BELLEVUE, WA – Justin Moon, founder and CEO of Kahr Arms, is the 2021 recipient of the Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms announced today.
Moon was born in South Korea in 1970 and came to the United States with his family as a toddler three years later, first settling in Tarrytown, N.Y. He became interested in firearms in his teens, and when he started looking for a compact 9mm pistol for concealed carry and couldn’t find what he wanted, he decided to design a pistol in that caliber. It was the beginning of what has become a career at the helm of one of the most popular handgun companies in the U.S.
In 1992, Moon graduated magna cum laude from Harvard with a degree in economics, and went on to attend graduate school at the University of Miami, where he earned an MBA in 1993. That same year, Moon founded Kahr Arms, and the company’s lightweight, slim and reliable pistols became immediately popular. More than ten years ago, Kahr Arms purchased Magnum Research, a Minnesota-based firearms company, and Auto Ordnance is also part of the Kahr Arms family.
This year, Moon sponsored and was featured at the third annual Rod of Iron Freedom Festival in Greeley, PA, at the Kahr company headquarters campus. The event was attended by thousands of gun rights activists from all over the region.
“Justin Moon’s unquestionable support for the Second Amendment cause certainly justifies our recognition of his efforts,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “He’s not just a devoted shooter, he’s a gun designer and builder. More than that, he is outspoken about freedom and individual liberty, which he has discussed during on-air interviews, and we are delighted to recognize his efforts.”