The JPFO David and Goliath Award
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Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership presents the David and Goliath Award to recognize individuals or groups that defend freedom and human rights against a much larger opponent. The statue of David represents the biblical character who, with his private weapon of choice, a clearly visible sling, defeated a giant deemed unstoppable. These kinds of selfless acts and their compounded results we admire and encourage. The trophy itself features a laser-etched 3D image of the biblical hero David, as sculpted by the Renaissance genius Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1627, under special license to JPFO. The marble statue itself resides in Galleria Borghese, in Rome, Italy. We present the David and Goliath Award to honor individuals and organizations demonstrating the courage, tenacity and resolve to challenge the opponents of freedom and human rights including the rights to arms and self-defense.
In 2011, David Codrea (R) of "Gun Rights Examiner" and Mike Vanderboegh (L) of "Sipsey Street Irregulars" (both unwavering pro Second Amendment writers with blog sites) are joined here by Charles Heller, Executive Director of JPFO, to receive the inaugural award for having performed a service to America that is still far from being fully weighed.
These two "everyday" Americans researched and broke the story about Fast and Furious, what was considered the most despicable criminal scandal in modern American political history. We're talking about the blood drenched BATFE debacle the mainstream media would have overlooked if not for these men. And it's not just BATFE that was involved. The Dept. of Homeland Security was in it up to the armpits and the FBI was in up to its neck as well. They trafficked guns to Mexican drug cartels that resulted in countless murders, in a scheme so botched and outlandish only a federal agency could dream it up, cover it up, and finally be exposed.
In 2013 at the Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) reception in Houston, Texas, Charles Heller, Executive Director of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO), presented Emily Miller, reporter for The Washington Times, with the David and Goliath Award for her outstanding reporting on the byzantine 17-step process it takes to legally obtain a handgun in Washington, D. C.
This courageous reporter authored Emily Gets Her Gun… But Obama Wants to Take Yours (Regnery 2013). One of her goals while writing her book was to help other Washingtonians become gun owners as easily as possible. She went through the registration ordeal without taking any shortcuts or using insider information so that she could find every bump in the road or dead end. Miller won the 2012 Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting from the Institute on Political Journalism.
In 2014, attorney and Second Amendment scholar Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D, was recognized by JPFO with the David and Goliath Award for the groundbreaking research in his book Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "enemies of the State" Oakland: Independent Institute. Halbrook established beyond any rational doubt that Nazi gun laws were enacted, among other things, to disarm Jews and further or even enable the Holocaust. Discourse in America about the role of disarming civilians and genocide will continue, but not on a factual basis in light of Halbrook's seminal work. JPFO was founded with Aaron Zelman's research at the forefront, establishing that U.S. gun laws were built upon Nazi gun laws. Now the tapestry of disarmament and dictatorial control is more complete, and impervious to specious unraveling.
Halbrook first got involved in Second Amendment issues with a George Mason University Law Review article pointing out that the right to arms is an individual one, backed up by the Fourteenth Amendment enforcing it against the several states. He has been involved in most major firearms-related cases since then, including three wins at the U.S. Supreme Court, in Printz v. United States, United States v. Thompson-Center Arms Company, and Castillo v. United States. His briefs can be found in other seminal cases, including D.C. v. Heller, and McDonald v. Chicago. His book, That Every Man Be Armed, has been critically acclaimed as among the all-time best Second Amendment books in print.
Kyle Kashuv, a student thrust into the national spotlight after the tragic mass murders at the Parkland, Fla., high school he attends, was JPFO's 2018 David and Goliath Award winner, in recognition of his bold and courageous defense of liberty. Mr. Kashuv goes even further, seeing through and calling out controversial classmates at his school who, following the massacre, have been receiving substantial funding from dark-money donors and virtue-signaling celebrities, hyped up all the more by saturation media coverage promoting the all-too familiar, misguided "gun-control" agenda.
In accepting the award, Mr. Kashuv emphasized his activism is for preserving the right of Americans to keep and bear arms, not about getting awards or being on a trendy teeny bopper tour. He said, "It is unjust that politicians, who are protected by guns, reach for gun control, which makes our classrooms more vulnerable. The solution to school safety is not the erosion of the Second Amendment," adding, "the hardening of schools, and armed guards (are important parts of) the best solution."
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO.org) has honored radio talk host Seth Leibsohn with the “David & Goliath” award for his robust efforts to defend liberty and the right to keep and bear arms.
The producer, co-host and sometimes guest host of the nationally syndicated radio show Bill Bennett’s Morning in America, Leibsohn has also served as Bennett’s chief of staff for the past several years. He has co-authored a book with Bennett titled The Fight of our Lives: America and the Threat of Radical Islam. He also co-authored American Greatness, one of the leading books explaining the Trump phenomenon and analyzing the modern conservative movement. “His positions on gun ownership are steadfast and unyielding,” said JPFO’s Bill of Rights Sentinel newsletter editor Alan Korwin.
Leibsohn is host of his own daily radio show, The Seth Leibsohn Show on AM 960 The Patriot based in Phoenix. Off the air, he co-founded Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy. He also is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a leading think tank for studying political philosophy and statesmanship.
THE JPFO "DAVID AND GOLIATH AWARD" GUIDELINES
From JPFO's main brochure: The overarching mission of JPFO is to destroy the idea of "gun control" of any kind as a credible policy position. So-called "gun control" does not control guns nor does it control criminal behavior. What it does do is disarm the innocent, leaving them helpless in the face of petty criminals, tyrannical governments and genocide. History keeps proving this. Advocates of "gun control" are either ignorant, misguided, hoplophobic in need of help, or evil. Their efforts and agendas earn and deserve scorn and derision as the foolish and dangerous proposals they are. "A public, well educated in the right and proper role of arms in our modern society, is the good and natural protector of the people and freedom."The David and Goliath Award is issued periodically by JPFO to recognize heroic achievement by an individual or group, against significant adversity, in the preservation of firearms ownership and the civil liberties necessary for attaining this goal. Successful candidates will have persevered through outstanding activity, setting an example for others to admire or emulate in:
• Aiding in the destruction of so-called "gun control"
• Informing the public or officials about the deceptive nature of so-called "gun control"
• Conducting fundamental new research about so-called "gun control"
• Advancing the right of the people to keep and bear arms
• Educating and bringing new enthusiasts and shooters into the community
• Stopping or impeding anti-rights activity, bigotry, legislation, judicial action or discrimination
• Counteracting anti-Bill of Rights propaganda
• Stopping or helping to stop oppression, or opposing tyranny
• Securing a previously denied or denigrated right
• Acts of physical courage
• Saving innocent life
• Principled journalism
• Bringing to light great inequity
• Exposing significant corruption
• Tireless legal perseverance
•Tenacious investigating
•Significant meritorious effort toward JPFO's goals
Notes:
A unanimous vote of the Board of Directors and Advisors is required for issuance.
Religious affiliation or belief is not a condition for receiving the award.
Recipients must be thoroughly vetted to avoid potential embarrassment.
To the extent practical the award is made in conjunction with major national events.
The award may be presented throughout the year as appropriate.
The honoree shall be notified in advance of receiving the award when in the opinion of the
Board of Directors and Advisors it is more appropriate than a surprise presentation.
The award is not available to anyone employed by JPFO.
The award may be issued posthumously.
These guidlines are also available as a PDF file.