If Not For The NRA Your Right To Guns Would Be Gone

By Don McDougal

USA –  -(Ammoland.com)-  If not for the NRA your right to own a gun would have been taken away years ago.

Gun owners are a different breed, slow to anger, patient and by and large not all that political. We just want to be left alone.

We’re diverse, not at all the monolithic group of knuckle dragging Neanderthals portrayed by the media elite. We tend to me smarter than average and also less reliant on others… more independent. We are the working men and women of America whose taxes support the welfare state; 100 million plus in number.

Without the NRA, our rights to own a gun would have been taken from us decades ago.

The universal belief of the anti-gun left is that the 2nd amendment only applies to the Militia, and the militia is the national guard. They hold that Heller and McDonald should be overturned and that no individual right to own a firearm exists. You can read this view today in “The Nation,” Yahoo News and New York Times and the speeches of Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton was clear and concise in her view of McDonald and Heller. “..the Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment”. It’s pretty clear. Politics aside Hillary does not believe you have a right to own a gun.

We’ve been down this road before.

Following the signing of the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons ban we learned that this was “Just the Camel’s nose under the Tent” that we should tell the NRA “All their worst fears are true.” The gun grabbing left saw these two bills as the start of their process, not the end.

The most truthful statement of their views came from Janet Reno, the then Attorney General of the United States.

“Waiting periods are only a step. Registration is only a step. The prohibition of private firearms is the goal.”

You hear the hints of this today when the gun grabbers refer to a universal background check and as assault weapons ban as “Good First Steps.” Anyone ever wonder where those steps lead?

After the Brady Bill the left was on a roll. Their goal was just what Janet Reno said, the prohibition of the private ownership of firearms. Al Gore even called for a complete ban on handguns as part of his presidential campaign.

When Diane Feinstein went on National TV and said that is she had the votes it would be “Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in.” She was not just referring to assault weapons; she was referring to ALL guns. After the Brady Bill guns were the enemy and they were going to be “pounded into submission”.

Through all this only ONE group rose up and stood for our rights. That group was the NRA.

While you may disagree with the NRA, the simple fact remains the ONLY reason you can own a gun today is because of the NRA. They and they alone fought the tide of gun confiscation the last time our rights were threatened. It was NRA member who filled the ranks of volunteers for the candidates that ran on preserving our rights. It was the NRA that coordinated the mailing and who worked tirelessly in getting out the facts.

The opposition has not been hibernating the last 20 years. They have orchestrated an ongoing campaign against the right to keep and bear arm. They have worked to redefine the 2nd amendment as not applying to the individual, and they have tried endlessly to smear and delegitimize the NRA, all too often with the help of gun owners. Be honest now how many of you are not now members?

How many of you are not members because of the left’s smear of the NRA? I’ll bet more than are willing to admit.

Gun owners have fought this fight before, and even after Heller and McDonald we are still fighting for our rights. It reality though we are fighting just to be left alone.

It was the NRA that fought for and preserved the right to own a firearm back decades ago; you would not have that right today except for the NRA’s efforts. We now face the same battle. Love or hate the NRA they are the ONLY national organization that has the tools and resources to win the fight this time around.

Without the NRA, our rights will be stripped from us.

So what can you do?

• Join the NRA (You need a new range bag don’t you?)
• Stay informed and confront the lies of the gun grabber when they arise. (Subscribe to Ammoland.com)
• Write your local paper and blogs and POLITELY support the 2nd Amendment.

If you want to preserve your right to own a firearm you have to be part of the solution. You have to do what does not come naturally to gun owners and voice our opinion and show that our rights do matter. Sometime the NRA is seen as a bit over the top, but I’m afraid they may be right. Last year when the NRA warned that Hillary and the President would place our rights at risk we were told we were paranoid for listening to the NRA. That as a Constitutional Scholar President Obama respected the 2nd Amendment and individual rights. That Hillary was right there by his side supporting gun owners too. Anyone reading this think the anti-gun left was right? Anyone reading this think that today Hillary is the gun owners friend that the media said she was.

Maybe the NRA was not all that paranoid. Maybe they have a long memory and remember Schumer’s and Clinton’s comments after the Brady Bill and Assault weapons ban were signed and they are dubious of any conversion on their part to respecting the rights of gun owners.

Join the NRA, help preserve your right to own a firearm.

About Don McDougall:

Don McDougall is an NRA instructor and member of the Los Padres “Friends of the NRA” committee. If he’s not at the range you will find him setting the record straight with on gun issues and gun safety on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.