You and I have never lived through a moment like this one. In the past several months, we watched an unprecedented wave of violence sweep across our nation—fueled by a deep-seated hatred for mainstream American values, and actively encouraged by politicians who openly despise America’s founding freedoms.
Across the nation, the same governors who want to disarm law-abiding citizens have unlocked prison cells and released tens of thousands of violent felons onto our streets. Murder rates have skyrocketed in our big cities and small towns.
Wanton destruction blazed across our TV screens for months on end, while law enforcement officers were forced to stand down in the face of firebombers, looters and armed, violent thugs.
And as our cities have burned and lives have been cut tragically short, gun-ban politicians have painted a bright-red target on freedom’s back—claiming that your values and your political views and your lawfully-owned guns are the root cause of this anarchy and bloodshed that they enabled.
I never thought I’d see this level of insanity in the United States of America. I never thought we’d see major political leaders openly advocating for mob rule while declaring that American freedom should be killed off like a rabid dog.
In Chicago, gun-hating Mayor Lori Lightfoot allowed her city to be transformed into a war zone, with more murders on May 31st of this year than on any other day in recorded history.
Countless Chicago businesses have been destroyed by arsonists and looters. Twenty-five thousand felons have seen their charges dropped. In the most gun-controlled city in the United States, citizens are sleeping on the floor in fear of stray bullets from so-called “peaceful protesters” and warring gangs.
Instead of getting tough on criminals, Lightfoot diverted more than 100 police officers to protect her own residence—declaring, “I have a right to make sure my home is secure”—and then called for more gun control aimed at disarming those who obey the law.
In Virginia, extremist gun-ban governor Ralph Northam signed multiple “gun-control” bills into law this past year. Next, he slashed penalties for assaulting police officers and set thousands of convicted felons free, including one who’d executed a law enforcement officer.
In Portland, Ore., anti-gun Mayor Ted Wheeler apologized to the mobs when law enforcement officers tried to intervene after more than 100 straight days of rioting. But when protesters arrived in his own neighborhood, he put his tail between his legs and fled the city.
In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner has allowed seven times as many criminals to walk free compared to the previous DA—including gun criminals. Krasner openly boasts that keeping criminals out of prison and on the streets is his “proudest accomplishment.” In the meantime, Philadelphia is suffering a historic crime wave—and law-abiding citizens are waiting one full year just to apply for a Right-to-Carry permit and the chance to save their own lives.
In Minneapolis, the city council voted to dismantle the police department—then used taxpayer dollars to hire private security for protection of their own homes and families.
In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio—anti-gun extremists to the core—have unleashed a crime wave like New York City hasn’t seen in 50 years. They’ve teamed up to eliminate cash bail, empty prisons and dissolve the 600-member anti-crime unit that was getting criminals and their illegal guns off New York City streets.
Yes, this is the same Governor Cuomo who—in his own words—tried to “put the NRA out of business” by hounding and harassing financial institutions who refuse to sever ties with us. His Attorney General Letitia James has filed a dangerous lawsuit threatening to dissolve the National Rifle Association, motivated by her own personal view that NRA is a “terrorist” organization.
That’s right. In Cuomo and James’ insane world, violent criminals are victims, and the real enemy is “terrorists” like you because you join together under the NRA banner to protect your right to survive.
It’s beyond crazy. However, in every one of these states and cities where criminals are running rampant and honest citizens are now living in abject fear, the leftist playbook to destroy freedom is wide open for anyone to see:
Empty the prisons.
Ignore the mayhem.
Hamstring the police.
Surrender the streets.
Build an armed wall of defense around their own homes and families.
Then, hold freedom hostage, and demand that honest citizens give up their guns as the price for ending the anarchy and bloodshed.
We’ve never seen anything like this in the history of this nation.
For 150 years, NRA has stood like a rock to make sure that law-abiding Americans will always enjoy the freedoms that were enshrined for us in the United States Constitution.
But this time, it’s not just our Second Amendment rights at stake. It’s our country as we know it—and literally our own right to survive.
Anti-gun politicians are trying to hold freedom hostage until we submit to their list of demands. That criminals be set free. That police stand down. That the right to self-defense be reserved only for government officials and wealthy elites. That regular citizens like you and me give up our guns and our right to protect our own lives.
But let me tell you, right here, right now and for the record:
We will not submit. We will not surrender our freedom. In fact, we have our own list of demands—with no middle ground and no compromise.
We demand that civil society be restored according to the rule of law. We demand that criminals do hard time for hard crime. We demand that taxpaying citizens get the police protection they deserve.
And we demand that every single law-abiding American have the sacred right, guaranteed by our Constitution, to keep and bear arms for our protection when violent criminals leave us no other choice.
Our demands are for justice—for the law-abiding people of this country, not for the lawbreakers who want to burn America to the ground. Our demands are deeply rooted in the Constitution and the guiding principles of freedom that made America the greatest nation in the world.
I’ll be honest with you—I didn’t see this coming. I had no idea, at the beginning of this year, that our cities and towns would be overrun by anarchists, and that so many political officials would simply desert their posts and renounce their duty to keep American citizens safe.
I didn’t see it coming—but our Founding Fathers did.
Our Founding Fathers knew, nearly two-and-a-half centuries ago, that there would come a time in this nation when the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness would depend on the continued right of the people to keep and bear arms.
If you and I stand shoulder to shoulder, I believe with all my heart that the free citizens of this nation will continue to have that right. If you haven’t already, I sincerely hope you’ll renew your commitment to our cause today by visiting NRA2021.org or by calling 833-NRA-2021.
I know we can defend this most sacred freedom in the tough days ahead—but only if we continue to fight together under the NRA banner.
