BELLEVUE, WA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Internationally-known firearms author and trainer Massad Ayoob has been named president of the Second Amendment Foundation, succeeding the late Joseph Tartaro.
“The election to president of SAF is one of the most cherished honors of my life,” Ayoob said. “I have been proud to serve for many years on SAF’s Board of Trustees and will do my best to continue my commitment to what I consider a civil right and indeed, a human right.
“I am humbled at the thought of replacing my long-time friend and mentor Joe Tartaro,” he continued, “and frankly doubt that anyone, myself included, can truly fill his shoes. I accepted the position only after being assured that it would be an interim appointment, and one of my primary goals is to find a dedicated 2A warrior with a longer life expectancy than my own to eventually serve in this position. In the meantime, I will support the goals of SAF, particularly to further strengthen our ties with the law enforcement community and to enhance the organization’s policy of embracing diversity in the community of the ‘gun culture.’”
Ayoob brings a lifetime of experience to the position. He served 19 years as chair of the Firearms Committee of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers, and several years as a member of the Advisory Board of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association. In addition to teaching for those groups, he has also taught for the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors and the International Homicide Investigators seminars.
The winner of the Outstanding American Handgunner of the Year Award in 1998, Mas has won several state and regional handgun shooting championships. He was the first person to earn the title of Five Gun Master in the International Defensive Pistol Association. He has been handgun editor of GUNS magazine and law enforcement columnist for AMERICAN HANDGUNNER since the 1970s, and has published thousands of articles in gun magazines, martial arts publications, and law enforcement journals. He is the author of some twenty books on firearms, self-defense, and related topics, including “In the Gravest Extreme” and “Deadly Force,” widely considered to be authoritative texts on the topic of the use of lethal force.
He has received judicial recognition as an expert witness for the courts in weapons and shooting cases since 1979, and served as a fully sworn and empowered, part time police officer for 43 years, mostly at supervisor rank. Ayoob founded the Lethal Force Institute in 1981 and served as its director until 2009, and now trains through the Massad Ayoob Group.
He has appeared on CLE-TV delivering continuing legal education for attorneys, through the American Law Institute and American Bar Association, and has been retained to train attorneys to handle deadly force cases through the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network. Ayoob served for two years as co-vice chair of the Forensic Evidence Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He also appeared in each episode of Personal Defense TV (Sportsman’s Channel).
“We are both proud and delighted that Mas Ayoob has assumed the SAF presidency,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with him over the years as a SAF trustee, and look forward to working with him more closely in his new role. Without a doubt, Mas Ayoob is true defender of the Second Amendment, and his devotion to protecting and advancing the right to keep and bear arms will be critical as we face new challenges.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
Congratulations to Mas,a great choice for the position and a superb gentleman to boot.
They definitely got very lucky getting Massad (Mas) Ayoob to serve as their President. I can’t think of a more qualified firearms and firearms law expert than Mas. Good Luck to the Second Amendment Foundation. Your credibility is now unquestioned. Congratulations Mas. You are an expert and a gentleman. You bring a lot of class to the Second Amendment Foundation. (I don’t mean they didn’t already have some)
I’ve been holding back from joining NRA. Perhaps, this org is worthy of my financial support
I’ve been a member of SAF for four years, and it definitely IS worthy of all the support we can give it.
Congratulations Mas!
I believe the first article I read by Mas was when I was about 14, in the early 1970’s. It was on the then, relatively new Winchester .38 Spl, 158 grain, +P, LSWCHP and how effective it had been in several shootings around the country. It would be about four years before I got my hands on a box of them and they were like gold to me. I have read dozens of his articles since then, enjoying every one of them.
Mas is a great choice for this position.
LOL… I, too, read that article (I was just exiting the Army). My first act as a civilian – the very next day, in fact – was to purchase a Charter Arms .38 snubnose, which I carried all through my college years. The very first round fired through it was a Winchester 158-grain semi-jacketed hollowpoint, and the revolver was always loaded with them as long as I carried it. About 12 years ago, I pulled that pistol out of mothballs and gifted it to my younger daughter on her first day back at college (for her Masters Degree). She still… Read more »
I don’t recall the first of his articles I read. I do know it was quite a long time before I was able to properly pronounce his name. He will be a great addition to the 2AF.
Good man for the job!
I’ve known Mas since the day, twenty years ago, when I moved to New Hampshire, joined a local gun club, and found him inside the clubhouse. (I tried not to genuflect.) In addition to his other remarkable credentials, I acknowledge him as the best gun writer since Ross Seyfried, despite his relative youth (I’m four years older). He once suggested that I join SASS — the Single Action Shooting Society — so that we could shoot together as an Arab and a Jew (I’m technically Jewish). He told me that his SASS “alias” was The Camelback Kid. I replied that… Read more »