It is disappointing, but I must admit that many of my friends have become politically complacent since the NRA and its millions of members dominated in the November election. Freedom prevailed, and now too many think it is time to rest. In fact, this is the time to make our machinery and forces even stronger. As motivation, it’s good to be reminded of our opponents’ true agenda.
Occasionally, the gaggle of big-money gun control groups helps in this regard by slipping from its deceitful script and showing its endgame for all to see. A recent example was sparked by the domestic violence shooting that occurred in a San Bernardino, Calif., elementary school a few weeks ago. Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action and Gabby Giffords of Americans for Responsible Solutions couldn’t feign moderation as they went on the attack before the crime scene tape had even been removed by investigators.
Literally within moments of the shooting being reported, Watts was busy tweeting how terrible and dangerous the NRA is for advocating the beliefs of our country’s Founding Fathers—as she reliably does every time similar news breaks. Soon after, Giffords declared, “It’s time that all Americans have the courage to truly fight this crisis by standing up and demanding smart gun laws we know save lives.”
For the sake of brevity, let’s go ahead and disregard the fact that there has never been a shred of real science indicating that their cherished gun control laws actually work to reduce violent crime, suicides or accidents. Just ask the National Academy of Sciences. Occasionally, the gaggle of big-money gun control groups helps in this regard by slipping from its deceitful script and showing its endgame for all to see.
This shooting occurred in a “gun-free” zone, in a state that is the envy of gun control activists across the land after having enacted every “common sense” gun law they can concoct short of total prohibition. Oh, and the gun that the murderer used was also the kind that most of these activists insincerely tell gun owners they are OK with them keeping—a simple, antiquated, not-so-scary-looking revolver.
If they are on the attack on the basis of law-abiding Americans having too much firepower and freedom after this shooting, it should be clear to all that they will never stop their march until they extinguish every last bit of the individual liberty they fear so much. Terrible violence like that perpetrated in the San Bernardino school is unfortunately never going to end. The relatively few egregious acts of the exceptional minority among our 320 million citizens will give the Shannon Watts and Gabby Giffords of the world their perpetual platform to rail against our firearm freedoms.
There will always be “just one more law” that can be imposed promising to prevent one gang member from killing another gang member in the streets of Chicago. They use terms like “common sense,” “middle ground” and “reasonable” as often as possible, but their actions tell the truth. They will never be satisfied, and they will never stop. Our society has always been a violent one. It always will be.
I take great pride in NRA’s “Freedom’s Safest Place” campaign. It is one of the many reasons I chose to walk the walk by upgrading my NRA membership to Patron Life after the last election success. My dear friend Nick appeared in my favorite episode of the series. It is titled “My Story.” In it, he explains, “There will always be evil in this world” and admonishes us to never surrender the Second Amendment freedoms that distinguish us from the citizens (or subjects, as the case may be) of every other country on Earth.
Some of us choose to arm ourselves in the face of this evil we accept will always exist. We choose empowerment over helplessness, and independence over dependence. Others choose precisely the opposite course. They meekly accept hope as a strategy to make it through life. They hope that the evil few out there will never come calling.
The truly sinister aspect of the gun control crowd is that they want to impose their soft and timid ways on the rest of us. If they are never going to benefit from the protective qualities of firearms in skilled hands, no one should. There is no good gun, only bad. There will always be “just one more law” that can be imposed promising to prevent one gang member from killing another gang member in the streets of Chicago.
Fact is, they want every last one out of circulation (yes, even the revolvers). They know and accept that this is a fight to the finish. If the good guys don’t do the same, we will always be back on our heels. Things went well for freedom this past November, no doubt, but this is not the time to put our hands on our hips and catch our breath.
It is time to move aggressively forward and retake ground lost through the last several decades. It’s the time to help build an NRA that is stronger than ever, so that it is ready when the battle tide shifts against us once again. None of us knows when it will happen, but it will happen. Keeping the true intentions of our adversaries in mind should be all the motivation we need to remain active and do the difficult things necessary to keep freedom’s flame burning brightly.
Darren LaSorte lobbied with NRA-ILA for 14 years and now lives and works in Dallas, Texas. His passions are shooting, hunting and self-defense training.
