This past weekend was the Gun Rights Policy Conference – a nationwide gathering of the people who’ve driven the biggest sustained grassroots political push in recent American history, perhaps the most important human rights campaign in this country since the mid-sixites,the Second Amendment movement.

And with glorious savoir-faire, it was held deep in the belly of the beast – Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago, a city that serves as the Custer’s Last Stand of the anti-gun extremist:.

Gun rights activists from all over the country are heading home after two intense days of panel discussions, networking and comparing notes; energized to continue fighting at the local and national levels to protect and expand their firearms civil rights, now that the final gavel has fallen on the 2011 Gun Rights Policy Conference.

I didn’t get to attend, naturally – although at least one regular commenter to this blog did; perhaps he’ll chime in.

I did notice a few key remarks from the convention:

 They were treated to a luncheon address by Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh (R-8th District). He said matter-of-factly, “Thank God President Obama got elected because he woke this country up.”

He’s right, you know.  With a moderate Republican or responsible Democrat, gun control would have slumbered along in its 2006-era status quo for the better part of a decade.  Faced with an existential threat to our right to self-defense, Americans startled awake and redoubled the efforts that were already feverish before The Obamascenscion.

An old friend turned up in the story:

 Minnesota attorney David Gross, a veteran activist and former NRA board member, referred to “gun-free zones” as “OSHA zones for criminals.”

One of the men of the hour was Otis McDonald, lead plaintiff in the pivotal McDonald V. Chicago case two years ago, which groin-kicked the gun control movement with pointy boots.

Otis McDonald: a real american hero, and a Real American hero. The only reason to oppose his SCOTUS case, by the way, was racism.

McDonald agreed to be a lead plaintiff in the case, which was considered before the U.S. Supreme Court, because as he told ABC News the restrictive firearms laws made him feel like “the city cares more for the thugs than they do me, and I’m the one paying taxes.”

McDonald, four other Chicago residents, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association sought to have the U.S. Supreme Court apply another Second Amendment case, the District of Columbia v Heller, to Chicago and other cities and states across the country…McDonald’s case expanded the Heller decision when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 28, 2010, that the right of an individual to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment applies to the states.

By all accounts I’ve heard, McDonald’s address was a major highlight:

Chicago’s law enforcement has had to deal with gangs and mob violence, and in 1982, officials there thought the best solution was to ban firearms. But McDonald and many others said it left them unable to defend themselves.

Looking back on his experience, McDonald told Hawaii Reporter today that this experience has meant a lot to him. “In the beginning, I was just thinking about me and my family and my neighborhood, but it quickly increased size wise and effected so many people in the country.” He said his “anger” at being unable to protect himself and his family from criminals – along with prayer – gave him the courage and strength to go forward and continue the legal fight.

McDonald is a hero to all Real Americans.

In related news, Chicago continued to fight for Chicagoans’ “freedom from violence” by mandating children be locked up at night:

With the aim of protecting children from that violence, Chicago officials passed a tighter curfew that takes effect Sunday. Fines for parents who repeatedly ignore the law are going up to $1,500, under the new rules.

According to police statistics, the hours immediately after the new 8:30 p.m. weekday curfew are some of the most deadly.

An analysis of homicides in the first half of 2010 found that slayings spiked between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., for a total of 29 over six months. According to figures provided by Chicago Public Schools, young people are often the victims.

During the 2010-11 school year, CPS reports that 256 students were shot, and 27 of them were killed.

Good thing they don’t allow guns in Chicago, or Goddess only knows how bad it’d be.