Christopher Ruddy
Tuesday, May 22, 2001

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 membersip 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.

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Guns/Gun Control