10-4 on that. I too gave what I could. Be assured, though, the likes of Brian Puckett and David Codrea will not be out of the running for long!
Posted on 04/21/2003 8:54:52 PM PDT by jimkress
No Effect on Silveira v. Lockyer support/donations
April 21, 2003
Over the next month or two, Citizens Of America will cease operations. There are two primary reasons for this.
FIRST -- It has become increasingly difficult to raise sufficient funds to pay for the costs associated with running the organization. From the beginning we did not want to get involved in direct mail fundraising due to the logistics involved in doing it in-house and the greatly diminished net return involved in using an outside direct mail fundraising company. We still do not wish to go this route.
COA's original operational model was based on high support response from gun owners connected to the internet, and the fact that we were providing a desperately-needed service: a pro-active, pro-Second Amendment, pro-self-defense ad campaign that reached ALL Americans, not just those who receive gun-rights publications or read gun magazines. Our messages were and are still delivered straight to people driving to and from work in their cars, full-time parents working at home, office and shop workers, college students - anyone listening to the radio. And not just talk radio, but regular news and/or music stations.
By the way, this media campaign is STILL needed. Grass-roots propagandizing with truth and facts is essential if we wish to avoid another 20 years of oppressive new unconstitutional gun control laws like the 20 we just went through.
The founders of COA believed that since there were about 75 million gun owners in the U.S., if we could get $10 from ten percent of them per year, we would have plenty of funding. But we did not receive that sort of support - nowhere close, in fact. And very little support from corporations whose very existence depends on the free exercise of the right to buy, own, and use guns - that is, gun, bullet, and powder manufacturers. Though we have had much-appreciated help from a few gun-related corporations, as noted on the homepage, it was not enough nor regular enough, to make a long-term difference. Finally, no millionaires stepped forward to help, as seems so common in the anti-gun camp.
However, if you donated, your money was not wasted. We provided our intended service over the last three years, resulting in broadcasts on about 500 radio stations nationwide, including many major urban areas. You can view our station broadcast list here: http://www.citizensofamerica.org/medialist.htm. Additionally, tens of thousands of print ads (http://www.citizensofamerica.org/print.htm) have been distributed in various publications and by various groups. Even now we sporadically receive notes from radio stations who have begun running our ads as public service announcements.
But the donations for this campaign have slowed to a relative trickle despite our entreaties, so we're responding to reality.
SECOND -- We might have soldiered on with the funds we did bring in. However, Brian Puckett, who has served as COA president since the beginning, has worked for COA without a salary for the last year. He cannot continue to do so. Additionally, he is now pursuing new business interests that require much of his time.
Additionally, Mr. Puckett was recently involved in a car-related accident resulting in a broken ankle and lacerated arm. As noted many times before, COA has no permanent staff that can take on the day-to-day operations of the organization, (we use volunteers and subcontractors for anything we couldn't do in-house). Neither can the other two founders/corporate officers of COA, Steve Silver or David Codrea, take on this task. In addition to the usual problems such an event brings on, it has become clear that for the next few months Mr. Puckett will not have the mobility, time, or "desk stamina" to deal with the unending details of running the organization. For all the above reasons, this seems the appropriate time to cease operations.
The above considerations also mean that COA will no longer serve as the collection point for funds to support the Silveira v. Lockyer lawsuit. However, all funds sent to COA for this purpose, either in the past, or in transit in the mail, or sent to COA in the future due to error, will be forwarded and used to support the lawsuit.
Again, COA's status has ZERO effect on your donations being used for the Silveira v. Lockyer lawsuit. And again, if you have donated recently to COA, that donation will be used for our only current project, the Silveira v. Lockyer lawsuit.
Future donations to support the lawsuit can be made by clicking on the new donation links found on the KeepAndBearArms.com Silveira v. Lockyer page, found here: http://KeepAndBearArms.com/silveira/scotus.asp (it can always be found by going to KeepAndBearArms.com's homepage), or clicking here: http://KeepAndBearArms.com/donations.
KeepAndBearArms.com has established an escrow account, and funds donated to that account will be used solely to fund the Silveira v. Lockyer lawsuit. Should this case be rejected for hearing by the Supreme Court, the funds will be held in reserve to support a future Second Amendment lawsuit.
COA will be filing final corporate financial statements with the state of California in about two months, as required by law. For a time, our website will remain up so the radio and print ads can be downloaded, but our donations link will be removed and a copy of this notice of closure will be posted. From time to time, we may utilize the COA News and Update email list to inform you of events that are particularly important.
For all of you who have so generously and diligently supported COA, we believe the work COA has done up until now has indeed made a difference. We thank you for your help. If you'd like to continue making a difference, we ask you to financially support our long-time partner in the gun-rights movement, the premier Second Amendment news and resource website KeepAndBearArms.com. Become a supporting member and sign up for their emailed news briefs on their home page to keep you abreast of what's happening in the gun rights movement.
Best regards,
Brian Puckett, Co-Founder/President, COA
David Codrea, Co-Founder/Treasurer, COA
Steve Silver, Co-Founder/Secretary, COA
10-4 on that. I too gave what I could. Be assured, though, the likes of Brian Puckett and David Codrea will not be out of the running for long!
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