Hundreds Turn Out for NRA President in Hawaii

SBH News: National Rifle Association President David Keene spoke at the Hawaii NRA Annual Dinner, Sunday, November 11 at KMCAS. About 300 attended the event. Keene also spoke in Kona on Monday, November 12, and in Hilo for the Conservative Forum for Hawaii before a crowd of 200. Mr. Keene, the son of Wisconsin labor organizers, is former chairman of the American Conservative Union, sponsor of the annual national CPAC conference. He is an attorney, columnist, political activist and lobbyist who has worked in the White House and Congress and has been involved in nearly every congressional battle over gun rights since the early 1970s.The Second Amendment is alive and well in Hawaii despite the politics.

PR: `Today guns are cool’

VIDEO: Keene Speaks at Conservative Forum of Hawaii (starts at 11:30 mark)

SA: NRA leader sees Bloomberg, video games as foes

read … NRA Prez Here

Is the NRA Gaining Ground in Hawaii? National President Visits

CB: At a meet-and-greet at the state's hunting education program office at the Nimitz Center Tuesday, he mixed comfortably with other NRA members including employees of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The office, run by the DLNR, features signs like "No hunting beyond this point" and others riddled with bullet holes.

It's unclear how many NRA members are in Hawaii. A spokeswoman at the group's Virginia headquarters said the NRA could not disclose that information. She also said she was not sure if Keene's visit represented the first time a NRA officer visited the islands.

Keene's Hawaii trip included meeting with DLNR officials to talk about shooting-range and hunting opportunities, a Friends of the NRA banquet at the Marine Corp Base in Kaneohe and talks on the Big Island. During his Honolulu talk, Maui Friends of the NRA and the Maui Tea Party Skyped in to the conversation.

"What good is having a rifle or a pistol on the Big Island and not being about to shoot it?" he said in his remarks at the DLNR office. "You might as well not have a right. So, a lot of our attention is focused on this. There is a great shortage of public ranges across the country."

The shortage is due to greater interest in the activity. Keene said long lines at ranges are common.

Keene said most people associate the NRA with its high-profile lobbying and political activity. In fact, he said, only about 12 percent of its budget goes toward those activities.

The bulk of the NRA's work involves instructing youth how to use guns safely and responsibly.

According to Keene, the NRA was founded in 1873 by Union generals who were concerned that many Union troops did not understand firearms. That was in contrast to their Confederate counterparts, who largely hailed from rural areas and were raised with guns.

read … NRA in Hawaii

KANEOHE -- HAWAII Friends of NRA -- Meet NRA President David Keene

• SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2012 5:00 PM

• KMBH Officers Club

• KMBH Kaneohe Bay, HI 96734

LINK: Register

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HILO--Free Event sponsored by Conservative Forum for Hawaii

7:00pm Monday, 12 November, Hilo Naniloa Hotel, Crown Room

More info: Contact Conservative Forum President Walter Moe 966-5420 forumhawaii@gmail.com

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Bio: David Keene was first elected to the NRA Board of Directors in 2000 and most recently served the NRA as first vice president before being elected NRA President in 2011. Keene currently serves as chairman of the Legislative Policy Committee and vice chairman of the Meeting Site Selection Committee. He is also a member of the President's Committee on Advancement.

From December of 1984 until 2011 Keene served as chairman of the American Conservative Union, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots conservative lobbying organization. He is also a managing associate at the Carmen Group, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C.

Keene is an attorney, columnist, political activist and lobbyist who has written, spoken and lobbied on behalf of hunters, shooters and firearms owners for decades. He has worked in the White House and Congress and has been involved in nearly every congressional battle over gun rights since the early 1970s.

Keene attended the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he was the national chairman of Young Americans for Freedom.