Message from the Chairman

The fight to preserve our rights under the Second Amendment continues, and your support of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund is helping to sustain the Second Amendment in one battle after another.

On behalf of myself, the Board of Trustees, and the millions of law-abiding gun owners across America, thank you for your support of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund. The many activities of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund speak clearly to the dedication and hard work of the Trustees of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund in answering the mandate of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association of America when it created the Fund in 1978.

In the Litigation Activities section of this report, you can review the many different cases currently supported by the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund to correct the injustices that exist in our laws today. And those are just the cases that are currently funded. Of course, over the years the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund has financially supported many more cases. The many important cases that the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund supported in the past include the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case of McDonald v. Chicago. It was filed in U.S. District Court challenging Chicago's handgun ban. McDonald relied on District of Columbia v. Heller - another case supported by the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund - in which the Supreme Court struck down, on Second Amendment grounds, Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban and held that the Second Amendment protected a fundamental individual right. The issue in McDonald was whether the Second Amendment applies to the states and local government through the Fourteenth Amendment. Lower courts denied relief in McDonald. The U.S. Supreme Court, on June 28, 2010, held in McDonald that the Second Amendment applies to states and local government through the Fourteenth Amendment. In other words, the case held that the Second Amendment protects your rights not just against federal government infringement, but also against infringement by state and local governments.

In addition to our case law work, we continue to reach citizens in all walks of life with the help of our research programs, grants and writing contest awards. Each year, our writing contests are held at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Additionally, we distribute thousands of pertinent books and articles to libraries and individuals. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund funds legal research in regard to the Second Amendment, the right of self-defense, firearms laws, hunting rights, criminology, etc. In addition, the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund hosts legal scholarship conferences relating to Second Amendment law. Through these ongoing efforts we educate and help shape the opinions of students, lawyers, scholars, legislators, and everyday citizens.

We must continue to meet the present and future challenges certain to rise threatening our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. In order to do so, you can support the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund's work through direct donations, estate planning, or support through the Combined Federal Campaign or United Way payroll deductions. Our Combined Federal Campaign number is 10006.

Thank you for your support and financial contributions to the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund. Please let your friends, neighbors and co-workers know about the important work that the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund is doing. Ask them to step forward also and to make a commitment to secure their civil right to keep and bear arms across America. Working together as leaders in this great cause, we can help protect your Second Amendment rights through the millennium.

Sincerely,

James W. Porter, II

Chairman