Is gunsmoke and i like matt dillons gun, so i went out and bought one, because there were no regulations or restrictions. I bought that in july of 1976, and in october, the d. C. City Council Passed a law that said you were no longer allowed to own any kind of a firearm in d. C. But you could not buy one after that, but you could be grandfathered in by coming down to the Police Station and registering your firearm. Think about that. Right toid not sound me, so i said why would i want to register it . Why do they want my address . So they can come get my gun for confiscation. I said no. I had some options. I could turn the gun into the Police Station, i could throw it in a dumpster, or i could go to jail. So i took my gun out of the district to my brothers house and said there has got to be a fourth option. And you had this gun and saw that for those of you from normal parts of the country, i want to explain it to you so you can understand it. There were, until thick keller rought the sprite dick kelle fought this in the Supreme Court, that is what we are celebrating today, the restoration of our Second Amendment right to keep arms. [applause] it was illegal. It was obviously unconstitutional, as we now york, d. C. , and chicago, these urban liberal places, they made it illegal to own a gun. Im not talking about carrying it, but owning it at home for selfdefense. He fought for the individual right to keep iraq keep firearms. How did your case get to the Supreme Court level, and how many years did that take . When they took my Second Amendment right away in 1976, i did say there is a Second Amendment right. I am allowed to own this firearm , but i did not know anything about the law. I was just a computer programmer. In 1970 six, i started doing research and talking to everything i every 1976, i started doing research and talking to everyone i could. In 1979, we met something tanks that likes the idea some think tanks that likes the idea. We got people to support us, and the Cato Institute had the same idea. Wepaired up and eventually had six plaintiffs that decided we are going to fight the city. And in a shorty, time thereafter, and i do not member the dates exactly, it is in the law book. That is boring, keep going. So the lawyers are next. We will get into the boring stuff. We are focusing on you, the man, and that is a fun story. I never knew you went to think tanks. How many of you go to a think tank to change constitutional law . You did all this research on your own, and got all these people. Neither of us are lawyers. Thedo not even know about case bills, people started coming to and supporting it. It goes through what was the first ruling it had, when you appealed and said i cant own a the constitution Second Amendment, all of you who have you are constitutions, pull them out now, the Second Amendment, right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, except in washington dc and other liberal cities. No, no, no. Building thised case, what was the first decision that was made in the court on your right to have a gun at home . Lets see. The first decision would have been since it was a federal d. C. , it went to the district court, it is called. Lets see. It was a struggle to get the re, but the decisions flipflopped back and forth and we won in the Appellate Court, and d. C. Said we are going to challenge this. By saying you one, you got to the Appellate Court, and they said you one, meaning that d. C. Cannot been completely owning guns. Then d. C. , the mayor, said we are going to appeal this to the Supreme Court. Exactly. And that was a tactical mistake, well known now by the d. C. Mayor, city council, because it opened up, which a lot of people did not see coming, the dream court made a ruling in 2008, in a landmark heller case, that said what . My Supreme Court favorite quote, there are a lot of interesting stories from the Supreme Court, but my favorite story about the Supreme Court is that i did not know anything about the law, i did not know how the decision might go, but when they announced it, Justice Scalia was going to read the decision. And this is my quote. Here is what scalia said. We are not here today to a race the Second Amendment from the United States constitution. [applause] [laughs] i did not know anything, but i know we had one something. Won something. Weave never asked you are very good friends, but i have never asked you this. When you go to the Supreme Court, and i know it is an amazing american experience. We do not get to see it on tv. When you are there, this case, with lawyers and governments and cities and all that stuff, and it is all about the case comes down to dig heller dick heller, thats it. What was it like with all the justices in front of you . The Supreme Court gallery for observers is not much bigger than his inner area. Very small. Very small. It was full of people, and you could hear your heart beat. It was like being in a quiet room, if you are familiar with that. If a mouse ran across the floor, you would have heard it. Front table, that looking up at the Supreme Court justices . It was soer thing is quiet, how quiet was it other than the mouse . It was so quiet, total silence, and then the court clerk smashes , and it got quiet again. And then there was the strangest noise i had never heard before, and the justices are coming through the curtain, and the noise was the swishing of their robes as they climbed the four steps to the bench. Wow. That is how quiet it was. That is very cool. And you are like oh, there they come. And it is like that noise. Noises]ooshing youyou think this forget the Supreme Court hears the case and does not make a decision many, many months later. But when you are sitting in the courtroom, thinking i cannot believe that i started this 20 years ago, and we are here in the Supreme Court with this wishing robes the swishing robes . It is not the victory, it is the journey. , 1976 toof journey 2006, 30 years . 