GOSC President's Corner Archived Postings

GOSC President Presents Awards to South Carolina Legislators (posted April 2008)
On April 9, 2008, GOSC President Gerald W. Stoudemire attended the South Carolina Legislative Sportsman's Caucus. At this event he presented GOSC's "Lanford Award" to Representative Greg Delleney. Also presented was GOSC's newly created "Daniel Award" in memory of Rick Daniel, past president and legislative liaison of GOSC, to Representative Murrell Smith. In addition, Anthony Roullette, NRA/ILA Liaison presented the "H. Richard Daniel Defender of Freedom Award" to Representative Mike Pitts.
Pictured below are left to right: Greg Delleney, Gerald Stoudemire, Murrell Smith.
GOSC's Daniel Award presented to Representative Murrell Smith at the April 2008 South Carolina Legislative Sportsman's Caucus
Pictured below are left to right: Gerald Stoudemire, Mike Pitts, Anthony Roullette.
The H. Richard Daniel Defender of Freedom Award is presented to Representative Mike Pitts at the Aprill 2008 South Carolina Legislative Sportsman's Caucus.

Note to All GOSC Members Regarding the Supporting Efforts to Overturn the District of Columbia’s Handgun Ban (posted March 2008)
In the Wednesday, March 19, 2008 edition of The State newspaper, on page A7, an article entitled "S.C. group supports gun ban suit" was submitted. (A link to the article is provided here, while available.)
For information, Gun Owners of South Carolina submitted an Amicus Brief along with 39 other State Associations in support of the respondent in the "District of Columbia, Petitioner vs Dick Anthony Heller, Respondent".
Gun Owners of South Carolina is the State Affiliate to the National Rifle Association.
The Brief was coordinated by the 40 State Associations and written by David J. Schenck. (If you would like to read the Brief, a link to a PDF file is provided here.)

Gun Control - 2008 Presidential Election (posted December 2007)
As we draw near to the primaries leading up to the 2008 Presidential Election, I urge every gun owner to be aware of each candidate’s position on gun control.
Some of the candidates claim to support the Second Amendment, but if you read further, they believe the Second Amendment is only for hunting and should be severely restricted for other uses.
Many of the candidates want to reinstate the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban and close the “alleged” gun show loophole, as well as allow lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers. However, they vote “no” for increasing penalties for gun and drug violators or enforcing the current laws.
If you believe in self defense, sport shooting with all type firearms, hunting, gun collecting, or any of the popular firearm sports, you need to thoroughly research all of the potential candidates and check their NRA rating (as this is based on past history of their actions, not on campaign promises) before going to the polls.
Gun Owners of South Carolina is prohibited from endorsing any candidate. However, as individuals, we should stand by the rating given to the candidates by the NRA-ILA to help preserve our Second Amendment rights.
As a law abiding gun owner, I have chosen the candidate that I intend to support based on extensive research into all the candidates’ history.
Listed below is a website that lists all the candidates including some that dropped out of the race. If you check out this site you can find out how each candidate stands on gun control as well as other issues.
The site is www.ontheissues.org, scroll down and click on “Gun Control”.

Note to All GOSC Members (posted August 2007)
As many of you know, a lot of candidates are campaigning for the 2008 Presidential Election. I caution all of you to not be fooled by campaign promises made by the candidates.
The 2008 Presidential Election can greatly affect the Second Amendment and how it is administered. All of the candidates have a history of how they have voted on past issues concerning the Second Amendment and the rights of citizens of the United States.
If you have already made a decision to support a particular candidate, I urge you to check their web sites and see how they have voted on past issues. This may cause you to change your opinion on who could best represent you as a law abiding gun owner. Some candidates have actually joined the National Rifle Association in an attempt to disguise their anti-gun votes on issues like the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban.
Please consider all information before supporting or voting for a particular candidate. As you may realize, you cannot hold an elected official to a campaign promise. Actions speak much louder than words.

