As NRA members and patriots who love our country and all the good it has done for Americans and for the rest of the world, we all know a fundamental decision will be made when we go to the polls in a few short days. However, as I have stated here in recent issues, and as you’ve read in Wayne LaPierre’s “Standing Guard” columns, the decision facing us in this election is of a different magnitude than ever before in our history. Voters will act to either save America, the America we love and cherish—or will vote to throw her to the wolves.
That’s a strong statement, I know, a message that makes the enemies of freedom howl with rage. But this is no time to mince words. This is no time to appease the violent lawlessness we have witnessed on our city streets and in the public squares for months. This is no time to yield to the leftist politicians responsible for enabling the criminals. We have a country to save
on Nov. 3.
And on Nov. 3, we can prevail.
We know from past experience the power embodied in the iconic bumper sticker: “I’m the NRA, and I vote!” But it’s not just the millions of NRA members casting their ballots that tips the scales. What has made our influence so great is the extended-family voting block created by NRA’s steadfast allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, which in turn triggers a grassroots surge that has become as predictable as it is phenomenal. That block, comprising family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances from church, clubs, schools and elsewhere, multiplies our voting clout into the tens of millions. And with an estimated five million new gun owners joining our ranks during this turbulent year, the numbers could spike even higher.
It is not an easy task, though. Getting out the vote requires a tremendous investment in energy and resources from everyone in our organization. Campaigning is difficult work that requires both persistence and bold strategy to arm the public with the information they need. But in the end, face-to-face persuasion is always the best closer.
Between now and Election Day all of us will inevitably find ourselves in such discussions with folks who can be added to the grassroots surge of 2020. Key questions to ask are: What will our country (and the entire world) be like if President Donald Trump wins a second term? Or, if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were to somehow get elected?
With Trump, gun owners know what they are getting because we’ve seen him deliver on promises made to preserve and restore our freedoms. The president has done so by rejecting so-called “universal background checks” and reversing an Obama-administration clampdown on senior citizens’ firearm rights; by withdrawing from a UN-brokered treaty that could have almost entirely limited U.S. civilian access to small arms; by opening millions of acres of public lands to hunters and shooters; and importantly, by rebuilding the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts with justices and judges pledged to constitutional principles and common sense.
The Biden-Harris ticket has served notice of very different intentions. Contrary to recent Supreme Court precedent, they promise to ban guns and magazines in common use. They promise “universal-background-check” schemes that could make it nearly impossible to pass down family heirlooms to one’s children or to loan a hunting rifle to a friend. They vow to bypass Congress with executive actions that threaten to blot out cherished Second Amendment rights en masse.
As recent events have clearly shown, Biden-Harris and Democratic majorities in Congress will cheer on the socialist web of media, elitists and dangerous anarchists who hate America and whose actions echo the sentiment in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s infamous and idiotic 2018 statement that “… we can’t make American great again because it never was.” Their platform promises to make our hometowns and public spaces ever more dangerous, while making it more difficult—if not downright illegal—for the law-abiding to take control of their own safety and self-preservation through ownership of common and trustworthy defensive firearms. The opposition’s way promises only to embolden America’s enemies, both foreign and domestic, a formula for unceasing strife and chaos.
Once again, we in the NRA family have our work cut out for us. And this time, preserving our constitutional rights to “keep and bear,” translates to preserving the America we know and love. Keep the faith over these critical final days because as I always say, “we have a country to save.” Let’s show up on Nov. 3 and make our voices heard!