40 years . I am not a math major. What was impressive also was the night before. People were lined up to sleep on the sidewalk overnight. I lived one block from the corner of the Supreme Court building. I strolled over on my bicycle. So normal, right . I said what is going on . They said this is the greatest thing since, the greatest gun decision that has ever happened. To be are so excited here, they were jumping up and down. I was like ok, thats cool. Did they recognize you . Of course not. I was very on public. But it was march 18 and very cold in washington. Sleep onreparing to the concrete, so i went down to the local drug store and got two great big bags of cop drops, 200 each, and i went down the line and pass them out to everybody, saying oh, you will need these. And i met a couple story. Is the greatest you gave them cough drops so they would not get sick overnight . Four cough drops per hand. Couple, dave and colleen, and she had the first smart phone i had ever seen. She was telling me all about it. We became real good friends real , and the next day, when the line was up, ready to go into the Supreme Court, i went down the line and shook everybodys hand and said hi, im dick allen heller, thanks for coming. A lot of people who met me the night before said oh, you are the guy. Dave and colleen talked about it, went back to chicago, and said that man is such a normal dude. If he can do what he did they thought it was me all by myself. Man sitting inne that courthouse. So they said that dick allen an heller is such ordinary dude, if they can do that, we can do that. They put together the mcdonnell versus chicago case. And this is just some constitutional history. When the heller decision was majority008, it was a opinion, that the individual right to keep arms, to own a farm arms at home cannot be can print infringed. That otherad segments, i suggest highly reading the heller decision. It is so readable. It is not boring legal stuff at all. It is really interesting not that it wouldnt be interesting, of course. It is not unapproachable, but the problem was overall for the country is that d. C. Is not a state, thank goodness. Applied to d. C. What he is talking about is when this couple went to chicago and started a new lawsuit two years later in this report, based on the heller decision, made it for the entire country that we always have the right to bear arms. [applause] fascinating is that 15 minutes after Justice Scalia said we are not here to a race the Second Amendment, the the secondse amendment, the lawsuit was filed in the city of chicago that same day. That started the ball rolling. Those of you know that the battles on gun control, constitutional issues of gun control are not over. Timeand i complain all the about this crazy registration system. We have to go to the government every time we want to buy a gun. But this is our time to look back and say this is the first time in the United States government that the Supreme Court ruled that we as individuals have a natural, not given right to defend ourselves and our home. Dick, what have you seen in the hasears since how this impacted our country and impacted our understanding about what one person can do if the constitution and our rights are not being adhered to . Justicece leah scalia said, it is a constitutional right. I was shocked to find that there other cases, lawsuits that had been brought in state throughout the country. Now, if you do the count, i am shocked to find out it is maybe havethan 300 gun cases been filed to defend our Second Amendment right. Right now, there is a case in hawaii called fisher versus khalea, challenging the total gun law restrictions in hawaii, which will cause a conflict with some other Supreme Courts and some other Appellate Court cases. We might see another decision coming down in a few years. The fight for the constitution and what we are talking about to be clear, what dick heller valiantly fought for and continues to this day, is about our Constitutional Rights of lawabiding people to defend themselves. That is what we are talking about. He will continue to fight on so , which is what you hope to see in your lifetime what would you like to see in the Second Amendment recognized . I started becoming aware, i have a mantra. In a totally free country, you do not need permission from the government to defend her life and own a firearm. Your life and own a firearm. [applause] a fellow walked into my office, i am a police man fulltime, and i said oh, you are from florida or someplace . A constitutional carry state, meaning you do not need any government interaction to own a firearm. I said oh, you are from arizona. You have constitutional carry there. Well, why would you want a piece of paper from the government to own a firearm . I think that is it. Thank you for everything you did, showing us how anyone of us can fight for our individual rights and take it all the way. When our government oversteps our rights, one man can make a difference. One person out there, every single one of you can do something. And it will build a ladder. Keep it up. Love it, thank you. [applause] we are not afraid of the irs. 