gun control and gun rights.

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership is a gun-rights organization of American physicians. It was founded in 1993 by Timothy Wheeler, now Director emeritus, as a project of the

Claremont Institute The Claremont Institute is a conservative think tank based in Upland, California. The institute was founded in 1979 by four students of Harry V. Jaffa. It produces the ''Claremont Review of Books,'' ''The American Mind'', and other publications. ...

; as of 2016, it was a project of the Second Amendment Foundation. Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO) is a nationwide network of physicians and other health professionals who support the safe and lawful use of firearms. It also educates the public by searching and posting the best articles using science and medicine in dealing with firearm politics, proper use of firearms, and gun safety. It also publishes its own articles by DRGO members twice weekly. The editor of DRGO is Robert B. Young, MD; John Edeen, MD, is media liaison and Membership Director; Arthur Z. Przebinda, MD., is DRGO Project Director. Authors and Contributors include Gary Mauser, PhD, and

Miguel Faria Miguel A. Faria Jr. (born 30 September 1952) is Associate Editor in Chief in neuropsychiatry; history of medicine; and socioeconomics, politics, and world affairs of ''Surgical Neurology International'' (SNI) from 2012–present, before that a me ...

, MD.

Publications

* ''The Gun Mag'', a monthly magazine * ''Women & Guns'', a bi-monthly magazine * ''The Gottlieb-Tartaro Report'', a monthly newsletter * ''SAF Reporter'', a quarterly newsletter * ''Journal of Firearms and Public Policy'', an annual reference book * ''The New Gun Week'', weekly magazine that ran for 45 years, is now "TheGunMag"

Radio

The Second Amendment Foundation and the CCRKBA own a group of business talk radio stations in the Pacific Northwest.

Legal action

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership

Publications

Radio

Stations

See also

References

External links