Wake Up: COVID-19 Pandemic Not Impeding Anti-Gun Activism

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Lest anyone think “stay home, stay safe” coronavirus orders have slowed down the anti-Second Amendment gun control crusade, guess again, because gun prohibition lobbying groups are alive and adjusting to “the new normal” by planning fund raising activities and political efforts to control Congress and state legislatures.

For example, Everytown for Gun Safety is spending big money in Texas to flip the Legislature, while the billionaire-backed Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility is scheduling its annual fund-raising “luncheon” with a “virtual panel discussion” on June 1, according to an email blast. The event happens at noon (PDT), and the announced goal is to raise $1 million by then.

“The luncheon is our signature fundraising event of the year and we rely on it to generate nearly half of our operating budget,” the message explains over the name of CEO Renee Hopkins. “It is crucial that we’re able to secure that funding in the coming weeks to continue our lifesaving work.”

Hopkins’ message adds, “People across the country are stockpiling guns and ammo in response to fears about the coronavirus. This surge in gun purchases along with social isolation, financial stress, and uncertainty heighten the risk of gun violence—particularly suicide, domestic violence, and unintentional shootings. Our work has never been more important.”

Almost simultaneously, Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety sent an email blast asking, “Have you or someone you know recently purchased a gun? Is the gun secured safely? Are you sure what that means?”

Everytown introduces what it calls the “Be SMART framework… designed to help parents and adults normalize conversations about gun safety and take responsible actions that can prevent child gun deaths and injuries.”

It appears the basic message is something genuine gun safety organizations have been preaching for generations: Store firearms unloaded and away from ammunition. The gun control groups advise locking up firearms as well, something millions of gun owners do out of habit.

The message asserts “4.6 million American children live in homes with guns that are both loaded and unlocked.” The source of this estimate is not provided.

Over the years, the Alliance has raised a significant amount of money with its annual luncheon event, while gun rights activists have not really put together anything to counter it, at least not in Washington State. The organization has mounted three successful gun control initiatives since 2014, starting with a “universal background check” measure that didn’t prevent two high-profile tragedies in 2016, a summer shooting at a teen party in Mukilteo, and an autumn shooting at a shopping mall in Burlington.

It’s not just Washington State where anti-gunners are active. Down in Texas, according to KRGV News, Everytown’s Victory Fund and the Brady PAC will be spending millions of dollars to change several congressional seats and also flip the Legislature in Austin for 2021.

Several paragraphs into the KRGV story, one finds this: “Universal background checks are a starting point for Everytown, and ‘our goal is obviously move forward on that front, and there are other places that we’ll go, but the key here is we have almost universal support’ for universal background checks.” The quote is attributed to Everytown senior political adviser Charlie Kelly.
Brady PAC Executive Director Brian Lemek told the station his group “is set to spend over $500,000…in the fight for the state House majority.” Republicans control the House in Austin, and Democrats need to capture nine seats to flip that, the story explained.

Everytown is going to spend $8 million on the “Gun Sense Majority: Texas” effort. The campaign will reportedly include digital and television advertising, direct mail and a field program, KRGV reported.

This news comes only one month after CNN reported a “Bloomberg-aligned” group is targeting 13 states to register at least 100,000 young voters, a story reported by AmmoLand News at the time.

But Second Amendment groups aren’t sitting idly just watching things happen. The National Rifle Association has been advertising heavily on social media to raise funds and promote membership.

Last week, in a joint announcement, the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms announced it has hired veteran grassroots organizer Glen Caroline to “spearhead grassroots and training programs for both organizations.” Caroline is an NRA alumnus who spent the past 29 years working on grassroots activities. He served for years as managing director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action Grassroots Programs and Campaign Field Operations division.

Still, the gun prohibition crusade appears to be pulling out all stops in its effort to flip state legislatures, Congress and perhaps even the White House in November.

As noted by Alan Gottlieb, SAF founder and CCRKBA chairman, “Grassroots engagement to protect our right to keep and bear arms is at a critical juncture.”

That may prove to be an understatement. At stake in November, according to rights activists, is the ongoing effort to appoint pro-Second Amendment judges to the federal courts, and if Donald Trump wins reelection, he may have another vacancy to fill on the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

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About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.