By Lee Williams
Gun owners should be running the country given our numbers, at least that’s how it appears on paper.
According to Ballotpedia data from last year, of the 31 states that allow voters to publicly indicate their political party affiliation, roughly 48 million were Democrats and 36 million were Republicans. The rest were independents, unaffiliated or members of another political party. By comparison, there are an estimated 133 million gun owners in the country, or roughly 40% of the population – a massive number that dwarfs all party affiliations combined – according to the Pew Research Center.
If gun owners ever voted as one homogeneous bloc, we would be unstoppable. Unfortunately, we all know there are gun owners and then there are folks who own a gun. It’s like the difference between someone with an old Fender in their closet and Angus Young.
When you factor in those who work regularly to support the Second Amendment, the numbers drop off even steeper. This, friends, has always been our Achilles’ heel – complacency – the sense that someone else will do something to save the day. It has done us far more harm than Gabby, Brady or Bloomberg ever will, and it’s time to make a change.
Nowadays we live in perilous times. We’ve never seen an administration more hellbent on infringing upon our Second Amendment rights, and their antipathy has trickled down to all political levels. Politicians today are ignoring our recent victories in the U.S. Supreme Court by sponsoring anti-gun legislation they know will not pass constitutional muster. It’s lawfare pure and simple, and it’s incredibly well organized. If our gun rights are to be restored, they want us to pay a massive financial price.
How do we counter their extreme anti-gun efforts? The best way – the only way – is by reenergizing our grassroots base and getting more people involved in the fight. Political power begins at the grassroots level. The gun-ban industry knows this, too. Why else do you think Bloomberg spends millions of dollars trying to make his Astroturf groups look like real grassroots organizations? He wants to create the impression that his extremist views are supported by real people. They aren’t. Ours are.
Today’s pro-Second Amendment team needs a deeper bench. If you want to become involved in the fight or more involved, here are some suggestions on how to get started:
Educate yourself
It has never been easier to learn more about the perils facing the Second Amendment and its supporters than today. You don’t even need to leave the BarcaLounger. There are websites, newsletters, discussion groups, YouTube videos, radio programs, podcasts and much more all dedicated to supporting and defending our gun rights.
The only limitation is the amount of time you can devote to your 2A education. If you can’t find a site that meets your needs, create one. It’s cheap and easy. Besides, nothing will force you to learn about the Second Amendment faster than by creating content for others.
Educate others
Once you’re ready, it’s time to share your knowledge, because intelligence that is not shared does no one any good. Start small by taking a new shooter to the range. We all know no one has ever had a bad time at the range, especially if someone is there to offer guidance and safety. These new converts always bring an extra zeal.
Once you’ve achieved more fluency in all that is 2A, request in-person meetings with your elected officials regardless of their party affiliation. Talk to them about the importance of the Second Amendment and how much you will value their support.
Tell them about the perils we are facing and current issues. Invite them to speak to groups, whether they’re like-minded or not. This is education, not lobbying. You’re not trying to sway their vote. Besides, if you can change the mind of just one politician, or at least open their eyes a little bit, you’ll be capable of anything.
Support pro-gun groups
Today, we’re blessed with a plethora of national pro-gun organizations, state-wide gun groups and more. California gun owners, because they operate behind enemy lines, have even created county-level groups out of necessity.
Join as many as you can, and if you can’t support them financially, support them with your time and efforts. Attend their rallies and participate in their campaigns. Your contributions will be priceless. Volunteers are the heart and soul of the pro-Second Amendment movement.
Use social media
Social media amplifies your message, regardless of the number of followers you have. It allows you to tout your successes and call out those responsible for your failures. You can support likeminded causes, people and groups. You can also pressure those who would strip us of our gun rights.
Simply put, social media is a very important tool, but don’t wed yourself to only one platform, such as Facebook. Become platform agnostic. Use as many as feasible, since it’s not about the messenger or the platform: It’s about the message, and it’s important it gets out.
Activism over advocacy
Websters defines advocacy as “the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal.”
It defines activism as “a doctrine or practice that emphasizes direct vigorous action especially in support of or opposition to one side of a controversial issue.”