Legislative Update (posted February 2007)
I have recently had the opportunity to accompany the NRA Liaison and meet with several members of the House of Representatives to discuss legislation that has been introduced in the legislature and backed by GOSC and the NRA. Listed below are some of the bills and their current status.
H3212 by Representative Greg Delleney, Jr. is a NRA Number 1 bill giving CWP reciprocity to any state honoring a South Carolina CWP. It has passed full committee and will be on house docket next week.
H3464 “South Carolina Firearms Freedom Act” by Representative Mike Pitts is a NRA/GOSC backed bill testing federal firearms restrictions on guns made and sold within the borders of South Carolina. It is being heard in subcommittee today (2/21/07).
H3528 by Representatives Mike Pitts and Murrell Smith. This is a CWP privacy bill that almost passed last year but got caught by the end of the session. This bill has been assigned to the General Laws sub-committee and may be heard next week.
H3310 by Representative Mike Pitts is a NRA/GOSC backed bill closing a loophole between CWP law and vehicle carry law. It has passed full committee and will be on the floor agenda next week.
Also, we have a new freshman “Second Amendment Star”, Representative Kris Crawford who joins staunch NRA/GOSC Representatives Delleney, Smith, and Pitts in fighting for law abiding gun owners rights.
We encourage all GOSC members to contact their respective representatives and request that they support and even sign on to sponsor these Second Amendment Bills.

Reflections on the Loss of a Friend (posted October 2006)
Over the last few days, I have just begun to absorb the loss of my close friend and associate, Rick Daniel.

For those of you who had the pleasure of knowing Rick personally, there is very little more that I can tell you about his commitment to the Second Amendment and the people of South Carolina.

As Legislative Director for Gun Owners of South Carolina, Rick's work with the South Carolina Legislature goes beyond what is seen from the outside looking in. He had gained the confidence and friendship of the Legislature, friend or foe. When they had a question, they were assured they would receive the correct answer when they contacted Rick. Rick did not work for the glory, but for the satisfaction of achievement.

Rick's assistance in writing the Concealed Weapons Permit Law, the Range Protection Act, the Repeal of the One Handgun Every 30 Days Law, the Castle Doctrine, and the Katrina Doctrine, as well as many other improvements to the Concealed Weapons Law here in South Carolina affected many people who had never heard of Rick Daniel.

Rick and I had the pleasure of teaching Concealed Weapons Permit Training to many people, including three classes especially for the Legislature. Just this month we would have concluded 10 years of co-teaching these classes.

Rick was instrumental in bringing the Friends of NRA to South Carolina. He was a founding member of the Mid-Carolina Friends of NRA Committee (SC-1) which was the first event held in the Southeast and he had been active every year since its inception.

The loss of Rick Daniel will be greatly felt throughout South Carolina as well the nation.

I do not mourn the loss of my close friend and associate, but I am grateful to have been a part of his life.

In Memory of Rick Daniel
Congressional Record, November 13, 2006
The Honorable Joe Wilson, US House of Representatives

Join GOSC at the 2006 Gun Rights Policy Conference (posted August 2006)
As President of GOSC, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the 2006 Gun Rights Policy Conference which will be held September 22-24, 2006 at the Renaissance Charlotte Suites Hotel located in Charlotte, North Carolina.
GOSC will serve as a co-sponsor for this conference. GOSC's primary responsibility is for its members to spread the word about the conference and help build attendance. This will be a great opportunity for GOSC members to meet with national gun rights leaders and make their concerns heard.
At this time the full roster of speakers has not been set.
For further information on this upcoming event, go to www.saf.org and click on the 2006 Gun Rights Policy Conference block.
All GOSC members, as well as anyone else who is interested in attending, are encouraged to register, attend and support the leaders of this conference.
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SC State Representative Mike Pitts is presented the prestigious Lanford Cup (posted June 2006)

At the Annual Meeting of Gun Owners of South Carolina which was recently held on Saturday, June 3, 2006, at the Clinton House, Clinton, South Carolina, Representative Mike Pitts (R-Laurens) was presented the prestigious "Lanford Cup" (named in honor of Herb Lanford) for his dedication and tireless efforts to protect the Second Amendment rights of all law abiding citizens of South Carolina. Pictured left to right are Gerald Stoudemire, President of GOSC; Representative Mike Pitts; and Herb Lanford, Member of NRA Board of Directors.
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