Donald Trump’s victory ushers in what the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre describes as a historic “moment to go on offense” and to take new ground for the Second Amendment, rather than spend the next four years trapped in a defensive position.
The offensive will include national reciprocity, also known as national right to carry, as well as deregulation of suppressors, rolling back President Obama’s executive orders, and abolishing gun-free zones on military bases.
According to the Guardian, these pursuits, particularly passage of national reciprocity, allow the NRA to go after what LaPierre described as the “tyrannical erosion of gun rights.” He knows that national reciprocity will bring states like California, New York, and Illinois into conformity with the rest of the country on concealed carry, thereby chipping away at the “deceitful web of gun bans, ammo bans, magazine bans, exorbitant fees, and taxes and registration schemes” at the state level.
The Guardian stated it this way: “This federal national reciprocity law, which Trump has already endorsed, would essentially gut existing local restrictions on carrying guns in public, and would mean that tourists from other states could soon carry their guns around New York City.”
Those who paid attention during the campaign already know that more concealed carry permit holders in more places is exactly what Trump supports. He repeatedly stressed that bad guys need to learn how it feels when “bullets go both ways.” Following the June 12 attack at the Orlando Pulse gun-free zone, Trump stressed that concealed carry could have prevented the attack or at least lessened the severity of it. He said:
If some of those great people that were in that club that night had guns strapped to their waist or strapped to their ankle–and if bullets were going in the other direction, aimed at that guy [for whom this was just] target practice–you would have had a situation which would have [been] horrible, but nothing like the carnage that we as a people suffered this weekend.
The NRA has an advocate for concealed carry and self-defense heading to the White House. The biggest prize, however, was always the Supreme Court, and remains so even now.
The Guardian quoted the NRA’s Jennifer Baker saying, “The most important issue for us this cycle was the SCOTUS [supreme court] nominee and protecting Heller. Trump will appoint a new justice soon after he enters office, so our top priority will become a reality.” The Heller decision reaffirmed that the Founding Fathers intended the Second Amendment to hedge in the individual right to keep and bear arms, rather than a collective right.
Dick Heller, the man behind the Heller suit, opined on what Trump’s election and anticipated SCOTUS nominations mean for the Second Amendment: “Now I think at least for half a generation, I think we’re OK. Maybe a full generation. Maybe two.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.