Why do I choose Gun Owners of America?
I’ll start by saying this is an unpaid and unaffiliated endorsement of GOA.
I’m a firearms instructor, and because of that, some of my money goes to the NRA. Maintaining my NRA instructor certifications requires me to maintain my membership, so I do. I also recognize the value the NRA has provided through its training and instructor programs.
But that’s a professional expense.
When it comes to the money I voluntarily choose to give to Second Amendment advocacy, that’s different.
I’m happy to support Gun Owners of America with my discretionary money.
I pay them. They don’t pay me.
Why GOA?
There are plenty of organizations advocating for the Second Amendment, and several of them are doing good work. I’m not interested in tearing those organizations down to explain why I support this one.
For me, it comes down to two things: results and trust.
Over the last several years, when a major Second Amendment fight has developed, I’ve gotten used to seeing Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Foundation somewhere near the tip of the spear.
They’re lobbying. They’re challenging regulations. They’re filing lawsuits. They’re working with state organizations and attorneys general. And increasingly, they’re winning.
That matters.
But there’s something else that matters to me just as much.
I trust them.
No organization is going to agree with me on everything, and I’m certainly not going to agree with every email, strategy or decision GOA makes. That’s not the standard I’m holding them to.
What I want to know is that when an important Second Amendment issue comes along, the organization I’m financially supporting is going to show up and fight for the principles I thought I was supporting when I gave them my money.
GOA has earned that trust from me.
And they’ve earned a lot of it by producing actual results.
The Pistol Brace Rule
The ATF’s pistol-brace rule was a pretty good test.
GOA and Gun Owners Foundation joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and pistol-brace owner Brady Brown in challenging the rule in federal court. In May 2023, they secured a preliminary injunction preventing ATF from enforcing the rule against GOA members and certain others covered by the order. That protection was subsequently extended while the litigation continued.
The brace rule was ultimately vacated nationwide through separate litigation.
That’s fine by me.
This isn’t a football game where I need GOA to score every touchdown. What matters to me is that when millions of gun owners suddenly faced a major change in how the federal government intended to treat firearms they already lawfully owned, GOA showed up and fought it.
That’s exactly what I’m giving them money to do.
“Engaged in the Business”
Then came ATF’s expanded “Engaged in the Business” rule governing when private firearm sales could require someone to obtain a Federal Firearms License.
GOA and GOF challenged that rule alongside Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Utah, among others, and obtained a preliminary injunction against its enforcement. In April 2026, the Department of Justice dismissed its appeal, and the district-court case proceeded to final judgment in June.
Different issue. Same pattern.
A federal agency expands firearm regulation through administrative rulemaking, and GOA is there challenging it.
Carry Rights
GOA and GOF have also gone after restrictions preventing nonresidents from accessing concealed-carry permitting systems.
Those cases aren’t as flashy as some of the ATF fights, but I think they’re important because they show the breadth of what the organization is doing.
GOA and its partners have pursued litigation over nonresident carry restrictions in states including New York and California. These cases aren’t creating nationwide reciprocity, but they have challenged systems that effectively shut otherwise eligible nonresidents out of the permitting process.
That’s the kind of work that can have an immediate effect on actual gun owners.
Virginia’s Universal Background Check Law
Virginia gives us another example.
GOA and the Virginia Citizens Defense League challenged Virginia’s universal-background-check requirement for private firearm transfers. In October 2025, a Virginia circuit court declared the challenged law unconstitutional and entered a permanent statewide injunction against its enforcement.
When Virginia officials later sought to get out from under that injunction, GOA and VCDL were still there.
In June 2026, the court refused to dissolve it.
I like wins.
I really like wins that stay won.
Fighting Virginia’s New Gun and Magazine Restrictions
GOA, GOF and VCDL were back in court in 2026 challenging Virginia restrictions affecting certain semiautomatic firearms, magazines and public carry.
In June, they secured a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the challenged gun and magazine restrictions while the case proceeds.
A preliminary injunction isn’t the same thing as winning the final case, and the litigation continues.
But again, they’re there.
And Then There’s the NFA
This one really got my attention.
Following Congress’s reduction of the federal making and transfer taxes on certain National Firearms Act items to $0, GOA, GOF, the Silencer Shop Foundation, Palmetto State Armory, SilencerCo, B&T USA, the Firearms Regulatory Accountability Coalition, an individual plaintiff and 15 states challenged the continued application of federal NFA registration requirements to those untaxed firearms.
In August 2026, the federal district court ruled that key NFA registration requirements could not constitutionally be enforced against the plaintiffs for the affected untaxed firearms and permanently enjoined ATF from enforcing those requirements against the covered plaintiffs, members and customers.
No, that didn’t magically erase the entire National Firearms Act.
But that’s a serious win.
And it’s another example of exactly what I mean when I say GOA isn’t simply telling me they’re fighting for the Second Amendment.
I can see the results.
Why Trust Matters to Me
Results are probably the easiest thing to measure, but trust may ultimately be the bigger reason I choose GOA.
Advocacy organizations depend on trust because most of us aren’t sitting in congressional hearings, reading every piece of legislation or following every federal lawsuit.
We’re working. We’re raising families. We’re going to the range. We’re living our lives.
At some point, if I’m going to financially support an organization, I’m trusting them to be paying attention when I’m not.
I’m trusting them to tell me when something actually matters.
I’m trusting them to fight when fighting is necessary.
And I’m trusting that when compromise becomes part of the conversation, protecting the right itself isn’t going to become secondary to protecting the organization.
That’s where GOA has earned something from me that not every gun-rights organization has:
confidence.
I don’t blindly trust them. I don’t think anyone should blindly trust an advocacy organization.
But they’ve given me enough reasons to keep trusting them with some of my money.
Fighting Is Good. Winning Is Better.
I’m not arguing that GOA is fighting these battles alone.
They’re not.
You’ll see Gun Owners Foundation, state organizations like VCDL, state attorneys general, other national Second Amendment organizations, businesses and individual gun owners throughout these cases.
Good.
I don’t want one organization fighting all of these battles. I want an entire ecosystem of organizations attacking bad laws and regulations from every direction possible.
But when I look across that ecosystem, GOA keeps showing up in places that matter to me.
And they’re not just showing up.
They’re producing results.
So, Why Gun Owners of America?
Because they’ve earned my trust.
Because when major Second Amendment fights happen, I expect to see them somewhere in the fight.
Because I can point to actual injunctions, judgments and successful challenges instead of just fundraising emails telling me how hard they’re working.
And because when I voluntarily reach into my pocket and give money to a Second Amendment organization, I want to believe that money is going to be used to actually defend the right I’m trying to support.
For me, GOA has demonstrated that.
That doesn’t mean they have to be your organization. Look at GOA. Look at the Firearms Policy Coalition. Look at the Second Amendment Foundation. Look at your state organizations. Look at what they’re actually doing and decide for yourself which organizations have earned your trust and your money.
I did.
And that’s why I’m happy to send my discretionary Second Amendment money to Gun Owners of America.