As you probably know, our lawsuit against the Medford school district has received international attention. We have received media inquiries from as far away as Canada and the story has been reported in publications as far away as India. Clearly we have hit a nerve.
For all who have uted to our legal fund, we to thank you. We have heard from people across the country who believe strongly in what we are doing and recognize that this issue has national ramifications.
The case boils down to one very simple question. Does a person lose the right to protect herself and the people for whom she is responsible because she accepts a job at public school? Obviously we don’t think so, and by your support, you have made it clear you don’t either.
The papers have been filed. The arguments are due to be heard Oct 11th. The future of the rights of government employees is now (at least temporarily) in the hands of the courts.
If you are an OFF supporter, you will soon receive a letter from our Foundation.
OFEF does not do the kind of constant fundraising you have come to expect from activist organizations. We only ask for your financial support when we have a issue that requires us to take action. Clearly we believe this is a critical issue and we hope we can count on your help.
Frankly, there is no one else stepping up. Despite what you may have heard, despite the misreporting and the self serving press releases, only OFEF is involved in financing this critical legal action. For more misleading or false reporting see here.
Some in the press have incorrectly reported that the NRA has been involved. This is not true. In fact, it is the NRA’s official position that trained and licensed adults should never* be allowed to carry self defense firearms in schools.“That means no guns in America’s schools, period … with the rare exception of law enforcement officers or trained security personnel.”
(*This speech has been pulled from the NRA website. You can see an archived copy here.)
Obviously, we disagree. We believe that responsible people have a right to protect themselves anywhere. We also believe that it’s nothing short of insanity to continue a policy of disarming people in schools where lunatics and terrorists have been told that they have plenty of potential victims and no one to fight back.
Predictably, the talking heads and media sockpuppets are horrified that anyone would choose to defend themselves. and predictably, Senator Ginny Burdick has announced plans to introduce legislation to ban license holders from school property.
In an editorial in the Oregonian, she branded you “extremist” and painted nightmare scenarios of classroom shootouts, never considering the alternative, where only the killers have weapons.
It’s absurd, but nothing new. Burdick has spent years introducing bills to restrict your gun rights, and she’s introduced this bill over and over, only to be defeated by your activism. We are counting on that commitment now to guarantee that we have the resources to defend this one brave teacher, and by extension, all government employees who have been disarmed by rules that contradict state law.
You can help by making a tax deductible ution here.
Win or lose, we believe this is a fight we must have. Too many people are at the mercy of bureaucrats who would prefer to see them as dead victims than as armed survivors. Too many politicians are determined to allow women to continue to be victims of violence rather than allowing them to have the tools to protect themselves.
In her editorial, Burdick got one thing right. She said “The gun lobby is relentless in pushing its agenda.” That’s true. and as long as there are people like her committed to making women defenseless, with your help, we’ll be standing in her way.