The National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action will bestow its prestigious JM Littlefield Award to the proponents of the Colorado recall campaigns for their activism in defending the Second Amendment.
The Basic Freedom Defense Fund and Pueblo Freedom and Rights took on the political establishment last fall over Colorado's controversial gun control laws, which became the strictest gun control laws in the nation. The campaigns ousted two top Democrats in the battleground state including the state Senate president, and paved the way for two Republicans to be elected to fill their seats.
In this Thursday, June 27, 2013, file photo Richard Taylor manager of at Firing-Line gun store in Aurora, Colo., shows some of the pistols that he won't be able to sell after June 30 because their magazines hold more than 15 rounds. Limits on ammunition magazines and universal background checks, signature pieces of Colorado Democrats gun-control legislation in response to mass shootings, take effect July 1, even as county sheriffs fight to overturn the new laws. That law inspired a grassroots campaign to recall two state Senate Democrats. Credit: AP
The two campaigns, which consisted almost entirely of unpaid volunteers, became a classic David versus Goliath tale. They took on then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who dumped $350,000 of his own fortune into the election and likely funneled millions more through his now-defunct Mayors against Illegal Guns.
"The Colorado recalls were our duty as citizens defending our Republic," said Tim Knight, the founder of the recall movement in Colorado. "Now, we hope that perhaps this recognition may inspire others to take their own first steps, knowing that they are not alone no matter how lonely and frightening the road ahead may seem."
The Littlefield award is granted for excellence in volunteerism and is, in effect, the NRA's volunteer of the year award.
The NRA's Institute for Legislative Action will present the award to the groups near the one-year anniversary of the recall elections next month.
Jennifer Kerns is a branded contributor to The Blaze and other publications where she writes about the 2nd Amendment, the future of the GOP, limited government battles, religious liberty and other political hot topics.
–
TheBlaze contributor channel supports an open discourse on a range of views. The opinions expressed in this channel are solely those of each individual author.