What’s the difference? An advocate may post a notice of a pro-gun rally on social media. An activist shows up regardless of the weather or their voluminous to-do list, and most likely will bring friends.
There’s a time to advocate, and there’s a time for direct vigorous action. The Biden-Harris administration has created the need for more activism, and the need is immediate. They are waging a multi-front war against guns, gun owners and our gun rights, and they have the full support of multi-billionaires and the legacy media. All we have is each other. But while it may take much time and effort to win this fight, I certainly wouldn’t bet against us.
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This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.
The biggest thing that needs to be done to strengthen the 2nd Amendment is to greatly reduce gun deaths of all types; suicides, mass murders, gang violence, mental health related shootings, etc.
What have you done to help? Nothing?
Locked up gang members. That worked for a while until you people let them all out.
Institutionalized mental patients. That worked for a while until you people let them all out.
Tried to protect schools but you people call it “unsafe” and then laid off the few security guard there were..
What’s wrong with suicides? My body my choice.
Why keep trying if you’re just going to work against it all? Let them all die. It’s what you want apparently.
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“The biggest thing that needs to be done to strengthen the 2nd Amendment is to greatly reduce gun deaths of all types …”
We eagerly await your solutions. Put up or shut up.
The validity of the 2A is not measured on the outcomes you listed. The 2A stands on its own as an enumerated God given right. To strengthen and protect the 2A free individuals must keep arms in working order, train and prepare to bear arms to prevent a tyranny. What have you done to help? Nothing?
And just what would you propose?
Enforce existing laws and make sure police and prosecutors can and do put those who commit violent crime in prison and keep them there for the full sentence. Make sure everyone understands violent crimes will be met wit swift, sure and harsh punishment.
Suicides are another matter. Look at other developed/industrial countries with strict gun control. Suicide rates are fairly close to ours. Just different methods chosen.
Mass shootings in schools etc. usually could be prevented with actual security personnel on sight and solid doors and windows being actually closed etc. Mass casualty events occur in most countries. Bombs, fires, vehicles, knives, axes, even bows and arrows have been used. Once someone rationalizes the irrational, laws or regulations aren’t much of a deterrent.
“…mental health related shootings, etc.”
We had a working solution to that, you Fascist jack-wad.
WE LOCKED THEM AWAY FOR THE SAFETY OF SOCIETY.
Evil Fascist Leftist Scum ™ like you LET THEM OUT.
All the while, gaslighting us with statements like “The mentally-ill are no more dangerous than anyone else.”
Thanks, asshole, thanks a lot… 🙁
LOL google bail reform and it’s effect on crime rates and cry me a river you disingenuous troll.
i’ll make every effort to harm less than zero of the population, femwee.
Our Google contributor has been “educated” beyond their intelligence. I will agree that every death of a human being by the hand of another human being, or by their own hand is tragic. The details of each individual situation is different. What have I done? I teach my children and grand children morals, ethics, freedom, constitutional wisdom, common sense and most important, a belief and un-flinching faith in our God the Eternal Father. Without God and family values all is lost.
The biggest thing that needs to be done to strengthen the Second Amendment is to… strive for the day when every would-be perpetrator of a violent crime is confronted with righteous deadly force. Work toward a time when it is just too dangerous to commit violent crime. Many of us here are doing so by carrying every day, training and being prepared to defend our lives, our loved ones and the lives of others.
What have you done to help? Nothing!!
No, troll, what have YOU done to help????
I own guns, I volunteer to take “noobs” to the range with me (and give them at least the basics, then recommend more training), I try to oppose idiot DAs and “prosecutors” who let guilty felons walk free, and . . . I’d be totes cool with seeing that admitted (and the admission supported by video evidence) gun liar who flat-out lied on his 4473 (that would be Hunter “Crackhead” Biden) prosecuted for his violation. What do YOU do, big mouth?
Nothing in there about defining Gun Control by its History of Rot and Racism. Wonder why?
Shhhhhhhh!
Let sleeping critters sleep.
(I know, it’s great fun to ram a sharp stick, and all… 🙂
I’d never do such a thing.
Besides, I’m having too much fun throwing rocks at the hornets’ nest.
bigot.
