president’scolumn
august 2019 ❘ 14 ❘ americanhunter.org
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Carolyn D. Meadows
President
NRA OFFICERS
Carolyn D. Meadows
President
Charles L. Cotton
First Vice President
Willes K. Lee
Second Vice President
Wayne LaPierre
Executive Vice President
John Frazer
Secretary
Craig Spray
Treasurer
Joseph P. DeBergalis, Jr.
Executive Director,
General OperationsI
’d like to share with you my eyewitness
account of gun control in action. Every day
the rights of law-abiding gun owners and
legitimate firearm businesses are attacked
by those who seek to erode our treasured
Second Amendment. A few people are
always rabble-rousers who want to take away
freedoms, but they don’t reflect the popular
will of the majority. I know this from personal
experience.
I was in Australia not long after the
tragedy in 1996 that led to that nation’s
repressive gun-control laws. In looking back,
we must be careful to isolate and weigh the
facts. The perpetrator responsible for the
terrible crime was a dangerous individual
whose problems were well-known before the
incident. He should never have been in the
position to commit his crimes. Soon after the
tragedy, the Australian government moved
to take away entire categories of guns from
its citizens. The authorities confiscated an
estimated 700,000 guns, including banned
pump-action and semi-automatic rifles
and shotguns, even nonworking examples
beyond repair—all private property, all
destroyed by the government. This was a
huge over-reaction that ultimately had no
practical effect other than to strip away rights
from Australian gun owners because of a
horrific act committed by a single mentally
deranged person.
For nearly two months, my husband and
I traveled extensively throughout Australia.
Coming from a political family in Georgia,
a family of long-time hunters and shooting-
sports enthusiasts, I naturally was very
interested in talking to Australians about what
was taking place. At one sheep ranch spanning
more than 10,000 acres—considered “small”
there—the owner talked to us about burying
his long guns. He was very upset. In a remote
village, I saw about 30 people marching for
gun rights. I joined right in and marched
among them, gathering information the
whole time I walked. These people were very
disturbed. Most of their livelihoods depended
on them being able to have shotguns and rifles
to control dingoes (wild dogs).
I visited Parliament even though it was not
in session. There I talked to many members
of Parliament, who were adamant about gun
control. I discovered that as I traveled farther
away from cities, people were very pro-gun.
They didn’t think it was right. My travels also
took me to Sydney, the Gold Coast, Port
Arthur and the Great Barrier Reef. I had a
close-up look at gun confiscation.This is a lesson for us. What happened in
Australia, confiscating guns from law-abiding
citizens, made no difference to their crime
rate. If someone is bent on violent crime, only
direct intervention will stop them. Bad guys
in Australia still use guns and knives. Banning,
confiscating and restricting the rights of
law-abiding people never works. It has been
demonstrated throughout history that when
you disarm people the result is a country of
subjects, not citizens.I also visited New Zealand during that
period. It is a beautiful country just like
Australia. New Zealand is now experiencing a
similar situation in the wake of a catastrophic
mass murder followed by a predictable
media frenzy, which has led to the same
troubling aftermath that I witnessed in its
neighbor many years ago. This year New
Zealand passed anti-gun legislation banning
most semi-automatic firearms and instituting
a “buyback” program after a terrorist attack
in Christchurch. When you take away the
ability of people to protect themselves and
their homes, you lose your freedom and will
have problems. I urge people in Australia and
New Zealand to take back their freedoms.
But the truth is, once you lose freedom, it’s
very difficult to ever get it back.
For me, the most important parts of being
American are religious freedom and the right
to keep and bear arms. At our founding and
throughout our history the men and women
who made our country what it is today put
their lives on the line for these freedoms.
That is a reason why we in America have a
Second Amendment, and we are blessed
among nations that it is protected by law as
part of our Constitution. Our freedoms are
worth dedicating your life to preserve, just as
so many of our beloved veterans have done.
In America, we are now witnessing
elected officials bringing forth a great plan to
dismantle our Second Amendment freedoms,
piece by piece. But you and I, the NRA, are
too strong to allow it.WHEN YOU TAKE AWAY
THE ABILITY OF PEOPLE TO
PROTECT THEMSELVES AND
THEIR HOMES, YOU LOSE
YOUR FREEDOM.Once You Lose Your Freedoms,
You Don’t Get Them Back