BELLEVUE, WA – Veteran California civil rights attorney C.D. “Chuck” Michel has been named the “Gun Rights Defender of the Year” for 2023 by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The award was announced at the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference in Phoenix, where he spoke about California having become “a laboratory for a new pandemic of gun ban viruses.”
Michel, who has been involved in significant gun rights litigation for decades, is senior partner at Michel & Associates. He has represented many prominent gun rights organizations including the National Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Second Amendment Law Center, Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners of California. He has also taught firearms law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, and he authored California Gun Laws – A Guide to State and Federal Firearm Regulations. He serves as president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association.
“It’s an honor to be recognized, but I don’t deserve credit alone,” Michel said. “I’ve had the privilege of working with great lawyers and associations that believe as deeply in the Second Amendment as I do.”
“We have known and worked with Chuck for many years on litigation directly affecting the Second Amendment, especially in California, where having a man with his expertise on your team is invaluable,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “He is an effective litigator and advocate for the right to keep and bear arms, and anytime you’re involved in a gun rights case, you want him in your corner.”
Early in his career, he worked as a criminal prosecutor in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and for several Southern California cities.
Michel specializes in firearms rights litigation, and he has been involved in some of the most significant cases challenging—and overcoming—onerous California gun control laws. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and Loyola Law School.