Bob Arwady owns a gun store, the Ammo Dump and formerly a rifle range in Houston, Texas.
He made the government mad at him when he beat back the state EPA attempt to shut down his range.
In a process that cost him over $100,000 and three years of his life in court, Arwady showed that the lead in rifle bullets that collected in the berms on his range could not possibly contaminate ground water as the environmental extremists in the state government were alleging.
Arwady's victory saved our ammo, and in so doing, blocked a back door effort at gun control through banning bullets.
The next government assault on Bob Arwady came as an attack from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The BATF sent in an agent from another region who had been specially trained in entrapment just to get Bob Arwady. When he was unsuccessful at getting Arwady to break the law at gun shows, other avenues were pursued.
The BATF discovered that two of Arwady's salesmen were vulnerable to attack. One had a felony conviction years before, and another was a Houston police officer who had engaged in some illegal activities inside the police department.
The BATF got these employees indicted and then got them to lie against Arwady to avoid going to jail themselves.
Happily the jury saw through the BATF's schemes, but Arwady had to spend another $100,000 to retain one of the leading defense attorneys in the country, Mike DeGuerin.
Of course, all the time this was dragging on, Arwady was denied his firearms rights and was only allowed limited access to his own business.
The BATF brought nine separate charges against Arwady. The jury acquitted him on all counts.
Arwady was the first person in ten years to get acquitted on all counts by a federal jury in Houston, according to an officer of the court who spoke to Arwady after the trial. He was dumbfounded that Arwady was a free man.
GOA has been the only pro-gun organization to help Arwady during his ordeals. Sadly, GOA's resources have not made it possible to make a large contribution.
Arwady's willingness to fight has doubtless saved other victims of the federal gun Gestapo from similar charges being brought against them. Those victims will not have to decide to plead to a felony if they do not have $100,000 with which to fight back.
But now Bob Arwady is tapped out. He is rightly concerned that the BATF will try to cook up another case against
him. But now he does not have another $100,000 with which to fight. He has spent his life savings.