This feature appears in the February ‘17 issue of NRA America’s 1st Freedom, one of the official journals of the National Rifle Association.
Not in recent memory has there ever been an election with such significant, life-changing consequences—not just for the future of the Second Amendment—but for the very existence of the country we love and the freedom that has created and nurtured our great nation.
Especially with the make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court at stake, the 2016 elections presented a clear choice—forever losing the precious liberty guaranteed in the Bill of Rights or seeing our freedom recovered to flourish and grow once and for all.
With Donald J. Trump as the U.S. president, we have a true champion who has already begun to undo the damage of eight years of Barack Obama’s executive overreach and destruction of the rule of law. Thanks to you, with the Trump presidency, America can rebound with a renewed spirit of greatness, advancing American freedom as never before.
More than any single political force in America, NRA members and our families, friends and colleagues made the difference in the 2016 elections that changed the course of history.
NRA’s early endorsement of Trump was a clear warning and a bold declaration that we would devote every resource available to defeat the lawless Obama/Clinton machine and its elite media enablers. We did just that and you put Trump over the top.
But the battle to restore our freedom to the vision of the founders is just beginning. To return our nation to the path of freedom, the NRA must absolutely remain strong, which will require your commitment and determined action as we approach the fights ahead.
President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and our pro-freedom majorities in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives need our grassroots power as never before to assure that our cause will prevail. There is much work left to do!Just as the first 100 days in office are critical for the new administration and new Congress, these first 100 days are critical for us. Now is the time for us to lay out our vision …
For those who might walk away believing the 2016 election was an end in itself, tell them this is just the beginning. In our grasp is nothing less than the full restoration of firearm freedom nationwide.
For starters, tell them two words: Supreme Court!
Of all the battles we face in the coming months, the most critical is filling the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy created by the passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, the brilliant, principled champion of the Second Amendment. President Trump has promised to nominate as his successor a justice equally committed to the right to keep and bear arms and to tenaciously defending all of our guaranteed rights.
In the confirmation process, believe this: In the Senate, no matter how qualified a Trump high-court nominee may be, this will be a fight unequalled in modern history. Billionaires—like gun-banners Michael Bloomberg and George Soros—will reach into their bottomless coffers and pour fortunes into nasty, unrelenting opposition. Allied with the media’s furor, they will stoke the anger of defeated Hillary Clinton voters into a firestorm of revenge—just as Soros has already bankrolled anti-Trump protests nationwide.
With such massive astroturf power, I have no doubt that New York U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer—as the new Senate minority leader—will use all the power at his disposal to turn the confirmation process into a circus to hold the president’s choice for the court in limbo.
Schumer has sworn an all-out war on a Trump nominee who fits the Scalia mold, threatening, “If he doesn’t nominate a mainstream candidate, we’re going at him with everything we’ve got.”
In Schumer’s world, the extreme views of a gun-ban fanatic like Bloomberg represent the “mainstream.”
In this fight, NRA members must be the vanguard of the special forces needed to reshape the court to achieve generational victory for the Second Amendment.
Just as the first 100 days in office are critical for the new administration and new Congress, these first 100 days are critical for us. Now is the time for us to lay out our vision—not just for the Supreme Court—but for all federal courts, the United Nations and the federal bureaucracy. And we have a full agenda for legislation and for regulatory reforms sorely needed to assure that this turning point in our history is made permanent.
Likewise, strong and able men and women will need all the support we can muster to achieve confirmation in cabinet and other posts in the federal government to clean up the wreckage of Obama’s destructive “transformation” of America.To stand our ground and fight deep-pocketed billionaires like Soros and Bloomberg, we are depending on you, your families, your friends and colleagues to rebuild the NRA for the battles ahead.
The Obama/Clinton regime did extraordinary damage to our liberty over eight years, and it won’t be fixed in a day. But we must assure that the nation is repaired.
Think of the IRS’s vindictive pursuit of conservatives.
Think of the Justice Department’s top-to-bottom corruption, such as the “Fast and Furious” government-sanctioned gun-running operation.
Think of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ move to disarm American heroes who require personal assistance with their finances. Think of the same scheme being used for Social Security recipients. The list of government agencies that need to be reformed or brought to justice is staggering.
This is our historic moment to go on the offense—to restore the full measure of freedom throughout our nation: passing Right-to-Carry reciprocity; ending gun-free zones on military bases; and ensuring our right to self-defense once and for all. These goals and more are now possible and within our reach.
Our time is now.
Electing President Trump and a pro-gun U.S. Senate and House alone cost millions of your donated dollars. We never held back, nor could we with all our freedoms on the line.
Now with the battles for the courts, reforming onerous gun laws, reclaiming lost rights, and seizing this momentum to change history, we urgently need your financial support and determination to keep the NRA strong and in the fight to win the battles that are headed our way.
This election proved that we are ready to take our country back, to reclaim liberty that was all but lost. And your leadership brought us to this moment—this one chance to secure freedom for the next generation.
To stand our ground and fight deep-pocketed billionaires like Soros and Bloomberg, we are depending on you, your families, your friends and colleagues to rebuild the NRA for the battles ahead.
With your generous contributions and your continued membership in the NRA, we can guarantee that those who would bring the dark ages to our liberty will not succeed. I’m counting on your renewed commitment to our cause to protect our constitutional rights and make America great and safe again!
