Posted: 4/23/2003 11:18:02 AM EDT
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Gun-rights group runs out of ammo Citizens of America closes down due to chronic lack of funding -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: April 23, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Jon Dougherty © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Citing a lack of funding, a national gun-rights organization known for its impressionable pro-gun advertisements has called it quits three years after its founding. "It has become increasingly difficult to raise sufficient funds to pay for the costs associated with running the organization," said Citizens of America, in a statement published on its website. The group's co-founder, Brian Puckett, said he had tried to use the Internet to get wired into millions of gun owners he hoped would help fund the fledgling organization. Though donations did come, they were always too little, he said. And now it's too late. "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," said the statement. "The founders of COA believed that since there were about 75 million gun owners in the U.S., if we could get $10 from 10 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 [we received] 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," the statement continued. Still, Puckett said there were some successes. The group's radio and print ads, which featured high-impact pro-gun messages, were picked up by hundreds of stations in 45 states and dozens of publications. One print ad featured a picture of a handgun and a telephone receiver at the top and asked readers, "Which would a rapist fear?" Another showed a headstone and read, "9-1-1 wasn't enough." One radio ad titled "9-1-1 Hell" began with glass breaking, a woman gasping, three phone buttons being pushed and a phone ringing. That was followed by a recorded message, "You have reached the 911 emergency service. All operators are busy. Please stay on the line for the next available operator," and an anxious woman caller pleading, "Oh, God! Please help me! He's got a knife!" Still, despite the unique nature of the ads, funding remained scarce. "Though we have had much-appreciated help from a few gun-related corporations … it was not enough nor regular enough to make a long-term difference," COA said. "Finally, no millionaires stepped forward to help, as seems so common in the anti-gun camp. "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," the statement concluded. Puckett said the group had been a clearinghouse of donations for a legal battle being waged by another gun-rights organization, KeepAndBearArms.org. That group is helping prepare and fund a challenge to California's semi-automatic rifle ban. KABA hopes to get the case before the U.S. Supreme Court and has already retained legal counsel. COA said "for a time" its website would remain active and anyone looking to download radio or print ads from the site would be able to do so. Also, the group said it may use its e-mail list to notify members of "events that are particularly important." |