Wayne LaPierre
Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2004

In 1776, the American people threw off the oppressive yoke of King George III, and created the most free society the world had ever seen. But today, another King George — a Hungarian-born billionaire named George Soros, who rules a shadow empire by funding a global agenda that includes borderless civil disarmament — has made Americans less free than at almost any time in our nation’s history.

It was Soros’ millions and his international “Open Society Institute” that bought and paid for massive lobbying and media spin efforts leading to the enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA). As you know, that law bans broadcast political speech by NRA and others during pre-election blackout periods.

And it was Soros’ millions that primed the unfathomable five-to-four Supreme Court opinion in December 2003 that upheld the speech ban which reduced criticism of government by assembled Americans from an untouchable individual right to the status of a “privilege” bestowed by Congress.

BCRA “permits” NRA to fund pre-election ads through our political action committee, but only under Draconian reporting restrictions and with funding solicitations limited to member donations. But Congress allowing grassroots non-profits to exercise free speech through PACs is like Congress saying we can own and use bolt-action rifles and shotguns, but not semi-automatics.

When Congress enacted BCRA, the standard media sound bite to describe the “reform” was summed up in three words “banning soft money.” Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Dodd defined it as “Money that threatens to drown out the voice of the average voter of average means; money that creates the appearance that a wealthy few have a disproportionate say over public policy … .”

But George Soros — and a handful of billionaires and multi-millionaires recruited to his cause — believe they are immune from the “soft” money restrictions of BCRA. Soros told National Public Radio he was morally different, saying, “I am not motivated by self-interest but by what I believe to be the public interest.”

Having funded the destruction of the First Amendment for groups like NRA, Soros now believes he can inject perhaps as much as $100 million into influencing the outcome of the 2004 elections. That’s chump change for Soros, who is counted as among the world’s richest men.

Acting in his self-styled “public interest,” he intends to buy control of the electoral process with the goal of throwing President George W. Bush out of the White House and creating a Congress dominated by radicals who call themselves “progressives.”

If that happens, we will see our individual freedom — including the Second Amendment — destroyed in a heartbeat. Soros told the Washington Post, “I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is,” and said he would spend his entire fortune if he could be guaranteed President Bush would be defeated for reelection.

At last count, Soros and his billionaire friends have shoveled as much as $30 million into organizations that claim to be exempt from the campaign finance laws that apply to the rest of us — laws that Soros bought and paid for.

The conduits for all of this “soft money” are entities called “527s” — a Federal Tax Code designation, which operatives claim exempts them from the provisions of BCRA. Among the most dangerous of “527” entities funded by Soros’ millions is something called MoveOn.org Voter Fund, which is undertaking a massive attack-ad broadcast campaign to activate radical voters to turn President Bush out of office and elect an anti-gun Congress.

And there are other groups like Americans Coming Together (ACT) — also heavily funded by Soros — run with the singular purpose of registering and turning out activist-left voters in massive numbers with the purpose of defeating Bush and “electing progressive candidates at every level of government.”

The voters to which these “527s” are appealing can be summed up as the “Michael Moore audience.” If they come out to vote in the 17 battleground states that have been targeted by ACT, there can be no doubt they will vote to defeat pro-Second Amendment candidates.

By the nature of the voters the Soros money will bring out, our pro-gun majority in the Senate is especially in jeopardy. All of this Soros effort is not just aimed at removing President Bush from power; it is designed “to take America back” as if the country and our lives will be owned by the radical left.

With his track record — from funding the Million Mom March to bankrolling the most malicious lawsuits against the firearm industry — we know what George Soros’ version of the Second Amendment is — the one that allows only the National Guard to be armed. If Soros buys all he wants in the 2004 elections, that could be the law of the land.

As NRA members, we don’t have Soros’ billions, but we do have millions of members and millions more friends and families who stand with us. In this coming election, no matter what, we must get people registered; we must vote. If we aren’t motivated, King George Soros will prevail, and the dream of the Founding Fathers will be lost.

Wayne LaPierre is the Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association.