Guest Editorial

BY TIM MACY | APRIL 17, 2013

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Dear gun owner:

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, we at Gun Owners of America, like most Americans, were praying for the people of Sandy Hook. We mourned for those families whose children were killed, wounded, and terrified at the massacre that took place. We wondered how many more senseless tragedies would have to happen before the American people demanded an honest and open debate to find real solutions for preventing such violent outbursts against our children.

Instead of rising to the challenge of preventing such tragedies, Obama and the gun grabbers in Congress put their own political agendas ahead of the safety of our most vulnerable citizens: our children. There's a new variable that has given rise to these horrific killing sprees in our schools: "gun-free zones." It is not guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens that have begun a series of schoolyard massacres. Law-abiding CCW holders don't bring their guns to "gun-free zones." It's no coincidence that the news headlines aren't filled with stories of gun massacres happening in places where citizens are free to choose to arm themselves.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on the front page of the New York Times that "confiscation" of firearms could be an option. Of course, to confiscate our firearms, our governments needs to know who has them. That is why the Obama Administration and the federal government is scheming to create a national registration list of every gun owner in the country: a universal background check on every firearms transaction, even between family members! Combine that with the Obama Administration allowing the ATF to ramp up its unlawful assault on gun dealers, in which, by using threats and intimidation, they are illegally copying as many of the gun registration forms (4473s) as they can get their hands on. Of course, establishing a national database of law-abiding gun owners is strictly prohibited under the McClure-Volkmer law, which is why we need the Congress to act - and act swiftly - before this gun grabbing scheme goes any further!

If you are wondering why we are so adamant in opposing a federal registry of law-abiding gun owners, I urge you to ask the survivors and refugees from those countries where such laws were imposed. Then, read the remarks of our Founding Fathers, who placed our gun rights second only to freedom of religion in our Bill of Rights.

Our right to keep and bear arms is what prevents our leaders from becoming tyrants. Thanks to our biased media and a faltering education system, Americans have forgotten why we fought the Revolution and have chosen security and servitude over freedom and responsibility. That is why, when politicians ask us why we would possibly need large capacity magazines or "assault type weapons," we know they are either ignorant of our U.S. Constitution and American history - or they know exactly what they are doing in assaulting our liberties.

In these troubled times, you need to know where you can go to get the information you need from people you can trust. For more than 38 years, Gun Owners of America has been that source for America's gun owners. We are the only no compromise gun lobby in the United States because we have seen what happens when Congress or even some of the other gun groups decide to compromise with the anti-gun lobby.

Even our political enemies acknowledge that GOA's no compromise approach is slowing down Congress' ability to pass more gun control. The leftist Slate magazine reported last week that Democratic staffers have been trying to get Republican offices to cross the aisle and support gun control measures, but they "were quick to point to the GOA as the most obvious reason not to."

Moreover, says Slate, when Republican Senator Tom Coburn backed away from bipartisan talks to impose universal background checks last month, he only did so "after Gun Owners of America and its members flooded the senator's office with e-mails and phone calls."

We urge you to join us in this historic effort to defend not just our gun rights, but all of our natural rights. When the time comes that we are totally defenseless, our government will have the power to desecrate every other faction of our lives. Act today to defend your Second Amendment rights which serve as the bulwark to protecting all of our rights from infringement.

Join Gun Owners of America today to receive alerts about what's going on in Washington, easily contact your representatives, and donate to the cause to help elect real, pro-2nd Amendment candidates to Washington.

Sincerely,

Tim Macy
Vice Chairman
Gun Owners of America