Kenneth V. F. (“Kenn”) Blanchard of Cheverly, Maryland is the designated recipient of the CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month Award for August.
In nominating Blanchard for the Award, John Michael Snyder, CCRKBA Public Affairs Director, said “Kenn has demonstrated leadership on behalf of the individual right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms in the Washington, D. C. area.
“In fact, he has come up with a unique concept and is working now to implement it. He sees the need for cooperation among local pro-gun rights organizations at the regional level. He already is working for such cooperation in the Washington, D. C.-Maryland-Virginia region.
“To implement this concept, he called a ‘Shooting for Peace Conference,’ an all day gathering to establish peace among the various pro-gun groups in the area. It was held at the New Carrollton, Maryland Public Library on June 21. I was glad to be there and hope that other pro-gun spokesmen from around the country will pick up on Kenn’s idea and work in a similar manner in other parts of the United States.”
Kenn promoted the conference by mail to local ranges and clubs and over the internet to regional organizations.
He said it was his “goal to utilize the strengths, values, cultures and diversity found in the pro-gun community to return the shooting sports to a most notable status. I believe that in order to do this I have to meet with veterans of the gun rights struggle and re-energize the weary, wake up the sleeping and teach the stubborn that what we want is possible if we do the right thing and persevere.
“This conference was designed in its simplicity to gather a few strong, willing and available thinkers from the area’s organizations in a neutral setting to vent, brainstorm and form new agendas for the future. Hosting this conference were members of the recently-formed Tenth Cavalry Gun Club, comprised of pro-gun Americans of African descent. The majority of the attendees came from the State of Maryland.”
The conferees represented altogether about 3,000 people and agreed tentatively to hold a larger, follow-up conference this month.
Blanchard, who acted as conference facilitator, was born June 26, 1962 in Suffolk, Virginia. He graduated from Northwestern High School in Adelphi, Maryland in 1980, and is working toward a degree in psychology from the University of Maryland.
A participant in national Gun Rights Policy Conferences cosponsored by CCRKBA and the Second Amendment Foundation, Kenneth Vincent Ford Blanchard has a unique background in firearms education, politics and business.
In 1992, he founded African American Arms & Instruction, Inc. (A3I), a Washington, D. C. metropolitan based business providing training and consulting for a wide range of organizations and individuals. A3I, Inc. specializes in promoting shooting sports and self-protection among minority groups. Kenn writes frequently on the Second Amendment and gun control laws.
Blanchard began his professional career as a federal police officer after an enlistment in the United States Marine Corps. He served as a Marine Security Guard. A graduate of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s basic police and firearms instructor courses, Blanchard has served on protective details, as a firearms instructor and as an investigator for his U. S. government agency. He is the author of BLACK MAN WITH A GUN, published by Winston-Derek Publishers.
Kenn has a record of achievement as a federal law enforcement officer and as a Second Amendment advocate.
A member of the African American Business Association and a Director of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America, Kenn and his wife, Karen, are the parents of a daughter, Kira, 15, and a son, Kenneth II, five.