Opinion
New York – -(AmmoLand.com)- As 2018 fades away and we come to 2019, it is time for us to review the past year, and think about how things went, and what can be done to better protect our Second Amendment rights. Reflection and assessment might sound odd, but it is an essential thing for any endeavor – and protecting our rights is a significant endeavor, indeed.
A considerable part of this involves taking an honest and realistic look at the situations Second Amendment supporters are dealing with. Second Amendment supporters have to look at how things are, not how they wish it to be. There are a lot of threats to our Second Amendment rights that need to be addressed.
For the next two years, we will have an implacable foe running the House Judiciary Committee, and the most prominent of the anti-second Amendment leadership of that body. Returning this body to pro-Second Amendment leadership will be essential, as is the case with the Senate. The re-election of the current pro-Second Amendment president is a priority.
Without further ado, here are the New Year’s Resolutions for Second Amendment supporters:
- Cut the drama over tactical and strategic differences.
Looking over comments in the last three months, it seems that Second Amendment supporters spend as much time bashing other Second Amendment supporters over how to defend our rights. NRA gets raked over the coals as “Negotiating Rights Away” while others slam GOA for being unrealistic.
Look, it’s easy to want to have nationwide constitutional carry, no gun bans, and the only gun laws on the books focused on those who misuse firearms to commit crimes. Getting there is not going to be a sprint, but a marathon. Furthermore, the anti-Second Amendment extremists aren’t going just to let us have our rights.
It takes strategy and tactics as well as an eye towards our ultimate objective to keep our rights safe, and sometimes, the best we can do is to minimize the damage. Other times, we may need to accept partial progress towards a goal. But the only beneficiaries of infighting among Second Amendment supporters are those who would seek to take away our rights.
- Build a stronger pro-Second Amendment coalition
You can bet that Michael Bloomberg and other anti-Second Amendment extremists are looking to see how they can get more people to vote for their radical agenda, including gun bans, registration, and additional hoops for the law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Without a doubt, that means Second Amendment supporters need to be expanding their base of support as well. This means securing Second Amendment support in the suburbs. It means reaching into urban areas like Chicago and Baltimore, where gun control has failed. It also means getting past language barriers – which can help with the urban outreach.
Some of this will mean looking at our political landscape as it is, not as some may want it to be. Ask yourself this question: Would you rather see the NRA/GOA/SAF have Spanish versions of their websites, or Senator Feinstein being able to get the votes for the semi-auto ban she dreamt of during that 60 Minutes interview?
- Start preparing for the next round of elections.
Virginia and New Jersey have legislative elections this coming November. Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana will be electing governors. Those are the big-ticket races. More importantly, the other state and local elections, where the bulk of the next generation of pro-Second Amendment Congressmen, governors, attorneys general, and Senators will come from, will also be held.
Then comes 2020, where Second Amendment supporters have a chance to win back control of the House of Representatives, keep control of the Senate, and make sure a pro-Second Amendment president is still in office. Again, there will be many state and local elections as well.
Find good candidates and support them with time and money, or if you feel so inclined, run for the office yourself. Get other Second Amendment supporters registered to vote. Help educate voters on Second Amendment issues.
Help expand the reach and influence of pro-second amendment news outlest like AmmoLand News. Share our storys, help AmmoLand get more subscribers to the email list, like and share our stories in social media. Just the simple task of opening AmmoLands daily email and clicking some of the links helps Google and others metric tools know that these stories are important.
- Join the NRA and support NRA-ILA and NRA-PVF
Going back to item one on this list, I know people have their differences with the NRA. But the NRA is seen by those who want to take our rights away as their number one obstacle. Why else is Andrew Cuomo trying to misuse financial regulations to shut the NRA down? Why was there such a push to get companies to break ties with the nation’s oldest civil rights organization?
The fact is, the NRA has been there for law-abiding gun owners since 1871. Not just on the legislative and political fronts, but in firearms safety training, running competitions, hunter education, supporting law enforcement, and a host of other activities for law-abiding citizens from all walks of life. Put aside your differences about their legislative and political tactics and strategy – without the NRA law-abiding gun owners and all Second Amendment supporters would be in a world of hurt.
Let’s work together to make 2019 a banner year for the Second Amendment – and get ready for the battles to come.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics, and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
@CGGator Foxtrot “Many, if not most, legal immigrants do not speak, read, write and understand the English language 100%. Judging by the comments here, many American-born gun owners seem to have similar problems. There is no harm in reaching out.” Most Legal Immigrants do speak English, whether they are from Central America, Germany, Russia, Japan, China. They learn English because they have to live here and work with people who only speak English, and also out of a sense of wanting to look good as someone coming into our country. They don’t always speak it well, but they do speak… Read more »
The NRA is not a friend of gun owners! They are called “Negotiating Rights Away” for a very good reason! This constant pro NRA BS has got to stop. Machine guns were first taxed, regulated and eventually banned because of the NRA. We now have red flag laws because the NRA wrote them. We now have a Bump Stock ban because of the NRA. The NICS was supported by the NRA. The 1968 GCA was supported by the NRA. The NRA was behind the ending of mail order sales of firearms. At what point do fudds stop supporting the NRA?… Read more »
WHERE CAN i GET A STICKER FOR THE BACK OF MY TRUCKS SAYING THAT?
If we lose the Second Amendment it will be solely because we did not use the Second Amendment. It will not be in any way due to what the NRA does or doesn’t do. That time is coming very soon. Ammo up.
“Deep State” lmao. Ya hear that Roy? Bhahaha
Man speaks his mind and suddenly your “deep state”.
Might try going to the range and striking up conversations and see if they are all deep state too lol. We are mad and not without reason. Check the numbers drop and you’ll see. Watch 2020 and you’ll see.
We aren’t the dividers it’s the compromisers that are.
WOW! It’s painfully obvious that we cannot be unified in the battle. Yes I was exceptionally disappointed (ok pissed) at the lack of push to Grassley and McConnel to bring forward the House bill for Natl Reciprocity to the Senate floor. Having let that die I doubt if we see the opportunity again at least in my lifetime. Having said that we must put up a unified front for 2019 and 2020. I am a Lifetime Endowment NRA member that also contributes to the SAF and my State Rifle Association. With what the Dems have planned for us in ’19… Read more »