Saturday afternoon, FOAC Institute took the unusual position of voicing an official opinion and made the decision to take action on a federal issue with members of Congress.  A friend of FOAC from the NRA reached out to me asking if I’d heard anything about a grassroots movement by state organizations to petition the U.S. House Committee on Budget to move on the Hearing Protection Act (HPA) and the Stop Harassing Owners of Rifles Today (SHORT) Act.  Then the ball started rolling. 

The HPA’s purpose is to remove silencers (sorry gang, that’s what the inventor called them even though many of us refer to them as suppressors) from the National Firearms Act (NFA).  That would mean no regulation and no more punitive tax stamp.  The SHORT Act would remove short barreled rifles (SBRs) from the same restrictions.  Both of these federal restrictions were put in place by outdated ideals and misguided fears and have been punishing gun owners since 1934.  

FOAC Institute’s leadership saw an opportunity to speak out in favor of fixing something that infringes upon the rights of our members daily and serves no legitimate purpose to the law-abiding citizens of this Commonwealth or country, for that matter.  We added my signature to the line of what was at the time, only two other organizations to start the letter.  Vice President Klint Macro signed on as President of ACSL, and then we started talking to friends at other organizations who we felt would see the value in a grassroots, solidarity movement.  

We were able to spread the word to associates of ours and added a half-dozen or so other organizations to the cause.  This all had to be done quickly on Saturday, as they needed the letter back that evening to send off for finalization and submission. The House Committee on Budget meeting would occur at 6pm on Sunday.  

I thank the Board of Directors for their quick response, and V.P. Macro for his efforts in expanding the cause.  My hope is that our members see the value in stepping outside what FOAC normally does for a day so we could press forward with other like-minded organizations in fighting to further the rights of gun owners nationwide.