BELLEVUE, WA – “It was the biggest gathering of gun rights activists in the world,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, in the aftermath of this weekend’s 35th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference, held entirely online for the first time in history.
The event was viewed by well over 300,000 gun rights activists across the country on multiple platforms, and more than 4,100 people pre-registered for the event, which shatters all previous records, Gottlieb reported. He said it would be impossible to get an exact count of all the people who watched because several groups held “Watch Parties” attended by many people watching the program on large screens. What’s more, he said the GRPC program, which appeared as a live Facebook event, is still being viewed, either in its entirety or in segments, which may be found by visiting the SAF website or YouTube.
There were about 120 speakers covering topics from state legislative affairs to the growing interest in firearms ownership by women. Several attorneys specializing in Second Amendment cases weighed in with reports on what has been happening, and what may be on the horizon. Several journalists, radio talk hosts and bloggers offered suggestions on how grassroots activists could cultivate better relations with the media, and there were discussions about invasive gun control and gun rights internationally.
Members of Congress and the U.S. Senate made special appearances, and there were also presentations on the growth of gun ownership in the LBGTQ community.
“We had 25 percent more speakers than usual,” Gottlieb revealed, “and much more content. It may be very difficult to return to our traditional in-person conference format, and we will be evaluating how to do it bigger and better next year and in the years ahead.
Gottlieb credited people’s alarm for their personal safety over efforts to defund police, riots, looting and the Democrats’ push for more extremist gun control for this year’s increased attendance and participation.
“I am simply overwhelmed at the support, participation and involvement in the upcoming election this year,” he concluded. “It was an exhausting and humbling experience, and my hat is off to all of those who joined us remotely and made this year’s GRPC a success.”