From August 7-10, Gun Owners of America held its second annual Gun Owners Advocacy and Leadership Summit (G.O.A.L.S.) in Knoxville, Tennessee. The News2A team attended and had the chance to experience the conference over the course of three days.
Yes, it was full of cool, new innovations, classic firearms, and expanded our “must-have” list to unreasonable proportions. But it was also something much more than just a gathering of gun nuts.
In one sense, GOALS is a gun show – there is a media range day with the opportunity to interact with and shoot hundreds of firearms from dozens of manufacturers. And then there’s the convention center floor with 120,000 square feet of space packed with businesses of every kind, including some of the biggest firearms, ammo, and accessory manufacturers. (The event is free to GOA members.)
However, GOALS is more of a gun rights show. This becomes even more evident when you learn that even though every door on the Knoxville Convention Center building has a “no firearms allowed” sign etched right into the glass, GOA insisted that the right to carry be fully respected on the grounds and anywhere inside the building.
The irony is not lost on us that GOALS is held in Knoxville, a city founded in 1791, a year that is very important to gun rights litigation.
When you consider the workshops, panels, keynote speakers, and opportunities to connect with fellow patriots and Second Amendment supporters, it becomes clear that GOA is far more concerned with rights, activism, and winning litigation than it is with sales. These principles and ideals extended to the topics, agendas, and subjects of discussion in the many sessions offered.
A couple of examples include GOA Regional Meetups. The northeast regional meetup was attended by State & Local Affairs Director, Chris Stone, and Pennsylvania State Director, Val Finnell. Members were able to discuss issues germane to their state and how GOA is either tracking or taking action. Members from New York and New Jersey were present, sharing their concerns, along with members from other northeast states.
Gun Owners of America also noted that women are the fastest-growing demographic of gun owners. To that end, they hosted numerous female-led panels, keynotes, and special events. One of the highlights was the Defend Her High Caliber Brunch, which was co-hosted by Rachel Stroud and Kerry Slone, two well-known women advocates in the firearms, self-defense, and training world.
The group also recognizes the rapidly growing segment of minority gun owners that need to be brought into the advocacy fold. This year, they launched “Fuerza 2A,” which they bill as “a bold and unapologetic grassroots coalition dedicated to educating, empowering, and mobilizing Hispanic gun owners across the nation.” This new initiative is led by Chair Alisabet Valdes and Co-chair Luis Valdes, who is also the Florida State Director & Southeast Regional Director for GOA. It will be exciting to see this initiative engage the roughly 19% of the population that is Spanish-speaking and bring them into the fold.
Further enforcing the fact that minority populations are a fast-growing and important segment of gun owners, Tony Simon, founder of Diversity Shoot, 2A4E (The Second is for Everyone), gave a great presentation on the main stage. Tony, a U.S. Marine, regularly hosts events geared towards, but not restricted to, minority populations at shooting ranges. These events, which consist of both classroom and live fire sessions, have been wildly successful at educating thousands of people who may have never known that the Second Amendment is available to them as a civil right.
In addition to Tony Simon, we got to hear from Englishtown, N.J., Mayor Daniel Francisco. For those who don’t know of Mayor Francisco or his accomplishments, he was the first in the country to pass a resolution to rebate concealed carry application fees to the applicant. In the aftermath of the Bruen decision, the state passed a law jacking the cost of an application from $50 to $200. Of that $200, $150 goes to the town. Each applicant is now entitled to a $150 refund. Daniel was also influential in helping get this policy adopted in five other towns and counting.
GOALS also brings in some of the most influential and inspirational speakers the Second Amendment community has to offer. While there are too many to list here, some prominent speakers to note are Mark W. Smith, host of the Four Boxes Diner, Bill Kirk, host of Washington Gun Law, Braden Langley, host of Langley Outdoors Academy, Attorney Tom Grieve, Chris Salcedo, host of The Chris Salcedo Show on Newsmax, Jared Yanis, host of Guns & Gadgets, and so many more. Because GOALS is not as massive as some other shows, it’s very easy to find yourself interacting and conversing with these very same people and finding out that they are just as likable in-person as they are on screen. It really reinforces that “gun people are the best people” (credit to Anthony Colandro for coining that phrase).
Although there were many notable speakers, the number of elected representatives who made the effort to be there was also significant, including Tim Burchett, U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District, Thomas Massie, U.S. Representative for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, and Victoria Spartz, U.S. Representative for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District.
Finally, the event was notable for the casual but important conversations that create lasting and beneficial relationships. Whether those occurred in the meeting hall, at one of the booths, or over dinner. At its core, the GOALS event is a gun rights event that embodies every element of the many liberties we cherish, including assembling, free speech, and, of course, the Second Amendment.
Next year’s show will take place in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 1-2.
We hope that by sharing our takeaways, you will be inspired to attend the 2026 GOALS event, or similar events like it in an area near you, to actively participate in securing your rights and network with like-minded people.
