Second Amendment Foundation
U.S. right — pro-gun-rights advocacy organization
Background
Alan Gottlieb founded SAF in 1974 in Bellevue, Washington, three years after establishing the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. SAF was explicitly created to build a legal foundation for Supreme Court Second Amendment litigation through scholarship, public education, publications, and test cases. Its most consequential victory came in 2010, when SAF co-sponsored McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which the Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments — a landmark decision that dramatically expanded gun-rights litigation across the country. SAF has since funded or co-sponsored dozens of federal lawsuits challenging firearms regulations. The organization is supported entirely by member donations, with roughly 720,000 members and about $9 million in annual revenue as of 2023. Gottlieb and SAF jointly own several radio stations and KeepAndBearArms.com with CCRKBA. SAF also operates The Gun Mag, its official publication, and has launched an investigative journalism project explicitly aimed at countering what it describes as anti-gun media bias. In 2025 SAF welcomed Trump's executive order rolling back Biden ATF rules, but in 2026 it joined other gun-rights groups in filing lawsuits and amicus briefs challenging the Trump Justice Department's continued defense and enforcement of the National Firearms Act, demonstrating that its primary loyalty is to gun-rights outcomes rather than to any particular administration.
Sources
- Second Amendment Foundation — Our History
- Second Amendment Foundation — Financial Information
- Second Amendment Foundation — Wikipedia
- Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) — InfluenceWatch
- McDonald v. City of Chicago — SAF case page
- SAF, CCRKBA Hail Trump Executive Order Protecting 2A Rights
- Pro-Second Amendment Groups Go After Trump Admin In Court — Daily Caller
- SAF Supports Third Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of NFA
Profile compiled 2026-07-22; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.