SAM PAREDES

Legislative Advocate / Political, Policy & Technical Advisor

Sam Paredes is the Executive Director of Gun Owners of California, a non-profit lobbying organization formed to protect and preserve our Second Amendment rights in California.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Gun Owners of America and Treasurer of Gun Owners Foundation. 

Paredes is a registered lobbyist, has testified in hundreds of legislative committee hearings and has advocated on behalf of the gun community before the California Fish and Game Commission, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Department of Justice.

Paredes has been interviewed by virtually every California news outlet as well as national and international media such as Fox News, ABC World News Tonight, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Larry Elder Show, Al Jazeera and the BBC (Britain and Australia) as an expert on gun laws in the Golden State.  He is a frequent speaker before conservative groups and has given workshops on “Confrontational Politics” in Missouri, Nevada and throughout California and has served as co-host of Sacramento’s “Just Guns” radio show on Money 105.5 FM.

In addition to his work with GOC, Paredes was appointed by California Governors George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson, serving in both administrations in the Trade and Commerce Agency.

Born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents, Sam is the second of three children.  He attended Pepperdine University on scholarship and graduated with a degree in political science; he also studied at the Foundation for Economic Education in New York.

Sam is a certified firearms instructor, an avid outdoorsman and enjoys all shooting sports, hunting, fishing, golfing and traveling. He has served as a volunteer firefighter and as a board member of his local fire protection district in El Dorado County.  He is the father of three children and grandfather to an ever growing brood of grandkids.  He lives with his wife in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.