Ray Carter, special projects coordinator at the Second Amendment Foundation standing next to Alan Gottlieb
Ray Carter, special projects coordinator at the Second Amendment Foundation’s Bellevue, WA, headquarters lost a two-year battle with cancer on May 29.
A veteran gun rights activist before he joined the SAF team, Carter was the founder of Washington CeaseFear, a pro-gun grassroots movement established as a counter effort to Washington Ceasefire, a gun control organization.
Carter also worked with the Pink Pistols, a gay gun rights group, and had been involved earlier in his life with Seattle’s Pride Parade and festival. He was also a key participant in an annual event in Colorado dubbed “Blogorado,” a gathering of gun-oriented bloggers in the summer during which they socialized, compared notes on the issues and did a lot of shooting.
An avid shooter and gunowner, Carter was a member of the National Rifle Association, Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the Washington Arms Collectors. He was also a Mason.
Carter first came to SAF as director of development, but he moved into the special projects position in 2015. There, he worked with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, which has become part of the SAF family. He was editor of the JPFO Sentinel.
Described by many on social media as a humanitarian and good friend, Carter was a tireless worker for causes in which he believed. He had a keen wit, enjoyed the camaraderie of shooting and gun collecting events, and he occasionally demonstrated a flair for the English language that showed up both in how he spoke and how he wrote.
Carter once laughingly acknowledged to his colleagues, “If I think it’s funny, it’s probably a bad idea.”
A resident of Seattle, he leaves behind a brother and sister, his mother and many relatives and friends.
