Opinion
United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- The NRA is arguably the best defender of our Second Amendment rights. I’m not asking you to just take my word for it. Ask Andrew Cuomo, who has resorted to the misuse of financial regulations to silence the political opposition to his extreme anti-Second Amendment agenda. However, the NRA isn’t always perfect. Lately, it’s having trouble in the suburbs.
Winning the suburbs is important, but there is also a need to reach out to urban areas. One necessity of doing that will be to deal with the fact that over 250 cities and counties will be required to print ballots in multiple languages, according to the Pew Research Center.
Let’s get one thing aside: Ideally, every citizen in the United States, whether natural-born or naturalized, should have command of the English language that they can vote with an English ballot.
That ideal is not the reality, though, and ignoring reality is a good way to suddenly find that you’re in a bad situation trying to figure out what will cause the least damage to our Second Amendment rights. This is something that is best avoided, right? But how do we prevent that situation?
We know that the facts, when considered rationally, support pro-Second Amendment policies. Given the present state of Congress and the law, it is likely that multi-lingual ballots will be around for the foreseeable future. The problem is, getting those facts out to people. Hostile media does a lot to attack our Second Amendment rights, and that is bad enough. But language barriers can also hurt our efforts to defend the Second Amendment, and what’s more, they are addressable.
So, to avoid that situation, at this point, the NRA and other pro-gun groups needs to start hiring translators.
This is not only a short-term gain for those already voting. This is also a long-term play for those who will be naturalized and their kids as well. This forms the nucleus of grass-roots activism in those communities. Hiring the translators to make the NRA’s vast supply of fact sheets on Second Amendment issues far more accessible to non-English speakers is a no-brainer in this regard.
In fact, such efforts not only help in the United States, it can also be used around the world, where some advocates of gun control have long tried to use the United Nations to further their extreme anti-Second Amendment agenda. This also will have ripple effects that can at least make life harder for anti-Second Amendment extremists.
A large percentage of success is simply about just showing up. Getting out there and making the case for pro-Second Amendment policies (and against the likes of those advocated by Cuomo and others) to all walks of life is essential. And when it comes to non-English media, the NRA hasn’t done that. It’s left that part of the battlefield uncontested, and with it, potential votes on the table.
This is one mistake that has been going on for decades, and it is well past time for pro gun groups to correct it. It may take a while for a big payoff to come, but there is nothing to be gained from failing to try.
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.
Better idea, the NRA should transfer it’s members to GOA and SAF! Then they should relocate to Mexico along with a name change to MRA, Mexico Rifle Association! Wayne will have to change his name accordingly!
Una militia bien regulada siendo necessario por la seguridad de un estado libre, el derecho de la gente no se puede infringer. Literally: “A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, The right of the people to keep and bear arms cannot be infringed.” Not quite the original. But remember “the people” does not have to be translated as “la gente,” it can also be translated “el pueblo.” So who cares? “La gente” means a group of individuals, “el pueblo” is essentially the whole community. Which translation do you want Spanish speakers, even those who… Read more »
Of course, Puerto Rico is the exception and should receive outreach by gun rights organizations through the Spanish language. But let’s not kid ourselves, most Spanish speakers will view the use of their language by gringos to win them over as shameless pandering. More importantly, the real problem leading to setbacks in our quest to defend 2nd Amendment rights is that you don’t win by playing only defense. Taking up the cause of gun rights, and by that I include the right to use deadly force, when necessary, in defense of life and limb, must be proactive and strident.
There is a much broader reason to have pro-2A translators monitoring U.S. corporate media. Here is one recent example: – – – L.A. Times Endorses 3 White Candidates in English — and Their Latino Rivals, in Spanish https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2018/11/01/l-a-times-endorses-3-white-candidates-in-english-and-their-latino-rivals-in-spanish/ – – – The left is expert at exploiting ignorance, and not just ignorance of American history or how our constitutional system of government is supposed to work, but even our ignorance of other languages. We need skilled translators monitoring ALL of U.S. corporate media in ALL of the languages in which they are available, and that would naturally include all of… Read more »
As usual, comments range the entire spectrum, from some wisdom to none. IF you are an American CITIZEN, whether born or naturalized, your gratitude for what this country has given you, especially if you are an immigrant, is going to be measured by your assimilation, and that includes learning and using our national language. . If you’re not a citizen, especially if you’re here illegally, and you do not make an attempt to prove your intentions to become a citizen, including learning our language, then for me, you are part of our problems. I fought on foreign soil, and bled… Read more »
@Harold Hutchison Saying “The NRA is arguably the best defender of our Second Amendment rights.” is the same as Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono saying “The reason Democrats aren’t connecting with average Americans is because we are just too smart.” The NRA’s problems are not in the suburbs right now. The NRA’s “Problem” is its millions of members it has repeatedly stabbed in the back whenever it helps get anti 2nd Amendment deals cut and shuffled through the back door. Writing puff pieces for the NRA isn’t going to magically win back our trust. You want to help fix things Harold,… Read more »
The author is obviously very uninformed/misinformed! The NRA is NOT, “… arguably the best defender of our Second Amendment rights’! It was the NRA that proposed the background checks which is a clear INFRINGEMENT of our God-given/Natural, unalienable rights! Clearly, the NRA does not need a translator nearly so badly as it needs someone to explain what “Shall not be infringed” means!
I’m an immigrant, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and I’m pro-Second Amendment, owning 17 firearms myself with most being guns targetted for bans by the anti-gun crowd. With that, I often find myself on the defensive even against those who aren’t against gun rights. My friends and family question how I can associate with the pro-gun crowd. The reason why is exactly what I’m seeing in many of the comments here. There are so many disgusting, hate-filled, vile individuals here who are helping to create a correlation between being pro-2A and being a racist piece of shit. This is not only… Read more »
Hutchinson usually writes pretty good articles but this one stinks to high liberal thinking. The NRA is just looking for more memberships and are looking toward the democrat way of thinking that if you can’t get support here at home then import it. What a crock to even think that we have to cater even more to these little brown welfare suckers. Conservatives are hoping it will go the other way rather than giving them more. Where are we supposed to move to when they completely fill this country. At that point there will be no more welfare because the… Read more »
Adapt or become obsolete.