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When you are the one punching other people, that means you are the fascist here. They have been sitting on their butts for months. And a network with the audacity to have fun. Here at the womens march in austin. Smash the patriarchy. [inaudible] more than a moment to seize, it is a growing movement. If you believe in america, if you believe in the constitution, the constitution empowers us. This is a new day. Gold standard,in delivered to you whenever you want, wherever you want. , conservative Gold Standard deliver to wherever you want, whenever you want. Gentlemen, our next panel examines the Second Amendment, 10 years after heller. Please welcome graham hill. National federation for republican assemblies, willis lee, and terry lightfoot. Our moderator is niger and it is, from the congress for racial equality. [applause] hello there. Thank you all for coming out. Is this not the best cpac ever . [applause] all right. Lets get started. After our last panel, emily and dick set it up nicely for us. We go to graham before graham, graham hill. He was born and raised hunting and shooting in texas. I said taxes. [applause] texas. [applause] active hunterns and shooter with his three sons and his wife. He is a managing partner of the millers d. C. Office, and ceo of ice miller strategy. Several positions in congress and served in the Bush Administration as well. Please welcome graham hill. [applause] i will introduce everybody. , she is theoot founder and owner of the well armed woman, the largest and most trusted woman shooter resource and products company. Also thekerry is founder and chair one of of the board chairwoman of the board in the largest nonprofit womens shooting organization, with 380 chapters in or United States. 49 states. In t a lot of esters estrogen. And finally, please give a warm welcome to kerry lightfoot. [applause] my partner in crime right here to my left is a loosely colonel. Lee, retired he is the cochairman of the trumppence Second Amendment coalition, former Republican Party state chairman, and current rnc member. A founder of the rnc conservative caucus, he is a retired Army Airborne ranger armor combat veteran, u. S. Military academy at west point graduate. . Read that too fast, didnt i with degrees in engineering and Public Administration and by the way, i had to cut his bio a lot more than this. I all his accomplishments, think he is most proud of his wife and his church, our Savior Lutheran Church in virginia. Welcome, willis lee. [applause] graham, lets get started with you. Did a wonderful job, but i thought it was interesting they said that the heller decision, what they one auto won was the right to keep. The Second Amendment says keep and bear arms. An important distinction. Tell us about that . Thisank you for having panel. That is an important distinction. The heller case had to landmark cases to it landmark decisions to it. It established protections in the constitutions. The facts of the case, that dick and emily discussed is that can you own your own gun in the home for selfdefense . The answer is yes. That leaves open a huge range of practical activities that we all associate with the Second Amendment. They make enjoying the Second Amendment and exercising that freedom practical. Those were left undecided i hell or. In the time since then, what we have seen is that state legislatures have filled out that meeting. In conservative states like texas, where i am from, those activities are very robust. You enjoy great Second Amendment freedoms. But in california, illinois, maryland, or new york, most state legislatures are defining those associated activities very narrowly. The this week on tuesday, Supreme Court denied a review of a case out of california that the ninth circuit held that restricts your Second Amendment rights. The Second Circuit, just yesterday upheld a new york city law that says if i have a permit a new york city to print what is called a premises permit, i cannot take a pistol to Westchester County and bring it back into the city. The Second Circuit says that is not violate your Second Amendment rights. They are defining that in a way that is incredibly narrow and intractable. That is the battle, if i can say it that way, that has been occurring since the heller decision. We all have two things we can do. We have to fight in the get people elected there that appreciate the size and scope of the Second Amendment, what it really means. That will allow people like kerry to do the wonderful work that she does in empowering women. There is a normas amount of work done in those legislatures to make sure that they appreciate this, and we have to get judges appointed at the federal level. Donald trump is doing a pretty good job of that. [applause] followup. You are saying the bottom line is it is important and critical as the heller decision was, it is one half or one slice of the apple that we still have to carry the ball further to make sure that the second part of the Second Amendment is ratified. Speech youected enjoy, as long as you are in your home. Think of all the other meanings of that right, what that freedom really means. It would not be covered by it. That is a way to figure out what is ahead of us. Freedom is always one generation away from being gone. Absolutely. All of you out there, this next generation, we have to fight that fight. We are here because of people that went before us, people like willis who fought to preserve these liberties, like kerry trying to help people defend themselves. The next generation will have to continue that fight as well. Quex it is all coming around to the state and snaking its way into the state, so we have to be so active. The