Second Amendment Foundation (SAF)

Alan M. Gottlieb founded SAF in 1974, three years after he had already established the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA). His stated reason at the time was straightforward: defend firearms freedom through the courts, one lawsuit at a time.

The organization is headquartered at 12500 Northeast 10th Place, Bellevue, Washington.

The CCRKBA was itself born out of frustration -- specifically, a segment of gun owners who felt the National Rifle Association (NRA) wasn't pushing hard enough on Second Amendment issues in the early 1970s. SAF was Gottlieb's follow-on vehicle for the legal heavy lifting that lobbying alone couldn't accomplish.

The Post-Heller Transformation

For most of its first three decades, SAF operated in relative obscurity outside dedicated gun rights circles. That changed significantly after the Supreme Court's 2008 ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, which affirmed an individual right to keep and bear arms.

SAF moved fast on the ruling's implications and filed McDonald v. City of Chicago the same day Heller came down -- June 26, 2008.

Key milestones in SAF's 50-year history