For those of you who don’t know me personally, my name is Stephen Stamboulieh - and I’m running for the National Rifle Association’s Board of Directors. I’m not doing it for fun, I’m not doing it for attention, and I’m not trying to pad my professional resume. I’m doing it because I sincerely believe that the Second Amendment is why we remain free. Period.
I live in Mississippi, home of some of the most pro-gun citizens in these United States. In the past six years, we have passed open carry, strengthened our preemption laws, passed an enhanced carry permit , enacted Constitutional carry, and just recently, abolished state-level suppressor registration. I believe we can do just as much in every state, especially ones that ban suppressor ownership or make it incredibly difficult for their citizens to own and carry a firearm. I have been a lawyer for eight years but have worked on Second Amendment issues for even longer, and I believe my considerable legislative and administrative experience will be as valuable elsewhere as it has been in my home state. In short, I want to put my experience to YOUR use.
My personal beliefs are simple. I believe the Second Amendment says what it means, and means what it says. “Shall not be infringed” is not some cliché to me, but sets the tone for all future discussions. I believe that all law-abiding citizens should be able to own any firearm they wish - yes, including machineguns – and do not believe the founders thought any differently. I believe that gun rights are not just some political game and that the courts should be utilized more to defend them. I believe that every vote that touches on firearms issues in any way should be rated by the NRA and that the NRA should flex its ratings muscle more.
I am the attorney that filed “the machinegun cases” - Hollis v. Lynch, et al, in Texas and Watson v. Lynch, et al in Pennsylvania – and argued before two separate Courts of Appeals recently to press for our rights. I do not and will not sit idly by while our freedoms are ignored by our government. I will know that I did not simply wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting. I saw an opening - a need for action - and sought to fill it.
That same need exists within the NRA. We need to press forward and take back what we have lost while, at the same time, preventing the loss of more of our precious freedom. I can’t promise to fix all issues but, if elected to the Board of Directors, I will do everything in my power to bring the full weight of the NRA to bear on gun rights causes that need a champion. Yes, even the ownership of “black rifles,” machineguns and other NFA firearms because it is our right. That is my word and, like the Second Amendment itself, I mean precisely what I say.
I am currently actively litigating a number of Second Amendment issues ranging from NICS appeal denials in Washington, DC to New Jersey's "justifiable need" permitting process to whether the Second Amendment protects a machinegun over in Texas.
I look forward to earning your vote!
Stephen Stamboulieh
