Several weeks ago while I was just settling in at my hotel in San Diego for Gun Rights Policy Conference, the news broke of a new Biden-Harris set of executive orders. The orders are a lot of the same semi-do-nothing posturing we’ve gotten from Uncle Joe. One thing that they did focus on though is so-called “safe storage,” and following their breadcrumbs led to an avalanche of WTFs. Our friends at Hold My Guns®, in particular, took exception to finding themselves at the end of a path that associated them with known anti-gun groups and personalities.

New2A.com did a great job working through the minutiae of an email sent by HMGs’ founder and executive director, Sarah Joy Albrecht. The email involved Albrecht seeking to distance and remove the organization from any of the anti-liberty groups’ media and webpages.

The email begins with Albrecht recounting her previous interactions with Jehrin Clark, an advisory board member of Walk the Talk America, who also goes by the name “J. Hood.” Albrecht noted that Clark had reached out to her about endorsing the Pause to Protect initiative, which she declined. However, the discovery that Hold My Guns® was included in this federally funded project shocked her. She emphasized that no one from Pause to Protect had informed her organization of its inclusion, leading to confusion among those familiar with Hold My Guns’® mission, which is based on private, voluntary storage solutions, not government-backed programs.

Albrecht voiced her alarm about the implications of the unauthorized inclusion of Hold My Guns®. She explains that the organization is deliberately privately funded to maintain independence from government influence and preserve the privacy and rights of gun owners. “What you might not realize is that the inclusion of Hold My Guns®… falsely implies that we receive federal funding, are part of the Biden-Harris Executive Orders, and/or are affiliated with and are endorsing Pause to Protect,” she wrote. She further stressed that the misleading association damages the organization’s standing within the firearms community, which largely distrusts government programs aimed at regulating gun ownership.

The fact of the matter is that Hold My Guns®, Albrecht, her board, volunteers and their many donors, all have worked very hard over the years to establish their program. HMGs has paved the path for non-compulsory off-site firearm storage for gun owners needing a place to stow guns.

The beauty of HMGs has always been that they focus on the person who’s in need, rather than the inanimate gun. Any partners that HMG has ever brought on know and understand the importance of not prying into any individuals’ lives. The “why” someone wants to store their firearm off-site at a participating FFL is of no consequence.

Unfortunately, when you get the government involved, and that means government money too, the finer details of say things like fundamental rights, all go out the window. Hence Biden’s focus on so-called “red flag” laws, something HMGs is adamantly opposed to.

“Furthermore, featured on the Pause to Protect website are endorsement videos from individuals and organizations in the firearms community, all of whom I know,” Albrecht penned in her email, “…and who are well-acquainted with the mission of Hold My Guns® and several with whom Hold My Guns® has previously shared our contracts, processes, messaging, and standard operating procedures—in good faith.”

Albrecht continued:

How am I to interpret the line in the Executive Orders, ‘A federally funded program has developed model guidelines, contracts, and standard operating procedures for businesses interested in providing this option,’ only to then click through to the Pause to Protect site and, although phrased in their own words, find the very same concepts I have openly shared with the firearms community and suicide prevention advocates listed on this page.

Hold My Guns® accomplished the heavy lifting when it comes to creating a private voluntary firearms storage solution. In 2018 our attorney Joshua Prince, Esquire, of Firearms Industry Consulting Group® (FICG®), developed a storage process to protect both FFLs and non-prohibited gun owners without federal overreach or sacrificing rights. (This was neither easy nor inexpensive, by the way.) This process was reviewed and approved by the ATF in 2019, and then codified in its July 2023 open letter to all FFLs, affirming that no additional program is required for FFLs to store firearms.

Albrecht’s email is one of mixed feelings.

For starters, we can appreciate and share in the outrage that an anti-freedom group would be trying to falsely use HMGs reputation. “Hold My Guns® is not, and will never be, your ‘credible messenger’ to legitimize increased federal funding or government control over the rights of firearm owners,” Albrecht asserted her severance – as she should.

The other side of the coin is that HMG has catapulted the topic of legal off-site storage of firearms squarely in the middle of the debate. Options are now on the table because of the efforts of Sarah Joy Albrecht – even if those efforts were hijacked by groups purporting not be involved in making policy, and even, yes, the Biden administration.

Having non-compulsory off-site storage available for gun owners is a giant win.

Thankfully we have piles of good people in the Second Amendment community that care about another. As a whole, the gun-owning population is a population of caring individuals who want to see everyone lead happy and healthy lives. Happy and healthy lives that are not bound by draconian laws, but uplifted by groups that give options.

How is this all going to play out on a national arena? Who knows. But what I do know is that the folks behind Hold My Guns® are not going to quit on the community, and will continue to serve until they live their last moments. They have everything in the world to be proud of in what they’ve accomplished.

To  learn more about Hold My Guns® or perhaps send them a tax-deductible donation, visit them at: https://holdmyguns.org/