So you are admitting to being a troll. Fits seeing as your posts tend to contribute little or nothing to the conversation.
CWT, it’s still a semi-free country. Don’t like my posts? Skip ’em. While you’re at it, GFY.
CWT,
My, you certainly seem to have YOUR silk panties in a wad, jammed up your crack, don’t you???? Since you are not a regular participant in our discussions, let me assure you that no name (and Sam, and Haz, and possum, and many others contribute, even when I disagree with them (which is fairly often).
You, however, are nothing but a whiny little b***h. Add something to the discussion, or STFU.
Ya’ll should chill on all this infighting. It’s counterproductive, and now is when we need a unified front on the cusp of achieving some important goals and/or defeating some looming threats.
By all means, blast the trolls, but remember who the allies are. Everyone needs to stop driving wedges. And I mean everyone. Too many alpha personalities in the room can be disastrous when no one minds their P’s and Q’s.
But yeah, I like poking the bear too.
Ha!…you saying ‘don’t poke the possum’?
“‘don’t poke the possum’?”
Possums bite when cornered… 🙁
I thought they played possum.
Gee, I thought he was referring to Debbie.
What gets missed in the conversation is that we are still a nation of “subjects”. It wasn’t “we the people” who overthrew the British government; it was a very small portion of “we the people” of those times.
Why doesn’t “somebody do something” about rebelling against government overreach? Because our ancestors were a majority of subjects, waiting for authority to tell them what to do; subjugation is in our DNA.
The king tells us we may have firearms for hunting and sporting, so we are happy with that, especially since the authorities tell us where we can and cannot hunt and sport.
If you look closely at our history, there has always been a large contingent of people (voters) who want a monarchy (even the founders’ original plan was for an American aristocracy, and a king).
And we are importing, daily, thousands more people comfortable with someone telling them what to do.
Your last sentence is 100% on the mark. I would argue, though, that people are imperfect and that tyrants thrive on taking advantage of human weakness. That’s where DNA comes into play. For example, look at the capitulation during covid. Who questioned anything? I don’t mean knee-jerk defiance. I mean – uh, wait a second, is such and such really true? Not enough. The ones who did were ridiculed, ostracized, fired, etc. The left bullies everyone into compliance over everything. You’re a racist, you’re a bigot, you’re stupid, you hate children, you hate old people, you want everyone to get sick and die, you’re this, you’re that. No one manipulates people with fear better than they do. And they do it because it works, because of the way we are wired. Not everyone submits, but more than enough do. This kind of compliance or submission, the absence of rebellion, is something that’s very familiar to anyone who’s read history. But to see it in action? Good Lord….
2020 freaked me out not because of the tyranny but because of the reaction to it, which was – yes, please. That kind of capitulation scared the hell out of me. Never seen anything like that. I have no faith in the masses fighting back significantly against anything any time soon, if ever.
Maybe something will happen that will change my outlook, I’d be happy to be wrong. As things stand now, I don’t see the evidence of it.
“Maybe something will happen that will change my outlook, I’d be happy to be wrong.”
To eagerly quote myself, “There ain’t gonna be no boogie, Lou.”
Spot on about the blind compliance and willful capitulation. It sickened me… to my core. I lost many friends AND close family relationships, as they rejected me for daring to not just question the narrative but to actively educate myself by reading the peer-reviewed scientific literature which WIDELY contradicted the narrative.
Most people were happy to be TOLD what the “science” said. When I offered to SHOW them the ACTUAL Science (citations and references to the literature), I got screamed at and in the end… ostracized. These relationships, including siblings were terminated… by them. Irrevocably by me. There’s no going back after the vitriolic excoriations and then… excommunicado. It was their choice to do so. It is my choice to make it permanent.
Mark Twain said (though more eloquently): “It is easier to fool people than it is to convince them they’ve been fooled.”
For me learning that “peer reviewed” studies only involved what the drug companies gave as a write up and not the actual research notes was around the point I ceased to give a damn what anyone had to say for a lot of things. Some people are starting to come around but see what happens on the next psyop
Peer reviewed doesn’t mean infallible or the final word. But peer reviewed IS the STARTING point of actual Science. On the other hand, the NY Times, CNN, MSNBC, the President, or even Fauci TELLING you what the “science” is… are neither the starting nor ending point of actual Science.