local Second Amendment organizations on the ground at home, because they get distracted by the federal stuff appear. The dangerous stuff happened that the state level. That as a segue to where i want to go with you. You have a powerful organization , and i think about all of your chapters and all of these women learning how to keep and bear arms and be proficient and a professional with a. I think of you, and your organization and all of the women out there learning how to shoot and shoot accurately. I think that is a contrast, if you will, to certain aspects of Metoo Movement and the victim knowledge he victim ology that is promoted. A french actress criticize that movement for that ideology being promoted, and i wondered if you could talk about that empowerment versus being a victim. We are about breaking the chains of victimhood for women and taking empowerment for your own self protection. Soen are so being taught tired of being sexually harassed, assaulted, raped, we are tired of being murdered. Women are the prey of violent crime, so women across this country are saying you know what . Not me. I will not be a victim again or ever. Never. [applause] women makingee that transition into their own self protector. Women have historically been the protected gender. The men in our world our law enforcement, we already know the failures in counting on our government and local services to protect us. They cant do it. We have to be our own first responders. Womencating and equipping into that role, they are taking their lives back. We have women 18 to 92 in our organization. Do you know how awesome it is to see a 90yearold woman take her life back . Be able to feel like she can go to the store if she needs to. As i said earlier, women are the prey of violent crimes, and we are born with that target on our backs. Typically we are smaller and weaker. Age, that target gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Into able to assist women taking that life back and is aning that target, it incredible thing to see, and i see women liberated from the bondage of fear every day. It is an absolutely beautiful thing. Areless you for what you doing and what your chapter is doing. You are not only helping women to defend themselves, but i think men might behave a little bit better knowing how well armed women are. [laughter] changes them. Women are changed by that confidence. I teach the women in our organization it is about their confidence, and when their confidence grows and they you know what . Go you know what . I got this. I can take care of what comes my way it changes everything. How they relate to people, relate to bosses in work, and go through a parking lot. It is a beautiful and significant thing, and women are tired of it. Violence. Use, no more take it back. [applause] course, the elephant in the room is the horrific tragedy that occurred in florida and before that, in my hometown of las vegas. Any human life, innocent human life that is lost is a terrible, terrible tragedy. Those precious lives that were lost in florida and vegas, newtown and these other massacres are critically important, but it is also critically important that precious innocent lives are lost every day in big cities like chicago, baltimore, philadelphia , and all these areas where they have the strictest, most repressive gun prohibition, gun control laws in the nation. Vulnerable,ore decent people, lawabiding people are vulnerable to crime. Attentiondo not pay to gun laws. Decent people do. Willis, you spend an awful lot of time with legislatures across the country in the red states and the blue states. Can you tell us, practically speaking, how the heller decision has manifested itself, particularly in blue cities and states . I spend a lot of time excuse me working specifically in blue states. That might explain some of the gray hair. We have lost a lot more fights then we have one, but generally the blue states tried to ignore the heller decision. That has been their track so far, forcing us lawabiding citizens to move the process through the courts. Are getting more blue. They are each trying to outdo each other, see who can put the most onerous, antigun, anticivil rights laws into a fax and hoping they can push that through. Fortunately and in some of the states i have to work with democrats, not republicans, because the democrats are all we have to work with to stop these very ugly bills. As america,ine is as we become more separated between red and blue states, cities, municipalities, we will see more of this until we speak our voice, 120 million gun owners, 120 million voices that have a vote have to make our desires known to support our Second Amendment. Now is not the time for complacency. I got a question the other day, and i do work with the nra. Somebody said why does the nra keep sending me all those fundraising emails . You are acting like it is always a crisis. Exactly. That was my response. In my lifetime, it always has been a crisis. They tried to ban handguns three times since i have been around. They are on this track right now, trying to dance in my automatic rifles. Tell me a time when there is not a crisis. That is just one example, but yes. They will always come because it is not about guns. This is about control. I want to dovetail on that and Say Something very controversial, which is the Second Amendment does not have anything to do with guns, which sounds counterintuitive. But it does not. Guns are part of it. It could be a gun, a knife, a arts, what martial the Second Amendment is about is the fundamental, godgiven right of selfdefense. [applause] amen