Bob's Shooting Sports and Second Amendment Links

Shooting Sports

The North Central Florida Sportsman's Association is a good local (Gainesville, Florida) starting point if you are interested in shooting sports or gun-related political issues.
The leading national organization for gun safety and shooting sports in general is, of course, the National Rifle Association of America.
The United States Practical Shooting Association is one of the national organizations dedicated to a form of target shooting that is oriented toward real-life practical shooting (i.e. self-defense situations).
The International Defensive Pistol Association practices similar shooting, but they claim to be more realistic and affordable because they don't allow guns modified specifically for competition.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution for the United States of America and The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

The Second Amendment: read it here.
Read my own explanation of the meaning of the Second Amendment.
You say you've heard that the Second Amendment is a State's right, not an individual right? You've heard that no Federal court has ever overturned a law because of the Second Amendment? Wrong. It happened before, and it's happened again: read U.S. v Emerson , a recent Federal Court decision that overturned a conviction solely because it violated an individual's Second Amendment rights. (141 KB, in Adobe Acrobat format).
In 1982, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary produced a report on the Right To Keep and Bear Arms. Learn some of the history behind our gun laws.
More Second Amendment scholarship can be found at the Second Amendment Law Library.
For even more information about the fight for the right to keep and bear arms (RKBA), an excellent starting point is Jeff Chan's rkba.org .
The Institute for Legislative Action is the political lobbying organization officially affiliated with the NRA, widely viewed by members of Congress as one of the most honest and accurate lobbying groups around.
Gun Owners of America is a great resource for grass-roots lobbying against misguided and downright dishonest gun control laws. If you want to get involved, this is a good place to start.
Other organizations dedicated to the RKBA include The Second Amendment Foundation, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, The Paul Revere Network, The Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, The Lawyer's Second Amendment Society, Inc., The Firearms Coalition of Colorado, and many others I haven't found time to add to the list (my apologies).
And, of course, many individuals have RKBA pages, including Ed Patrick's RKBA Page, David Markowitz's Pages and others I lost my bookmarks for (sorry).
Plus, there is a growing RKBA Webring.
The widely respected Cato Institute recently published a policy analysis of concealed carry laws. It is an excellent introduction to both the history of gun control laws and criminological study of gun control.
KNOW THE OPPOSITION: the leading organizations dedicated to eliminating your right to self-defense include: Handgun Control, Inc., The Violence Policy Institute, and Ceasefire. WARNING: be aware that these groups are known for publishing distortions and sometimes outright lies. If you start quoting their dogma, you may end up publicly embarrassing yourself (just as they have).

Manufacturer's Pages

Colt
Smith & Wesson
Ruger
Browning
Taurus
Glock
AFI's Catalog Showcase is a collection of on-line catalogs from various manufacturers.

Technical Information About Firearms and Shooting

The rec.guns FAQ is a collection of questions and answers about guns and shooting.
Ever wonder how a semiautomatic pistol works? Here's a basic explanation of the Colt .45 ACP. More detailed info about Colt's M1911 design, cleaning, and care is at www.m1911.org.
Some hints on how to develop your shooting skills. Written for combat handgun shooting, but of general use to any shooter.

General Collections and Miscellaneous

Jeff Chan's RKBA Pages are a huge collection of information and links to political and technical information.
My own unorganized collection of firearm and Second Amendment links. This is the stuff I haven't had time to sort out.

Related Politics

I've got a small collection of political opinions you might enjoy reading. Some are directly related to RKBA issues, and others are concerned with personal liberty in general.
I've also got a collection of letters-to-the-editor. Some are my own, and some are from others. Most of them concern gun control issues.
Looking for conservative political views? Try visiting the Conservative Diner, where you will also find many more RKBA links as well.

Home Page

There are many more RKBA and shooting sports web pages that I've enjoyed and would recommend, but I've lost the links. I apologize to everyone I've left out. If you have suggestions for additional links, let me know. I don't know when (or if) I'll get around to adding them, but I'll try! Updated 2004 Aug 19 0100Q by Bob Johnson (afn01750@afn.org ) Yes there are still many broken links on this page. Copyright 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004 Bob Johnson.