My sources: Frontiers in Immunology, International Journal of Clinical Practice, and so on. NOT the NYT or even Fox News.
The articles I referenced are NOT sponsored by pharma. And they absolutely contradict and refute the narrative.
I have to get my information from somewhere, since I don’t conduct viral research myself. The peer-reviewed literature is the gold standard and starting point. And then you read more. And then more again… to see if they are consistent. My findings were consistently contrary to the bullshit the media, politicians, and “authorities” were TELLING (dictating to) you was “science.”
Fair enough, this go around we didn’t even need to go that far to realize it was utter bullshit but for when it takes a bit more research your method is the better one to see why the misrepresented reports are bullshit.
Colonel Travis:
As a guy who saw some acquaintances die from Covid, I think a certain level of precaution was prudent. Gathering in crowds is a great way to spread a dangerous airborne contagion, and people around my neck of the woods did exactly that. Did the “authorities” go too far? Well, yeah, but nevertheless.
And don’t even get me started on that antivaccine bs.
Are we talking pre 2020 change in vaccine definition that eliminated the sterilizing non transmission requirement or after for “resistance”?
Protecting those at risk absolutely but if they had let it run its course within the general population the panic-demic would have burned itself out in three months just like the seasonal flu.
When people start dying, or the masses THINK they are dying, that gets your attention, and many (most?) folks get scared. The media hyped it up because they wanted to get Trump. He made some mistakes and trusted the wrong people. The scared people look for a leader who is trusted, and Fauci was the (wrong) guy. I will say where I live we did that shut down crap for two weeks then we all pretty much got back to normal. I remember being on a zoom call advocating against blanket shutdown and more of a market-by-market basis based on local conditions. I was shouted down, one guy said it would be like running in a burning building. It became a virtue signalling thing to buy this “pandemic of the unvaccinated” lie full on.
I got a shot because my work required it, but no boosters. Never did get Covid to my knowledge. Knock on wood, a guy I know in LA got it last week.
I didn’t trust Dr. Monkey Boy, and I was right. He should be in prison. I used to trust the CDC, now they’re completely compromised. Same with other institutions like FBLie, DOJ, DOD, IRS, DOE, FDA, on and on. Politicized.
Never did trust Biden or his controllers. Trump exposed a lot.
Fudds gonna Fudd.
Covered 1, 4, and 5 by building a new firearms-related forum… specifically one that centers on Privately Made Firearms (PMFs). Though, sub-forums and discussions cover the gamut of all things “guns.” I hope it’s “Kosher” to extend an invitation to the TTAG audience and staff:
https://www.patriotgunbuilders.com/forums/
I also engage in #2 (take newbies to the range) and #3 (via membership in multiple major 2A organizations).
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Great article as usual. however not far into it, a disturbing (only to me I’m sure) sentence caught my attention. “It’s like the difference between someone with an old Fender in their closet and Angus Young”.
If you’re gonna reference a guitar player, reference a good one, or at least one most people know of. Second, research the reference if you’re gonna make it. I dare anyone to produce a picture with Angus Young playing anything other than a Gibson SG.
I’m done, and I’m sorry to waste time on something so irrelevant.
great article and as always, thank you!!!!!
“Although he’s been occasionally spotted holding a Les Paul, ES335 and even a Fender Mustang on one occasion …” — https://www.guitarworld.com/features/angus-youngs-guitar-gear-everything-you-need-to-nail-the-acdc-stars-high-voltage-tones
“Angus Young, lead guitarist for AC/DC, plays a variety of Gibson and Fender guitars.” — https://www.fuelrocks.com/angus-young-the-lead-guitarist-of-ac-dc/
Perhaps the analogy was that owning a guitar does not make one a legendary rock artist, regardless of the brand.
“I’m sorry to waste time on something so irrelevant. ”
What you write may be idiotic, irrelevant, worthless, but you can hold and announce position you like; sensible people here will support your right to “speak” your mind.