This is the busiest time of year for professional shooter, wife, mother and Army veteran Julie Golob. She is hosting classes and training hard for the upcoming competition season, which begins later this month. She did not have much time to devote to a controversy that surfaced last week, when her image and personal information were misappropriated for a social media post by the anti-gun group 97Percent, as part of its campaign to gaslight the public into falsely believing it is a moderate pro-gun group.
“I did not endorse their message. I gave no permission for the photo. It is unfair to use my image and likeness to give the perception that I support what they are all about. I certainly don’t,” Golob told the Second Amendment Foundation last week. “And the fact it was used for Women’s History Month is insulting.”
A special report published by the Second Amendment Foundation last week revealed how 97Percent uses slick marketing and an aggressive social media campaign to falsely portray itself as a pro-gun organization comprised of gun owners and non-gun owners, while in reality it is nothing more than a run-of-the-mill anti-gun group, not unlike Everytown, Giffords or Brady.
Last Wednesday, ostensibly as part of Women’s History Month, 97Percent posted tweets featuring images and personal information of nine female shooters and/or leaders within the Second Amendment community – six living and three deceased. They included Golob, Rhonda Ezell, Robin Sandoval, Lena Miculek, Kim Rhode and Carrie Lightfoot, as well as Lucille Ball, Mary Edwards Walker and Annie Oakley.
Last Thursday, after Golob responded to the post on Twitter/X and made it clear that she did not give permission to use her likeness or personal information, the group quickly deleted all of its Women’s History Month posts.
97Percent’s executive director, Olivia Troye, said during a recent appearance on ABC’s The View, that her group’s mission is “to bring gun owners into the conversation and to bring them to the table in order to work on reducing gun deaths happening across the country while including them in the solutions.”
However, the recent investigation by the Second Amendment Foundation revealed that 97Percent supports bans on “assault weapons,” standard-capacity magazines, and bump stocks and has called for permits to carry, purchase, and even possess firearms. It supports mandatory background checks and mandatory storage laws and claims the Second Amendment is “overprotected.”
Troye declined to be interviewed for the previous story, and she did not return emails seeking an explanation for her group’s misuse of the women’s photos and personal information.
Chicago Guns Matter founder Rhonda Ezell pointed out that 97Percent lifted her image right off of her website, without her knowledge or permission.
“When I first saw it, I was shocked,” she told the Second Amendment Foundation. “Why would an anti-gun group post a picture of me? They never asked to use the photo. This doesn’t make sense. At best, this is theft of intellectual property.”
Ezell has since contacted an attorney.
“I didn’t know of 97Percent. I never interacted with them. They are working against our cause,” she said. “I pick my battles, but I did feel it was rude. The picture they took is from a professional photo shoot.”
Both Ezell and Golob are frustrated by 97Percent’s plagiarism and use of false light.
“Lawful gun owners have to be wary of organizations that make certain claims,” Golob said. “We have to be vigilant and speak up, because when something is done wrong to you, the burden of proof and all of the effort is on you.”
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About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
