GunVoters – Vote Your Conscience
By Jeff Knox
Manassas, VA –-(Ammoland.com)- I’ve told this story before, but I think it’s worth repeating. I started carrying on a regular basis over 25 years ago while I was a college student in Prescott, Arizona.
I rented a room in the back of Bucky O’Neill Sporting Goods and worked part-time for J. & G. Sales, the firearms wholesaler. Guns had always been an important part of my life and that was especially true in those days as we were shooting practical courses almost every weekend and frequently during the week.
I was participating as much as my school schedule and pocketbook would allow – taking advantage of my employee discounts, using the shops reloading gear, and making a little extra tuning up single actions for the cowboy shooters.
In the midst of all of that, the time came for me to cast my first ever, in-person ballot. Having been overseas for most of the time since my 18th birthday; I had never actually walked into a polling place to cast a vote before. I remember parking at the National Guard Armory, shifting my .45 from my belt to a concealed spot under the seat of my ’66 El Camino, and going inside to vote.
As I was leaving, a nice lady stuck a little oval sticker on my shirt with a flag and the words “I Voted” printed on it. The little sticker gave me a surprising sense of pride and I was feeling rather ebullient as I got back in the car and slipped the Colt back into its place behind my belt. As I did so, an idea struck me and I took the little “I Voted” sticker and carefully placed it on the smooth stock of the pistol.
There was no provision for concealed carry in Arizona in those days, so I always carried openly. I still do so frequently and I still place my “I Voted” sticker on the stock. I like the message it sends and the responses it generates.
As Election Day approaches, it is important that we all remember the sacrifices that were made to give us this great nation and to remember that freedom isn’t free. We also need to remember that safeguarding and restoring that freedom is much more easily done with a vote than with a gun.
With all of the important issues and challenges facing our nation right now supporting politicians based solely on their position on individual rights might seem myopic, but luckily there is a broader issue which every Second Amendment supporter can strongly stand behind.
That issue is Liberty.
There are clear choices on the ballot this year. On one side are those who see the Constitution as an obstacle to their objectives and something to be side-stepped, slipped past, or redefined. On the other side are those who respect and revere the Constitution and the full Bill Of Rights. This election could easily be seen as a referendum on the Constitution itself. GunVoters, need to look closely at the races and make sure that everyone they know understands the gravity of the current situation. We must take immediate action to shore up our supporters and block out our enemies.
This is true not only of the politicians you’re sending to Washington, but your local politicians as well. “All politics is local,” goes the saying. Recent battles over concealed carry and self-defense have demonstrated the importance of having solid supporters in state legislatures and governors’ offices.
It’s up to GunVoters to force early retirement on anti-rights, anti-Constitution politicians across the country.
If you really want to impact an election, bumper stickers and yard signs are a nice show of support but nothing moves a voter as much as when you look them in the eye and tell them that it is critically important that they vote for your candidate. If you do that with your friends, your family, your co-workers, everyone at church, all of your neighbors, and the kid who asks if you want fries with that, your earnest, eye-to-eye endorsement has the power to make a difference. If you can convince a dozen or more of your friends to do the same, and they convince their friends, and so on… together you can change an election.
Now is the time. Start earning the right to attach that “I Voted” sticker to your sidearm and be proud to be a GunVoter.
Permission to reprint or post this article in its entirety is hereby granted provided this credit and link is included. Text is available at www.FirearmsCoalition.org. To receive The Firearms Coalition’s bi-monthly newsletter, The Knox Hard Corps Report, write to PO Box 3313, Manassas, VA 20108.
Neal Knox Associates – The most trusted name in the rights movement.
About:
The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition is a project of Neal Knox Associates, Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org
The right doesn't want the construction of the mosque stopped, just moved. While it may legal to build a memorial to US aviators in Hiroshima, it will never be done. Location, location, location.
I think you overestimate conservative support for the patriot act "excesses" too. I know a lot of us believe that the purpose of the 9-11 attacks was not to kill Americans, but to get us to change the way we live. By getting us to giving up freedom in exchange for security, the 9-11 attackers were largely successful.
From what I have seen, the right is entirely hypocritical on freedom of religion, supporting blatant government support for a religion, when the religion is Christianity, but wanting New York city to prevent the construction of a mosque, on private property. Let me know when any right-wing organization concerned with policy on religion seriously proposes the set of legal principles they desire, in a way that treats all religions the same. As to privacy, remind me again where the right-wing critics were of the excesses of the PATRIOT act, several of which were struck down by the courts? There were… Read more »
As someone who considers himself not just right, but far right, I am puzzled by the statement that privacy is a left issue. I think most conservatives strongly believe in the right to privacy and freedom of religion. Either you are wrong about the left, or maybe both sides agree on these issues.
BTW, I have never heard anyone on the right argue that you do not have a right to reproduce. 😉
Unfortunately, the political spectrum today divides civil liberties between the two sides. Gun rights sit largely on the right, while religious freedom (which no, doesn't mean favoring Christianity), reproductive freedom, fourth amendment privacy rights, and most other civil liberties are viewed as "left." Voting my conscience, I will go with the side that most clearly opposes the practice of torture.