To Keep and Bear Arms, Part II
The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights….” That is a more powerful statement than at first it might appear. It declares that rights are not granted by a king or government. Rights come directly from God. Self-defense has been a right since the dawn of civilization. An enemy might attack you but, they could not say you didn’t have a right to defend yourself. However, in a fallen world people needed to gather together to protect their rights so, governments were created. The primary purpose of government in a democratic society is to protect the God-given rights of its citizens.
Democrat Hubert Humphrey once said, “Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms.” However the vast majority of Democrats today are anti-gun and the Republicans are at best wimpy. That is why people have joined together to fight against gun restrictions.
National Rifle Association (NRA)
As mentioned in my previous article on gun rights, the National Rifle Association (NRA) founded in 1871 and with over five million members remains the nation’s oldest firearms advocacy group. While it remains a large and influential organization, membership has been stagnant for eight years, and recently, the group has faced significant legal issues. For more on that refer back to our previous gun rights article.
The National Rifle Association of today is composed of several different divisions with each working on particular gun rights problems. These divisions include the NRA Civil Defense Fund which does pro bono legal work for people with legally significant Second Amendment cases, and the NRA Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which raises and donates money to groups such as the 4-H, Scouts, and ROTC programs.
As the political environment has become more anti-gun, the NRA has become more politically active. The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) manages the Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) a political action committee created to support politicians that are Second Amendment and gun-rights friendly. Through this PAC the NRA rates political candidates and office holders on an “A+” to “F” scale.
The NRA is a powerful force for gun-rights, but there are other organizations. We’ll look at them in the final part of this series.
Are you a member of the NRA or another gun-rights organization? What do you think of the group? Let us know in the comment section below.
