Beautiful milestones are always worth celebrating. We must not let go of the fundamental things previous generations fought to bequeath us. Honoring these big steps forward reminds us of what’s important, where we came from and what binds us together.
This year, we have two anniversaries to remember. First, April 19 (though this is the May issue, you should be receiving this magazine in late April) is the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard round the world,” the first shot fired at the American Revolutionary War battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. No one knows who fired that first shot, but, in retrospect, who shot first matters little. What matters—indeed, is relevant still—is that the British soldiers were marching to disarm the farmers and merchants in the towns near Boston. Their mission was to seize guns, gunpowder and cannons from arms depots.
A secret group of leading citizens called “The Sons of Liberty” was watching for this attempt to disarm colonial Americans. This is when Paul Revere and others rode out in front of the advancing troops to tell people to take up arms.
A series of battles and skirmishes then took place, and the British were forced to retreat to Boston. Even before this world-changing day, the colonial Americans knew that taking up arms against the then-mighty British empire would probably end in failure; nevertheless, they were determined to not let soldiers from across the ocean march into their towns to make serfs of them.
The other anniversary that needs to be mentioned is smaller in scope and as peaceful as can be, but it is in step with our continued struggle to remain free.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA). In April 1975, the NRA Board of Directors voted to form NRA-ILA, as the NRA needed a specific division tasked with lobbying and fighting in court for our right to keep and bear arms.
To document and celebrate all the successes in which your NRA-ILA has since been instrumental, a few years ago, we dedicated an issue of America’s 1st Freedom to this topic and then we created a pamphlet listing pages of legislative and legal wins ILA has been involved in to hand out at various functions.
The list of victories is much too long for this column, but I’ll mention a few, as it is critical to remember that, though the Second Amendment was ratified more than two centuries ago, retaining this freedom was and is never inevitable.
But then, the attacks on this freedom were met with NRA-ILA’s strong defense, and ground lost was reclaimed, bit by bit, as the NRA and its members voted and advocated for a restoration and defense of our Second Amendment freedom.
From 1981 to 1991, ILA helped to shepherd through many firearm-preemption laws in state legislatures; meanwhile, in 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan signed the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA), which was designed to reform the disastrous 1968 Gun Control Act.
And though President Bill Clinton signed a federal “assault-weapons” ban in 1994, even he later said he regretted taking on the NRA. That ban sunset a decade later, and though some politicians call for its reinstatement, a majority of the American people have consistently been opposed to such bans.
Just as Clinton was a detriment to your rights, so would have been his vice president, Al Gore, who ran for the presidency in 2000. But the NRA and its members were an essential part of making sure Gore lost.
It was during George W. Bush’s tenure that the aforementioned “assault-weapons” ban expired and was not renewed, thanks to NRA lobbying.
Next, in 2005, Bush signed into law the NRA-backed Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which prevents firearm manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for crimes committed with their products by others.
During these years, freedom continued to flourish as the NRA helped enact the nation’s first stand-your-ground laws and helped to spread constitutional-carry laws to now 29 states.
The fight for freedom made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in the form of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), a landmark case that made clear an individual’s right to a gun was unconnected to service in a militia.
Two years later, the Court also ruled in McDonald v. Chicago that, like other substantive rights, the right to bear arms is incorporated via the 14th Amendment to the Bill of Rights, and therefore applies to the states.
The NRA then financially backed the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court ruled in our favor and thereby again substantiated that our right to carry firearms does extend outside our homes.
And here we are today with President Donald J. Trump (R) in office. His administration has all the signs of being one of the most pro-freedom ones we’ve ever seen.
Every NRA member should be proud, as they are a part of this history and continued struggle to remain free. And we need more gun owners to join us. Please tell others, in person and on social media, to join today at membership.nra.org or by calling 877-NRA-2000.
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