[Thumper]

As many of you know, The Second Amendment Foundation is holding their annual convention in Houston. Speakers today included Wayne Lapierre, John Lott, Neal Knox, and Alan Gottlieb. Powerful, informative speakers, all.

Got to meet Lennyjoe and Jim March, finally; both true gentlemen.

The main things I took away from today's speakers:

1.) Silveira v. Lockyer has the potential to be VERY bad for us, obviously. David Kopel (Cato Institute) pounded this point home with a Justice by Justice appraisal of the Supreme Court.

2.) Each speaker, from Charles Cunningham (Director, Federal Affairs NRA-ILA) to Tom Gresham were adamant that Bush Jr. is our man in '04. Lt. General James Chambers, USAF (Ret.) was particularly eloquent in his description of the joys of gun rights promotion under this administration.

Good speech, Guntalk.

I'm sure the others will have more to add.

Here's a pic of (L to R) Jeeper, Lennyjoe, Jim March, and myself. Jim's showing us what a Kalifornia CCW looks like (big knife for a very big guy).

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=510600

[Lennyjoe]

Dude, I just got done posting the pics too. Guess we had the same thing in mind.

Check out the ones here at

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42109

Sorry I couldnt stay longer. Did stop by Bass Pro Shops on the way back. The one in Atlanta is way bigger.

I'll send you the link for the Waco shoot in Oct.

[BTR]

Any mention of the AW ban?

[Thumper]

Any mention of the AW ban?

Wayne Lapierre "guarantee"d it was going to die and that was the consensus.

Seemed to be almost a non-issue among the Washington trench fighters...done deal. We'll see. Keep writing.

[Standing Wolf]

Silveira v. Lockyer has the potential to be VERY bad for us, obviously. David Kopel (Cato Institute) pounded this point home with a Justice by Justice appraisal of the Supreme Court.

Small wonder the leftist extremists have been devoting so much effort to blocking the appointment of new federal judges: it could make matters uncomfortable for the judicial oligarchy.

[Mark Tyson]

What a motley crew. With allies like this, we can't lose! LOL

So, I finally know what the "Towering Redhead" Jim March looks like(that was from a newspaper article a while back).

Good work guys. Hope the convention went well. Make the NRA hold the line on this one. SAF is good people - they do a lot of good. I think the ban may very well sunset as we move closer, but I have a bad feeling about this potential supreme court case . . .

[CleverNickname]

I was there too. Lots of good info.

I was also a bit surprised they would choose to hold the conference at a hotel with a HUGE 30.06 SIGN AT THE ENTRANCE. :cuss:

[Thumper]

Depends on what entrance you took. ;)

Someone pointed out the sign to me after I had Robert Glock (Gaston's boy) sign my carry rig. Oops. :D

[Jeeper]

I heard that the signs werent there when they came out to inspect the location a few months ago. It was cool to meet you guys.

[JCPershing]

FYI for those staying at the Airport Marriott in Houston in the future. One of the last announcements at the GRPC was that the signs were coming down from this hotel. Evidently the land is owned by the city or state and thus the hotel doesn't have the option of preventing carry. Not sure how that is supposed to work at a building that sure says "Marriott," but that was the announcement.

John

[pyrguy]

Hey Jim is that the fabled SIFU #1.



Dwight
Who owns #50 and several others

[Lennyjoe]

After walking down from the parking garage and seeing that sign, I had to do an about face and secure my assets. Bummed me out but what could I do.

Clevernickname, wish we would of known you were there. The more THR'er the better.

Jeeper saysIt was cool to meet you guys

That it was. You going to the shoot in Waco? AR15.com is putting on what they call Gunstock. Its Fri thru Sunday Oct 10-12.

Oh by the way, for those of you who dont know what the infamous 30-06 sign looks like, here it is.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid81/pee85361bbd846ec98b34dce8a42c57a9/faf92960.jpg

[Don Gwinn]

Wow, it even states explicitly that it only applies to licensed good guys. :scrutiny:

I guess that's honest.

[Jim March]

That is indeed "ol numba one".

I just got back. I didn't actually catch all that much of the event, note the "staff" badge :). I was stuck on the registration table most of the time.

I did however catch the panel on the USSC potentials featuring David Kopel. Unfortunately Gary Gorski was a no-show.

David and I spoke about the Cruikshank case. His opinion was that the USSC treated the various defendants as ALL being private citizens versus state agents; I always thought they were a mix of police and KKK. If his view is accurate, it explains why he doesn't think Cruikshank is important - I intend to research the matter in more detail.

I also got to do a 10-minute presentation Sunday AM on the basics of what's happening in California in CCW. Nowhere NEAR enough time, of course. I'll blog a LOT more commentary on all this tomorrow and do a link back here.

Must...sleep...for now.

[feedthehogs]

Wayne Lapierre "guarantee"d it was going to die and that was the consensus.

I think it was irresponsible of Wayne to say that. Complacency may set in.

There is way too much time between now and Oct. 04 to guarantee such a promise.
Besides it may die and tougher legislation be passed. HR 2038 comes to mind.

The administration is in a real bad way right now and may have to compromise on some issues to gain others.

Nothing is a sure thing; otherwise we'd all be rich.

[Dan from MI]

Good to see. I wish I could have made, but family stuff came up last minute.

[CleverNickname]

FYI for those staying at the Airport Marriott in Houston in the future. One of the last announcements at the GRPC was that the signs were coming down from this hotel. Evidently the land is owned by the city or state and thus the hotel doesn't have the option of preventing carry. Not sure how that is supposed to work at a building that sure says "Marriott," but that was the announcement.

Sort of makes sense, as the hotel is right smack dab in the middle of the airport. If I had to guess, Mariott probably has a 99 year lease or something similar, but the land is still owned by the city, making 30.06 signs not effective under SB 501.