Posted by
Ron Devito on Sunday, August 02, 2009 10:44:31 PM
by Danielle Sturgis
Left, NRA President Ronald Schmeits, Right, Governor Palin. Photo Courtesy of the National Rifle Association.
A
star-studded banquet concluded the events of the NRA's XVIII Gun
Collectors Seminar in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday night, August 1,
2009 (Sturgis, 2009, ¶1).
Luminaries such as NRA President
Ronald Schmeits (pictured above with Sarah Palin) and Executive Vice
President Wayne LaPierre attended the four-day seminar in downtown
Anchorage. The seminar was hosted by Gun Collectors Committee Chairman
Wayne Anthony Ross and the members of the Alaska Gun Collectors
Association (Sturgis, 2009, ¶2).
Seminar activities included
sessions on World War II in Alaska as well as the life of the common
soldier of the American revolution and culminated Saturday evening with
a visit from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin who gave a stirring
speech on 2nd Amendment rights. Following the speech she was presented
with Life Memberships in The Missouri Valley Arms Collectors
Association, Ohio Gun Collectors Association and the Dallas Arms
Collectors Association. The members of the Missouri Valley Arms
Collectors Association also presented Gov. Palin with an NRA Benefactor
Life Membership as well. She was also presented with the NRA's Gold
Medal Award of Merit for the Promotion of Gun Collecting. This is only
the second time in 10 years the award has been presented on behalf of
the NRA's Gun Collectors Committee (Sturgis, 2009, ¶3).
A new Weatherby rifle was auctioned off during the banquet to benefit the NRA Foundation and brought $3,500 (Sturgis, 2009, ¶4).
The
NRA Gun Collectors Department affiliates over 100 Gun Collector Clubs
in the United States. Members of these clubs receive special news from
NRA Gun Collectors Programs about activities in their area as well as
news on NRA Gun Collector display awards and competition. For more
information, call 703/267-1604 or visit us on the web at www.nationalfirearmsmuseum.org (Sturgis, 2009, ¶5).
Commentary
No
elected official anywhere -- in this nation or any other -- is more
deserving of the numerous awards Governor Palin received on August 1,
2009 at this NRA banquet. As this blog publisher has written numerous
times, Governor Palin is the Second Amendment's guardian angel. It is
why her image and likeness stands guard over gun racks, closets and
stores throughout our nation.
Governor Palin had already been a
Life Member of the NRA (this author is an Easy Pay Life Member). The
first award elevates her status to Benefactor...the highest ranking
membership. It ordinarily costs $5,000 (Join NRA, n.d.) in addition to
the the $1,000 standard life membership (Join NRA, n.d).
As
noted by Sturgis (2009), Governor Palin received the NRA's Gold Medal
Award of Merit for the Promotion of Gun Collecting -- the second one to
be awarded in a decade.
The seminar host, Wayne Anthony Ross was
Governor Palin's first nominee for Alaska's Attorney General and was
renowned for his staunch defense of our Second Amendment rights -- one
of the core reasons she had picked him in the first instance.
Governor
Palin is an accomplished moose, caribou, and ptarmigan hunter. She is
proficient with high-powered rifles likely up to .375 H & H Magnum
and 12-gauge shotguns. She is a disciplined shooter who never flinches,
never misses and whose maximum effective range is minimally 300 yards
-- possibly very much more. She is also very familiar and comfortable
with the M-16/M-4 with AimPoint sights.
In April, 2009, NRA Member Bob Reynolds, owner of Templar Consulting, LLC.
www.templarconsultingllc.com
custom-built two .50 Beowulf AR-15s in honor of Governor Palin for her
staunch support of our Second Amendment rights. That story is
documented in complete detail here:
Governor Palin was to have received one of the rifles, dubbed "Alaskan
Hunter." This blog publisher does not know if in fact it was presented
to her yet. This award ceremony would have been the perfect venue.
Governor Palin's Second Amendment defense accomplishments for 2009 are documented in:
References
Join the NRA. (n.d.). National Rifle Association. Retrieved August 2, 2009 from: https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp
Sturgis, D. (2009, August 2). "Phil Schreier reports from Alaska." National Rifle Association Blog. Retrieved August 2, 2009 from: http://nrablog.com/post/2009/08/02/Phil-Schreier-reports-from-Alaska.aspx