Ayoob at GRPC: 'We've Come a Long Way'

When deep-voiced Massad Ayoob talks, people listen, and in Salt Lake City during the Gun Rights Policy Conference, they did so intently as he took the audience back 50 years to the mid-1970s.

"We've come a long way. If you think we're in a bad situation now, you weren't around 50 years ago," he observed. "Look where we are."

Ayoob, a nationally-famous firearms and self-defense instructor, expert witness, accomplished writer and author, firearms authority and president of the Second Amendment Foundation, provided not only a history lesson, but provided a bit of Scripture in the process.

It was in the mid-70s when the Second Amendment Foundation was founded. In the half-century since, SAF has been on the front lines, bringing court cases challenging gun control laws all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

At that time, Ayoob recalled, there were seven states where lawful carry of defensive firearms was not allowed. Today, there are no states. The final holdout was Illinois, which changed its law in 2014, thanks to lawsuits involving SAF and others. …