The National Football League is fundamentally un-American, and I won’t support it. It wasn’t always that way. As a decent, God-fearing American, I grew up praying to Jesus Christ and Tom Landry, like everyone else. (Right?) But then I heard about the denial of the Daniel Defense ad . . .
As a recently returning veteran, coming home to my kids, determined to raise and protect them, I identified with the message: I am responsible for my family’s safety.
There’s been much debate on whether the NFL or the Fox network killed the ad. But the NFL made it clear that they would have refused to run the ad if they’d the chance. Their policy forbids “any advertisement that mentions or displays firearms, ammunition or other weapons.”
The NFL’s policy on guns is pretty simple. Guns are not allowed in any facility owned, operated or being used by an NFL club. I understand that this is a business decision for the NFL.
As an American veteran and firearms owner, I also understand that this business decision means that the NFL doesn’t deserve my business. So the NFL won’t get my business, and I hope that it doesn’t get yours. If it does, you are choosing to support an organization whose values are contrary to the fundamental values of our nation.
Last year, several veteran friends and I got together during the Superbowl. We went to the range instead of watching the game. It wasn’t so much a protest as a conscious choice to engage in a fun activity with each other that reflected our responsibilities and our support of the Second Amendment.
Gun owners, the NFL doesn’t support your rights. They have made that clear in word and in deed. I suggest we all respect their decision, and go to the range instead.