PA Bill Number: HB2663
Title: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal.
Description: Providing for older adults protective services; and making a repeal. ...
Last Action: Referred to AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES
Last Action Date: Nov 19, 2024
Mission Statement
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Firearm Owners Against Crime (FOAC) is a non-partisan, non-connected all-volunteer Political Action Committee organized to empower ‘all’ gun owners, outdoors enthusiasts and supporters of the 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1 Section 21 and 25 of the PA Constitution with the tools and information necessary to protect freedom from transgression. FOAC was formed shortly after the City of Pittsburgh's illegal gun and ammunition ban of 1993. This was an active year for gun legislation in Pennsylvania (Act 84 of 1994-HB 185 the preemption law, Casey's gun ban) and the United States (Brady Bill, Assault Weapons Ban...). A number of those who fought the Pittsburgh gun ban realized that a more politically active role was necessary if we were to keep and protect our rights. FOAC became a formal statewide Political Action Committee in early 1994.
We vigorously oppose legislators who want to restrict the legitimate use of firearms, including personal and property protection as guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We accomplish these goals by monitoring and reviewing legislative initiatives and voting records of elected officials. This information is shared with interested parties, such as County Sportsmen’s Leagues, the PA Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, the Unified Sportsmen of PA, the Eastern Firearms Coalition, the Concerned Gun Owners of PA, PA Gun Owners Association, PA State Camp Lessees Association and other interested organizations at both the state and county level.
The FOAC process is specific and thorough as well as determined by our bylaws and member directive. FOAC is a member driven organization. Our members are active and well informed on political issues at both a state and federal level. Legislators and candidates are welcome to attend our meetings and state their case as well as to answer questions directed to them from our members. A vote on endorsing major candidates is always taken of the members after debate and review of the analysis of the candidate’s completed questionnaire; and debate is and has been very dynamic. Endorsement by FOAC entails the active involvement of our members’ time and resources, personal as well as organizational, as well as extending our reputation to that candidate as one who can be supported because his/her philosophy and/or record show a dedication to our rights and heritage. Candidates for statewide office are evaluated every election cycle. These evaluations are then placed on an FOAC voter guide and distributed throughout the region.
Unlike many organizations, we recommend that you never, ever vote for the "lesser of two evils." If we cannot make a good recommendation, then we simply do not make a recommendation for that race. When you see a particular office without a name (or unsuitable candidate) on our list, then either we felt none of the candidates were worth our recommendation or we were unable to obtain the information needed to make a recommendation.
Our philosophy is summarized as follows: In a free society, no citizen should ever have to justify the assertion of a fundamental right. Indeed, unless there is a compelling reason, government should never inhibit the exercise of privilege either. A very general premise is that the best government is the least government.
“When the government is not properly enforcing the laws to curtail violent crime that already exist, it is wrong to place additional restrictions on the law-abiding to accomplish the same purpose.”
CAPABILITIES
Our organization has many active members throughout the state. Many of these members are in turn active in various political, community and sportsmen’s related organizations. For instance, several of our members have been elected members of the NRA Board of Directors and others are active members of Republican and Democratic committees at the state and county level. We are in local government, trade organizations and unions. We have established Eastern and Western Pennsylvania committees as well as many contacts in every county of the state. We maintain a statewide listing of every licensed firearms dealer, every listed sportsmen/gun club as well as an extensive contacts database with over 50,000 listed individuals.
We track the voting record of legislators on legislation that is of concern to our members. We use this information to formulate our opinions, evaluations and recommendations. That information is disseminated to the electorate through our extensive communications network by way of the regionalized FOAC voter’s guide and distributed throughout the state. In the 1994 elections the FOAC produced and distributed over 80,000 of these guides. Since that year FOAC has continued to grow in political effectiveness, which is demonstrated by the increasing number of our voter’s guides that are distributed throughout the primary and general elections in every corner of PA. We also actively worked to secure their publication in other sources and we conservatively estimate that more than 200,000 copies of our guide are distributed in an average election cycle.
SERVICES
FOAC provides a wide range of services to candidates that we decide to support. These services depend on our level of recommendation, our membership base, and the candidate’s campaign strategy.
For acceptable candidates we provide a listing on our widely distributed voter’s guide. We may also provide a letter of endorsement to be used as the candidate desires. Other services are made available on a case-by-case basis and will be discussed at a one-on-one briefing between the candidate and our senior staff.
GETTING INVOLVED
FOAC meets on the second Sunday of every month at 10:00 A.M. in a variety of locations but our General Membership meetings are currently being held at the South Fayette Twp. Municipal Bldg. on 515 Millers Run Road, Morgan, PA 15064. Special meetings, throughout Pennsylvania, are arranged across Pennsylvania frequently and upon special request. Please look on the FOAC webpage for the event notice to see exactly where our meetings are being held for that month!
FOAC Membership is available at various levels up to and including Upper Tier Memberships such as Life Memberships (and highter) at $400 with annual membership dues being $30.00 per year and all are available online through the FOAC website.
Our intent is to reach out to gun owners across the board to get them involved and most of our expenditures involve postage and printing. Dues are used to offset costs of mailings and printing. For more information on how you or your group can help, please write to FOAC c/o P.O. Box 213, Presto, PA 15142 or call the Phone hotline at (412) 221-3346 or direct fax to (412) 257-1099.
