A Message From The Chairman
2008 Annual Report

The fight to preserve our rights under the Second Amendment continues, and your support of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund is helping to sustain the Second Amendment one battle after another.

On behalf of myself, the Board of Trustees, and the millions of law-abiding gun owners across America, thank you for your support of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund this past year. The activities of the Fund speak clearly to the dedication of the Fund Trustees in answering the mandate of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association of America when it created the Fund in 1978.

In the Litigation Activities section of this report review the more than 60 different cases supported by the Fund to correct the injustice that exists in our laws today. The cases the Fund supported recently include the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, where the U.S. Supreme Court found the handgun ban and the ban against the possession of an operable firearm in the home to be an infringement of the Second Amendment right to keep arms in the home for self-defense, and New York City v. Beretta, where the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed a meritless lawsuit because it offended the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

In addition to our case law work, we continue to reach citizens in all walks of life with the help of our research programs, grants and scholarships. Each year, our writing contests are held at junior and senior high school level as well as law school. Additionally, we distribute thousands of pertinent books and articles to libraries and individuals. Through these ongoing efforts we educate and help shape the opinions of students, lawyers, legislators and everyday citizens.

The fund must continue to meet the present and future challenges certain to rise threatening our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. You can support the Fund’s work through direct donations, estate planning, support through the CFC or United Way payroll deductions. Our Combined Federal Campaign number is 10006.

After reading this 2008 annual report, please share it with your friends, neighbors and co-workers. Ask them to step forward and make a commitment to secure their civil right to keep and bear arms across America. Working together as leaders in this great cause, we can help carry the Second Amendment intact through the millennium.

Sincerely,

William H. Dailey
Chairman