In the weeks leading up to Election Day, you and I witnessed something we never thought we’d see in America.
Business and shop owners across the country boarded up their storefronts with plywood, iron bars and cement blockades. Our once-thriving and bustling city streets were reduced to an apocalyptic scene reminiscent of war-torn nations like Venezuela or Libya. Why?
Because the anti-gun, anti-freedom Left has made it clear that what they can’t win at the ballot box or in a legitimate legislative debate, they will take by force. They made it clear that unless every American knuckles under to their demands, they will use violence, intimidation, arson, looting and even murder to suppress any viewpoint that doesn’t line up with their sickening vision for our nation.
And that’s why there’s never been a more important moment in this nation’s history for every law-abiding American to have the ironclad right to own a firearm—for the defense of our freedoms, for the strength of our nation and our democracy and for the protection of our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
Make no mistake, there is a difference between democracy and anarchy. There is a difference between criticism and insurrection. There is a difference between peaceful protest and mob tyranny. There is a difference between acting within the law and acting above the law.
These are basic truths—the principles of freedom, democracy and the rule of law that bind us as a nation.
And no matter how much freedom-hating politicians and their dishonest allies in the media try to twist these truths, pervert them and downright destroy them, the five million men and women of the National Rifle Association will always fight for them!
Unlike our anti-gun enemies, as NRA members, we appeal to the best of instincts of all humanity. Namely, freedom for all, regardless of gender, race or creed; individual liberty and the responsibility that comes with it; respect for the rule of law; and love for our country and for our fellow Americans.
And, as NRA members, we’ve achieved a historic restoration of our Second Amendment freedom that no one thought possible.
We saved our gun rights by rewriting the entire Gun Control Act of 1968. We passed emergency-power laws, so government officials can never again confiscate our guns in a state of emergency, as they did after Hurricane Katrina.
We passed Castle Doctrine laws that secure our right to self-defense. We passed right-to-carry laws in more than 40 states, so that you never have to face evil with empty hands.
We saved the American firearms industry by passing federal legislation that stopped predatory, anti-gun lawsuits that would have driven every gun manufacturer out of business.
And through the landmark Heller and McDonald U.S. Supreme Court decisions, we affirmed what our Founding Fathers wrote plainly in the Second Amendment, and what we all know to be true: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a guaranteed, natural and individual right that no government can take away from us.
When it’s all said and done, we win because we fight for truth and justice. We win because, as NRA members, we are all united by a single promise that we first made when we were kids: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Don’t let the chaos of current events tarnish the majesty of its meaning.
We don’t promise to try when it’s convenient, we pledge our allegiance. Not to who’s powerful or popular, but to the flag of the United States of America. Not just to its stars and stripes, but to the republic for which it stands. Which isn’t one faction, but one nation. Not under tyranny, but under God. Not divided, but indivisible. With liberty and with justice—not for a few, but for all.
You and I have now come to a point in time when the full weight of that promise rests squarely on our shoulders.
Even before the new year, the attacks had already begun in Congress, in the courts and in state legislatures across the country. The anti-gun media, gun-hating politicians and their billionaire backers are more determined than ever to cripple our Association so they can kneecap our freedom. This year, we will be in the fight of our lives.
So more than ever, NRA will need the resources necessary to take our pro-gun, pro-freedom message into each and every community and living room across this nation.
We are the only organization in America with the nationwide reach and powerful message that can rally this nation to freedom’s side. But it will take the resolve and commitment of not only each one of us, but also millions of new gun owners, who now need to join our NRA family and fight by our side.
Now is the time to stand tall and stand brave against those who would seek to destroy the Second Amendment and American freedom through mob violence, legislative tyranny and judicial fiat. By growing our NRA ranks and fighting together, I know we can win, just as we have so many times before.
