The Second Amendment Foundation is one of the premier organizations litigating Second Amendment issues in the courts. During an interview, Executive Director Adam Kraut discussed what they’ve been up to.
While attending the 2026 National Rifle Association Annual Meeting, Kraut stopped by to discuss the Second Amendment Foundation and their past and present legal battles. This interview was made possible by Beretta Holding, the sponsor of the Voices of the Second Amendment at the NRAAM.
Kraut is SAF’s executive director, a role he took on about four years ago. SAF was founded in 1974 by Alan Gottlieb. The Foundation’s purpose is to aggressively and strategically bring on litigation against any so-called gun control laws. Kraut has been at the leading edge of Second Amendment-related litigation for over a decade and brings with him a set of experiences which he’s put to use at the Foundation.
“SAF, as we like to call it, is a 501(c)(3), not a (c)(4) like most of the other organizations,” Kraut explained. “The difference between those, for those who don't know, (c)(4)s engage in direct lobbying and grassroots lobbying more freely than (c)(3)s can … Our mission focuses on legal action and education.”
When Gottlieb founded SAF, he was already the head of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms — where I serve as an unpaid volunteer director. CCRKBA is a 501(c)(4) and he saw the need for the tax-deductible benefits donors would receive. This structure positioned SAF as the perfect vehicle for litigation.
It’s important to realize that Gottlieb founded both of these organizations in 1971 and 1974 respectively. NRA-ILA wasn’t formed until 1975 and Gun Owners of America not until 1976 — both 501(c)(4)s.
Kraut explained that the Second Amendment Foundation’s watershed moment was in 2010. The opinion in SAF-backed McDonald v. The City of Chicago incorporated the Second Amendment to the states. Relying on the 2008 Heller opinion, McDonald galvanized firearm ownership as an individual right.
“When you talk about the world of Second Amendment jurisprudence at the Supreme Court level, I say the world starts with Heller,” Kraut said. “There were a couple decisions before that, but Heller — you get (the) individual right, untethered to militia service, right to keep arms in the home — (it) does talk about bear. Two years later, you get McDonald, which means we get to sue all the states because incorporation via the 14th Amendment.”
“Fair housing” issues have also been tackled over the years. “People who are in public housing — challenging flat bans on possession of arms in public housing,” Kraut explained. “We've had four cases on that, of which we've all won.”
At the time of the interview — April 18, 2026 — one of the more recent big wins that Second Amendment Foundation celebrated was the injunction against the federal prohibition on carrying a firearm on some U.S. Postal Service properties. A case the USPS has remained publicly mum on since last year’s opinion.
“So kind of the whole gamut, if you will,” Kraut said of the types of cases the Foundation goes after. “Whether it's a ‘big blinking neon sign issue’ or it's a smaller, kind of discreet ‘that still affects the right just not as many people.’”
Kraut was hopeful back in April for one of SAF’s cases seeking certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, West Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, et al., was dealing with the ban of the sale of firearms to those 18-to-20-year-old adults. While this petition was denied in June, Kraut explained why it was a good candidate — reasoning that will hold true with future challenges to the federal law.
“One of the things the Supreme Court looks for when it's going to grant cert is, is there a circuit split?” Kraut said. “Do circuits disagree on this issue? And in this instance, yes.”
Kraut explained that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found this law to be unconstitutional. The Fourth Circuit upheld the law. “That's attractive to the Supreme Court,” Kraut noted. “Why? Because there's a circuit split. There's an unequal application of the law across the United States on that very issue, at least within those two circuits.”
One of the things that Kraut did drive home when asked about his message to gun owners at large is that they need to stay engaged.
All too often gun owners trap themselves when it comes to political candidates. He says that generally speaking “the Second Amendment community has this purity test that they like to apply.” Kraut notes that people give up on candidates all too easily while they’re looking for the perfect one.
“The problem is you're never gonna have an ideologically pure candidate, it just isn't gonna happen,” Kraut said. “They exist on paper only, and when you use that and decide not to be engaged civically by going to vote, you're just allowing the other side to steamroll us.”
“Then the laws get passed, and what happens?” Kraut further said. “We have to sue them. Now you have your tax dollars paying to defend the law. If you're one of those people that donates to a group like SAF, you're also paying to fight the law.”
Right before wrapping up, Kraut teased two events that are rapidly approaching. Both the Gun Rights Policy Conference and Alternative Mass Media Conference are coming up September 25 to 27 in Dallas, Texas.
“It is a day-and-a-half gathering of scholars, lawyers, (and) politicians,” he explained. Who are “the people that are at the forefront of defending your Second Amendment rights. It's a great networking opportunity to meet the people that are doing that.”
Something Kraut points out about the Alternative Mass Media Conference is that these media platforms aren’t all that alternative anymore.
“It is designed for new alternative forms of media, which are actually really kind of becoming the mainstream media, if we're being honest, today; podcasts, YouTube channels, blogs, things like that,” he observed. “It's an opportunity, if you have one of those to meet people who have established successful ones, learn tips and tricks from them, ask questions, help plug your own stuff, but really it's designed to teach you how to be better at doing the thing you're doing from people who have been doing it for a while and are very good at it.”
For folks who want to learn more about the Second Amendment Foundation, Kraut encourages people to check them out online.
“You can find out more on the website SAF.org. Also follow us on social media, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, to get a good idea of what we're doing on any given day,” he said. “Sign up for our newsletter on the website. Get direct in your inbox once a week. We don't harass you all the time. (We send a) good weekly roundup of what's been going on the past week. Some case highlights things like that.”
It was a pleasure getting to chat with Adam Kraut at the 2026 NRAAM. As noted, the annual GRPC is rapidly approaching, so if you’d like to get a chance to meet Adam in person, he’ll be there in Dallas in a few weeks. Be sure to register at SAF.org/Grpc. There’s a whole bunch of great guest speakers this year and you won’t be disappointed.
If you’d like to catch the full interview with Adam Kraut, you can check that out HERE or in the embed below.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy Bearing Arms's pro-Second Amendment reporting? Support our work so we can keep bringing you the truth.
Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member