Neal Knox -- Condition Not Good

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Many of you know or know of Neal Knox, who has been a tireless fighter for the Second Amendment for more than three decades. Today I received this from Jeff, his son.

-------------------

Tom,

You probably know that Dad has been fighting cancer
for the past year... He's taken a serious turn for the
worse.

At this point, the doctors have given up and sent him
home with hospice care. We're doing what we can but
mainly it's controlling the pain and praying. Unless
God decides that He has more for him to do here, the
end could come any time.

I wanted you to know.

You're welcome to let people know about this and
prayers are encouraged.

Jeff

---------------------------------------------
 
That is indeed sad ... sounds very terminal. It is to be hoped he is spared undue suffering. Just as sad ... the prospect of losing a valuable 2A proponent. He will be well remembered.

Thoughts to Neal and all family.
 
 

Damn!

One of the most fearless Second Amendment warriors ever, and a good friend.

Neal is such an integral part of the history of the NRA, which spent so much time and effort demonizing the man in the mid-'80s and latter '90s. He was in Cincinnati in '77, and with Harlon Carter the impetus behind ILA.

Courage, Neal, Jay, Jeff, Stacy, et al… white light and prayers for the whole family.

 
 
Sad news

Pray he will have an easy time. A true freedom fighter in our cause. I will miss the man, and his spirit. All freedom loving Americans need to give thanks for the work of Neal Knox. Peace unto him.
 
That is sad news to read.He has been such a strong voice for so long...sorry to hear he is so sick.I had the pleasure to listen to him give a speech at an ORA meeting back in the 90's and then I got to talk with him later.He will be missed.My thoughts and prayers to his family.
 
What Dean Speir says...

I have no words to express my thanks to Neal for all that he has done for us...

My heart goes out to him and his family.

Forrest
 
How well I remember 1977. It was the Cincinnatti revolution. I was a very young magazine editor in Montgomery, Alabama, and was talking with Neal before the NRA annual meetings. As he told me what was going on, I knew I had to be there.

Watching the members take back the NRA, and fire the officers right there on the stage, was amazing.

Neal is a fighter. A Texan. A bench rest shooting champion. A skilled politician. A gifted writer and editor. When I was editor of Rifle and Handloader magazines, Neal was my model, since he had held that post long before me. He wrote a column on gun politics, and I always had to call him at deadline to remind him it was due, and he always wrote a wonderful piece and got it to me in time (barely).

He always had a kind word, and was polite, but there was a steel backbone that no one misunderstood. His time as head of the NRA-ILA was critical in the development of the gun rights movement.

I had a chance to spend a little time with him at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in D.C. last September. He had knocked back the cancer at that point, but I guess we knew it was only a holding action.

I remember Neal telling me somthing like, "Tom, if it happens once, it's random. Twice, and it's coincidence. Three times is enemy action."

For anti-gunners, and for some within the gun movement, he has always been a tough adversary.

I am so sad about this I haven't been able to tell my wife. I can't say the words out loud.

For anyone who has ever heard Neal speak in public, please allow me to repeat how he opened every talk.

"HELLO, GUN LOBBY!"

Dammit, Neal. You are one of the toughest SOBs I've ever known. I thought that if anyone could kick cancer in the teeth and send it packing, it would be you, my friend.

He helped this young, cocky, punk of a gun writer and editor, and has been my friend for almost 30 years.

I pray that Neal has an easy time of passing, but if I know him, he'll be kicking, clawing and scratching, fighting it every bit of the way.

When he gets there, I'd like to think that St. Peter will have a good bench, with a single action Army .45, a bench rest rifle in .22 PPC, and a 28-gauge shotgun waiting for him. When Neal walks up, St. Peter will look up from the the scope and say,

"Hello, Gun Lobby."
 
.

Well spoken, Tom… it occurred to me that in early 2005 the words "Members Revolt, Cincinnati 1977" may not have much meaning for many here. Willikers, that was more than a generation ago. Our friend Joe Tartaro, my old Editor at Gun Week (not so coincidentally the periodical for which Neal was the Founding Editor almost 40 years ago), has thoroughly chronicled that seminal event in a slim volume available from SAF, and it should be required reading for those interested in the evolution of the NRA, what was "won" there in '77, much of which has, sadly, subsequently been lost again.

Never doubt for a second Neal's importance in the continuing battle for an unequivocal "individual right" Second Amendment. One has only to look back eight years or so when the hierarchy of the NRA had to import "Moses" in order to "stifle" Neal's uncompromising approach and keep him from ascending to the organization's Presidency.

I mention that not so much to knock what the NRA has become, but to point out what an immense presence Neal has for so long been, both publicly and behind the scenes… so much so that only someone of the stature of Mr. Heston could pull it off.

Neal Knox has been a Second Amendment Colossus! "Hello, Gun Lobby," indeed!

.
 
I, too first met Neal at the 1977 Cincinnati revolt.

We became good friends beginning in 1992 when we in Missouri started getting serious about getting concealed carry passed. Neal agreed to get Suzanne Gratia to come testify at a hearing, and he himself came to our rally at the Capitol rotunda.

The day of the rally, there was an ice storm. Neal was flabbergasted that we had an SRO crowd show up in the midst of such awful weather. It galvanized him into giving a speech that had the crowd cheering and clapping so loudly they were heard in EVERY legislators' office in the building.

A normal-sized man that cast a VERY long shadow among civil rights activists.

JR
 
Neal Knox is a man of vision and drive who fought tirelessly on our behalf. He accounted for every penny, stayed at lower priced motels when he knew the NRA would pay for better, and championed our cause without compromising his integrity. As a man of honour, he deserves better. :(
 
Irreplaceable Neal

This is tragic news. I pray for him and his family. I also pray for the rest of us gun owners and RKBA supporters. There is only one Neal Knox. He has been a singular voice for many of us, and will truly remain irreplaceable. I can't even imagine the hole in our fabric that will be rent. Godspeed Neal. I feel privileged to have shaken your hand, spoken with you, and cast my vote for you.
 
I stood a few feet from him in the Philadelphia Meeting in 1998.

The chair refused to recognize him even though he was in order, and reasonable.

I haven't had much use for the NRA since.

His tireless activism for gun rights and prodding of the NRA compromisers will be missed!

May the Good Lord receive him into his arms and comfort his loved ones till they meet again.

RAZ


:cuss: :banghead: :cuss: :banghead:
 
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