NRA Triumphs As It Stands For Freedom

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Boge Quinn

NRA Triumphs as It Stands for Freedom

Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, May 22, 2001

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Even its critics have to give the NRA its due.

It just went through almost a decade of assault by the Clinton White
House - the sitting government - and a media juggernaut intent on
marginalizing it forever from American politics.

In the face of that the National Rifle Association has triumphed.

Why?

I learned the reasons this past weekend as an estimated 40,000
NRA members gathered here as they celebrated their victory.

One reason is that these folks are 100 percent committed to
preserving freedom, no matter what the cost.

In the past election they demonstrated their commitment.

The NRA calculates that 87 percent of the candidates it endorsed
won. George W. Bush beat NRA-hater Al Gore.

The attempted demonization of the NRA backfired so badly that I
hear that Democratic National Committee chief Terry McAuliffe has
been running around Capitol Hill begging gun control advocates
such as Charles Schumer to lay off the gun issue.

Do you notice how quiet Schumer has been on the gun issue lately?

The Democrats are so frightened of the NRA and their strong
support across party lines that they are going to become "New
Democrats” and try to cloak their agenda again, just as they did in
1992.

The Democrats know that control of the Senate will hinge on several
races in 2002 – in states where the NRA is strong, places such as
Sen. Max Baucus’s Montana.

The NRA was savoring its moment this weekend. The organization
handed out reprints of a Fortune magazine article naming it the most
powerful lobbying group in Washington.

In just the past three years, the NRA has seen its membership almost
double as it added 2 million new members – now totaling 4.3 million
members.

Usually an organization that comes under such withering criticism
from the government and the media will begin to accommodate its
enemies and try to change its views.

Not so the NRA.

Under the presidency of Charlton Heston and the leadership of CEO
and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, the organization
stuck to its principles and its members.

It wasn’t going to back down. Why should it?

The Second Amendment guarantees us the right to bear arms.

And despite the emotional hysteria from the likes of Rosie
O’Donnell and Chuck Schumer, the empirical evidence
demonstrates that guns save lives.

For instance, 33 states in the union have right-to-carry laws. On
average they have 25 percent less violent crime. States that have
adopted carry laws have seen even a more precipitous, immediate
decline in murder rates.

And when was the last time you heard of an NRA member ever
being involved in a crime?

The NRA may just be the largest, most patriotic and law-abiding
group of citizens in the country.

Americans need to thank the NRA for its unswerving commitment to
freedom and constitutional rights.

Recent movies such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Patriot"
teach us that freedom comes at a great price, and that gun freedom
is synonymous with freedom itself.

It’s uplifting to see so many people committed to that idea of
freedom.

It is also encouraging to see that celebrities such as Tom Selleck,
Karl Malone and others who have courageously put their names
proudly on the NRA banner.

Americans have rallied to the NRA because of the unswerving
leadership of the likes of Charlton Heston and Wayne LaPierre -
people who have not budged an inch in their stand for freedom.

God bless them.

JOIN THE NRA! The NRA are our voice and our power in Washington, and without them we would have lost our 2nd Amendment rights long ago!

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