Many people seem to think that this election has something to do with the protection of gun rights. It doesn’t. It doesn’t because one candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton, has made in clear by her words and by her actions that she will seek to curtail Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms. And it doesn’t because the other candidate, Mr. Donald Trump, has no reason to make it about gun rights . . .In our well-deserved virulent hatred of Senator Clinton we have automatically given our support to Trump — because he’s not Clinton. I hear constantly: anything less than support of Trump is a vote for Clinton. Since we know Clinton is bad, and maybe Trump is ok, we have to at least “roll the dice” and get behind Trump.
This “roll the dice” approach virtually assures that we will face attempted curtailment of our rights no matter which candidate wins the office. By taking an all or nothing approach so early in the game, we have assured that our concerns about gun rights can be ignored by Mr. Trump, as our support is already taken for granted.
Folks, if the guy on the other side of the table already has what he wants from you, he’s got no reason to continue to negotiate with you about what you need. We need to force the negotiation. And we need to make this election about guns.
Ditch #anybodybuthillary. Ditch #NeverTrump. Instead consider #NotTrumpUnless.
#NotTrumpUnless he puts forward a short list of rock solid, conservative, Second Amendment hardliners that he not only says he will nominate, but ask the Republican members of the senate to begin meetings and deliberations on those individuals.
#NotTrumpUnless he proposes legislation and obtains authorship and sponsorship of that legislation that promotes national reciprocity.
#NotTrumpUnless he details a plan and budget priorities of the DoJ and BATF (arbf) that rapidly improve the NICS process.
#NotTrumpUnless he takes a page from the Obama playbook and lays out a budget that deprioritizes NFA violation investigations to the point of practical non-existence.
Those are a few examples. If we did that, we would rapidly alter the debate, forcing Mr. Trump to take gun owners seriously throughout the entire election process, and into his first term in office. If we don’t do that, we have no carrots and no sticks to get Mr. Trump to commit to protecting our second amendment rights.
And what if he still doesn’t listen to us? After all, the first rule in any negotiation is that you have to be willing to walk away from the table. Trump’s ultimate goal in this race is to become President. That’s what he wants. Am I willing to withhold my vote knowing that action might help him lose and Senator Clinton win? Yes.
Even if I wasn’t, why on earth would I tell Trump anything different? It isn’t in fact an all or nothing, only two choices, decision. And no, I’m not talking about a third party. I’m talking about making it as expensive as possible for Trump to win, and extremely difficult to get anything done once he is in office without our active support.
Trump is raising money, just like any politician. As a matter of fact, he’s using some of the same people that have raised money for Senator Clinton in the past. Give him money if, and only if, he commits by name to a rabidly pro-second amendment personality for Attorney General.
Don’t think Mr. Trump cares about your donation? He does. But take the next step, and tell the NRA and GOA that you won’t be providing them any donations until they demand the same from Mr. Trump. Do that for every political organization you deal with.
Now you really have his attention. Now he’s back at the table with you.
And one more thing: support candidates who are proven second amendment advocates that won’t cave and will make public their opposition to any president that doesn’t work to advance the protection of our rights, including Mr. Trump.
Of course, that’s all predicated on the notion that Mr. Trump is at least as untrustworthy as everyone else who’s run for that office. That’s certainly where I start. But what if you actually love Mr. Trump? So what? I love my dog but she doesn’t get a treat until she does what I want.
Unless Mr. Trump takes solid actions to protect our right to keep and bear arms, withhold your vocal and financial support for him, and make it as expensive as possible to win that race. Force him to work for your vote. Force him to spend for your vote. Force him to negotiate with you for your vote. If we do that, we win. If we don’t, there’s no win here for us, only losing little, or losing big.