I am so proud of the members of our great Association. I’m proud of your patriotism and independent spirit, your love of country, and your enduring sense of duty to fight for your beliefs and your freedom.
That is really what the NRA is all about—freedom.
In fact, the past four decades have witnessed the greatest defense, and expansion, ever of Second Amendment freedom for all law-abiding Americans.
For decades, the enemies of our freedom have called us every nasty, evil name in the book. They’ve tried to shame us, blame us for tragedies that should have been avoided, threaten us and destroy us. But the NRA has stood firm and fought back. As a result, the Second Amendment is stronger today than at any point in American history. Today, your NRA stands at a record over 5 million members!
And because of the NRA, every American—especially the 100 million who lawfully own and use firearms—can see their freedom more clearly today than ever before.
It’s the gun you keep at home to protect yourself and your family.
It’s in your wallet where you keep your concealed carry permit.
It’s in the preemption bills we’ve fought for to keep laws within a state uniform.
It’s in the lawful commerce-protection legislation we got passed to save the firearms industry from baseless, harassing lawsuits.
It’s in the millions of acres of hunting lands we fought to open.
It’s in our hunter-protection laws and our range-protection laws.
It’s in the Castle Doctrine and shall-issue Right-to-Carry laws sweeping the country.
It’s in the emergency-power measure we got passed that says the government cannot confiscate your firearm in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster.
It’s in our victory to keep public-housing bureaucrats from denying honest residents the right to own a gun in their home.
It’s in the Heller and McDonald court decisions upholding the individual right to own a firearm.
And freedom surely was strengthened when the NRA helped ensure the appointments of Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
You can see freedom in the NRA victories in elections from all the way back in 1994 to 2016. And, if NRA members have anything to do with it, we are going to see freedom win again in 2020!
Everywhere you look, law-abiding Americans can see their freedom because of the NRA. No other political organization on the planet is a better investment, with a better track record of success than your National Rifle Association.
Our fight for Second Amendment freedom is a fight for all of humanity and self-destiny. The Second Amendment is the purest metaphor for our freedom because if you aren’t free to defend yourself, you really aren’t free at all.
But that freedom is in grave danger.
Within 1½ years, or perhaps two more years after that—just a couple of election cycles from now—all of the Second Amendment freedoms we have fought so hard and so successfully to defend—all of it—could be completely destroyed and wiped from the face of the Earth.
Anti-Second Amendment politicians have seized control of the U.S. House of Representatives. If they get the U.S. Senate in 2020, and God forbid, if they capture the White House in 2020—start kissing your freedom and your guns goodbye. They want to disarm America.
It’s just that simple. You know it. No Second Amendment. No individual freedom. No civilian ownership of firearms. Period.
That means no America, as we know it—not without the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which separates us from every other nation on the planet.
They want to destroy and disarm us, and if they seize power less than two years from now, it could be game over. They’ll ban every semi-automatic you own. They’ll tax them, take them, destroy them. Then they’ll start coming after the shotguns and revolvers and every bit of your firearm freedoms.
The only group tough enough to stop them, proven enough to fight back and beat them back, is the NRA.
Let me be clear. If you cherish your personal liberty, if you want to keep your guns and your freedom, if that describes you … the NRA is your organization and the only way for every gun-owning American citizen to fight back and save our liberty.
The NRA is how we all stand and fight together, to save our freedom and our nation. The challenge we face is daunting, but because of your personal dedication and support, I am confident in our continued success.
