contribution that he had received from Thompson. In August 2010, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced that a nationwide arrest warrant had been issued for Thompson, who had stolen the identity and Social Security number of a victim who was not connected to the USNVA. Corday stated, "We know he bilked Ohioans out of at least $1.9 million, and we estimate that nationally he collected at least $20 million." On January 14, 2011, McDonnell issued a directive ordering the Department of Conservation and Recreation to cease enforcing regulations prohibiting the carrying firearms in state parks. He also gave preliminary approval to amend the regulations to allow people to carry open or concealed firearms in state forests. The regulations were already amended in 2003 to allow concealed weapons on park property. On August 15, 2011, McDonnell was named chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Social issues Confederate History Month proclamation At the request of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, McDonnell issued a proclamation designating April 2010 as "Confederate History Month" following similar designations by two of his Republican predecessors, George Allen (in 1995, 1996, and 1997) and James S. Gilmore, but unlike the two Democratic governors immediately preceding McDonnell, who did not designate such a month. Unlike Gilmore's proclamation, which included anti-slavery language, McDonnell's initial proclamation omitted direct mention of slavery, drawing criticism from the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP. When initially asked why he had made the omission, McDonnell stated that "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia." On April 7, 2010, McDonnell conceded that omitting slavery from his proclamation was "a major omission," apologized, and amended the document. McDonnell had previously refused to rule out the possibility that he would run for vice president in 2012; while news analysts Chris Cillizza, Mark Plotkin, and Teddy Davis speculated that the mistake may have a significant adverse impact on McDonnell's chances for a future vice presidential nomination, a May 22 Time magazine article described McDonnell as "a politician who inexplicably kneecapped himself is clawing his way back." On September 24, 2010, McDonnell addressed an academic conference on slavery and announced that he will declare April 2011 as "Civil War in Virginia" month rather than "Confederate History Month." He also called the April 2010