Record-Setting Crowd Attends Phoenix Grassroots Workshop!

This morning, 375 staunch, pro-gun patriots attended the standing room only NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop, held in conjunction with NRA's Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Phoenix -- double the attendance from last year’s Workshop in Louisville, Ky.!  Though most attendees were home state Arizonans, NRA members represented states from across the country. Diversity in geography notwithstanding, all were united in the singular mission of learning what more they could do to affect legislative change this year and prepare for the 2010 midterm elections.

During the Workshop breakfast, attendees were treated to remarks from Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the landmark Heller v. D.C. Supreme Court case that struck down Washington, D.C.’s draconian gun ban and affirmed the Second Amendment as an individual right.  Mr. Heller spoke about the need for attendees at the Workshop and gun owners across the country to continue to carry the torch moving forward to ensure that the impact of the Heller case has practical-day applications for America’s gun owners.

Attendees also heard from NRA EVP Wayne LaPierre; NRA President John Sigler; ILA Executive Director Chris Cox; and NRA First Vice President Ron Schmeits, who, one by one, came to the podium and gave credit for NRA's successes to whom it rightly belongs -- our members and grassroots activists.  Also in attendance were a number of NRA-ILA's Election Volunteer Coordinators (EVCs) -- the true tips of our grassroots arrow.

Grassroots staff provided attendees with an overview of the threats and opportunities we currently face in Congress, along with strategies and programs to effectively communicate their views to their lawmakers, and what steps can be taken now to ensure gun owners are registered to vote and prepared for next year’s elections.   

Tomorrow, ILA Grassroots will conduct the third annual "In Their Own Words" Special Session that will feature some of NRA-ILA's most renowned activists in a panel discussion that will include Q&A with their fellow NRA members and grassroots supporters.