- Gun Owners of America
Infobox_Organization
name = Gun Owners of America
image_border = Gun owners of america.jpg
caption = Gun Owners of America logo
headquarters = Springfield,Virginia
website =http://www.gunowners.org/Gun Owners of America (GOA) is the second largest gun rights organization in America. They make efforts to differentiate themselves from the largerNational Rifle Association (NRA), and have publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for what the GOA considers to be the selling out of the gun rights movement.The organization has often been in opposition to the NRA in their respective endorsements and ratings of politicians and candidates. For instance, the GOA has been outspoken in its opposition to a possible 2008 presidential bid by
John McCain , describing his gun-rights voting record as "abysmal, wretched, and pathetic" [ [http://www.gunowners.org/mccaintb.htm GOA's Take On John McCain ] ] and rating him with an F- on Second Amendment issues since 2004 as opposed to the NRA's (through its political arm, the NRA-PVF) C+ rating of McCain. [ [http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_detail.php?sig_id=003284M Project Vote Smart ] ] The GOA especially took issue with the NRA over the 2007 NICS Improvement Act. [ cite web
title= Gun owners get stabbed in back
url= http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59341
publisher= World Net Daily
year=December 23, 2007
accessdate=2008-04-08]They have been described by
Congressman Ron Paul as "The only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington." This quote from Paul has long been displayed front and center on the homepage of the Gun Owners of America website, and the only 2008 Presidential Candidate to gain an A+ rating from Gun Owners of America is Paul. [cite web|url=http://www.gunowners.org/110hrat.htm |title=GOA House Ratings For The 110th Congress |accessdate=2008-05-06]Gun Owners of America was founded by NRA Board Member,
California State Senator H.L. Richardson (Retired). GOA'sexecutive director isLarry Pratt , who also hosts GOA's audio webcast, [http://www.gunowners.org/radio.htm Live Fire] .In
2004 , GOA spent over $1.75 million lobbying theU.S. Congress . Between 1998-2004, GOA spent over $18 million lobbying Congress. [cite web|url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/profile.aspx?act=clients&year=2003&cl=L001810 |title=Gun Owners of America on LobbyWatch |accessdate=2008-05-06] GOA's FederalPolitical Action Committee is "Gun Owners of America Inc. Political Victory Fund" (C00278101). [cite web|url=http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_detail/C00278101/ |title=FEC Disclosure Report on GOA|accessdate=2008-05-06]References
External links
* [http://www.gunowners.org/ Gun Owners of America]
* [http://www.polachek.net/jeff/articles/the-right-of-the-people.html The Right of the People]
* [http://www.gunowners.com/ Gun Owners Foundation] - "An affiliated nonprofit for legal assistance"
* [http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_detail/C00278101/ FEC filings for GOA's PAC]
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