By Dave Workman
There’s still time for northeast gun rights activists to plan attending the inaugural 2026 New England Firearms Advocacy Conference, scheduled Saturday, May 30 at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee, Mass.
The cost to attend the one-day event is $25.00 and includes a one-year membership to CCRKBA. For more information, visit CCRKBA.org/fac
According to CCRKBA announcement Wednesday, the event is sponsored by the United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) and Charlie Cook, host and founder of the online program Riding Shotgun With Charlie, will emcee.
Activities will kick off at 9 a.m., with a presentation of colors by Dick Heller, the National Anthem and opening remarks by conference chair Holly Sullivan and Mike Harris.
Coming May 30 to MA: First-ever Firearms Advocacy Conference
They will open a program which features quick reports from a variety of speaker, starting with a quick presentation about Maine at 9:15 a.m. (Laura Whitcomb, president, Gun owners of Maine), followed by reports every ten minutes covering Rhode Island (Michael O’Neil, R.I Second Amendment Coalition), Vermont (Joe LoPorto, state director, NRA-ILA), New Hampshire (J.R. Hoell, president, New Hampshire Firearms Coalition), Connecticut (Matt Strsser, vice president, Connecticut Citizens Defense League) and Massachusetts (Mike Harris, director of public policy, Gun Owners Action League).
At 10:15, Toby Leary, chairman of the Civil Rights Coalition, will brief the audience about the Chapter 135 repeal effort in Massachusetts.
Following a morning break, the conference resumes at 10:40 a.m. with a legislative panel discussion featuring Connecticut state Rep. Doug Dubitsky, Massachusetts state Sen. Peter Durant and Maine state Rep. Rachel Henderson.
They are followed at 11:20 a.m. by another legislative panel on Second Amendment issues with Democratic legislators Sen. Craig Hickman (Maine) and Rep. Jeffrey Turco (Massachusetts).
At noon, Greg Wilks with the U.S. Concealed Carry Association—sponsor of the conference—will make comments followed by a lunch break.
When the conference re-convenes at 1 p.m., a panel consisting of Jake McGuigan (National Shooting Sports Foundation), Patrick Collins (The Gun Food), and Toby Leary (Cape Gun Works) on how the firearms industry can support advocacy through business.
At 1:15 p.m., podcaster Cam Edwards will appear with a video message on “Finding My Second Amendment Voice.”
At 1:25 p.m., Jared Yanis at Guns and Gadgets will also appear in a video on Making a Positive Impact: Talking 2A on social media.
Next up, starting at 1:40 p.m., will be a panel on “2A advocacy at the Municipal level” featuring Walt Kupson (CCDL Outreach), John Petrolino, a member of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms board of directors, and The Pen Patriot.
Following a short break, attorney Cameron Atkinson will provide a Connecticut judicial update, with three other reports following at 15-minute intervals, with attorney Kevin Wynosky providing a Maine judicial update; attorney Jason Guida reporting on the Massachusetts judicial situation, and attorney Frank Saccoccio providing a Rhode Island judicial update.
At 3:15 p.m., a panel discussion on how national, state and local organizations can succeed together featuring panelists Joe LoPorto, Bill Sack (Second Amendment Foundation) and Holly Sullivan (CCRKBA and CCDL).
Following another short break, keynote speaker Dr. John Lott from the Crime Prevention Research Center will offer his insights.
At 4 o’clock, there will be a discussion on winning elections outside of the legislative session featuring remarks from Kim Morin at the Women’s Defense League of New Hampshire, and Silvana Apicella, CCDL Elections coordinator.
Closing remarks will follow at 4:15 with Holly Sullivan and Mike Harris.
