standingguard
august 2019 ❘ 12 ❘ americanhunter.org
Like us on Facebook at the
National Rifle Association.
For related articles, go to
nrapublications.org.By Wayne LaPierre
Executive Vice President
Fighting Back To Save Our Liberty
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- 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.“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.”