PA Bill Number: HB1472
Title: In primary and election expenses, further providing for reporting by candidate and political committees and other persons and for late contributions ...
Description: In primary and election expenses, further providing for reporting by candidate and political committees and other persons and for late contrib ...
Last Action: Referred to STATE GOVERNMENT
Last Action Date: Apr 22, 2024
A curious new gun group :: 07/01/2015
When a new pro-gun group surfaces, unfortunately, I’ve become somewhat suspicious.
I’ve seen a few crop up over the years that were focused on fundraising but little else.
I recently received an email from 2AO — the “Second Amendment Organization” — that announced they’d kicked off a fundraising campaign for the victims of the Charleston church shooting.
Problem is, I’d never heard of the 2AO, nor had any of my contacts at several longstanding pro-gun organizations. Several readers had questions about the group, too.
I called Tim Young, who was listed as 2AO’s media contact. He never called back. His phone number is associated with both the National Press Club and a marketing group. Strange, that.
I emailed 2AO for more information. The email was kicked back as undeliverable — not exactly an auspicious start.
I emailed “S. Mirsky” who is listed on the 2AO website as the group’s Florida director. The email wasn’t kicked back, but I never heard a word from Mr. or Ms. Mirsky.
I then tried a Washington D.C.-based number, which was answered by Bryan Crosswhite, 2AO’s founder. He had some startling revelations about the group’s success.
“We’re the largest pro-Second Amendment business organization in the country with 175,000 members,” Crosswhite told me. “We’ve been on every (television) network out there. The reason no one knows about us is that we’ve kept a low profile. We’ve never asked for money from anyone. It’s been a voluntary thing, until this week when we’re reaching out.”
I would have guessed that the National Shooting Sports Foundation — the trade association of the shooting sports industry — has the largest network of pro-Second Amendment businesses, based on the growing number of vendors who gather at the SHOT Show every year.
Marion Hammer is the executive director of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida and a board member of the National Rifle Association. She’s also an NRA past-president. She, too, had never heard of 2AO, but she did some checking.
“Although it claims a membership in the six figures and dozens of state chapters, 2AO seems to primarily be a project of its founder, restaurant owner Bryan Crosswhite, and of a small public affairs firm in Washington, D.C.,” Hammer said. “The group’s main activity in the past has been to operate a website that guided pro-gun consumers to like-minded businesses. That feature is now gone from the group’s website. Of course, the NRA Business Alliance has long served as a source of information for gun owners wanting to know which businesses are Second Amendment-friendly and deserving of their patronage.”
I rest my case.
http://thegunwriter.blogs.heraldtribune.com/19499/column-a-curious-new-gun-group/
