One thing that I do believe is that the gun owning community is mentally ready for the last conflict. The NRA is especially guilty of this. They are like every major army. They're ready and equipped to fight the last war, not the coming one. That last war was the 1994 Clinton Assault Weapons Ban.
But Gun Owners aren't immune either since many simply continue to horde magazines, lowers, and ammunition with the belief that all they purchase will be Pre-Ban and legal to keep. As New York, California, Florida, and other states have shown. That isn't the case anymore. Grandfathering is no longer in the cards for us. But this belief is part of why the gun owning community is failing. Many of us have the belief that "as long as I have mine, I'm good." Well, that ain't good and it sure doesn't help the cause.
Another issue is we put too much faith into lobbying. With the demographic changes occurring in the country both politically and ethnically, lobbying isn't going to preserve Liberty nor the Second Amendment.
PUBLIC PERCEPTION IS FAR MORE EFFECTIVE AT THIS POINT IN OUR CHANGING CULTURE.
The post Parkland gun grabbers have done far more damage to Liberty in the 90 days after the shooting than the NRA has done to protect the Second Amendment since the 1990s. All the lobbying in the world isn't going to change perception Because unfortunately, perception is reality.
Between the public ballot drives to get laws and state constitutional changes through without any legislative action and the massive Democratic swing in state governments is proof of the above facts. The power of public perception has gone so far to even make Republicans and the NRA change their tune.
Republican Governors like Rick Scott (FL), Phil Scott (VT), Bruce Rauner (IL), Larry Hogan (MD), and Charlie Barker (MA) all signed gun control bills into law in 2018. And in those bills they signed, a lot of what the NRA's has blessed was in them. Red Flag Laws and Bump Stock Bans.
Yup, the Gun Grabbers have used public perception to even get the NRA to bow down and back gun control.
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Public Perception is a powerful tool and our side fails to utilize it. There is a political and demographic shift occurring right now as we speak. The public perception of your average American gun owner is this.
Whether it is right or wrong. That is the mental image that the majority of society in America thinks of when the words "gun owner" are mentioned. The majority of our Second Amendment organizations fail to reach out to minorities and urbanite communities. Our side continues to use such an outdated campaign strategy. We aren't a rural agrarian society anymore. A good chunk of gun owners are urbanites and own guns for a whole host of different reasons. Plinking on the back 40 and going hunting isn't the main ones anymore.
The demographics of America has changed.
Adapt and realize it or falter.
The gun rights organizations need to stop the old ways of shaking hands with Congressmen in back offices after political promises have been made. They need to be vocal and confrontational with those in office. But more importantly, need to drop the Old White Man image. The Demographics of the country has changed and many groups are still going after TV image of Classic 1950s Americana.
The NRA's action for instances on the Philando Castile shooting really pissed off a lot of people in the minority communities across the country. They could have taken a neutral stance and discussed both sides equally (both LE and Mr. Castile made bad judgement calls). But instead they didn't and they even censured Colion Noir when he tried to bridge that topic.
As a Hispanic I personally don't see any Pro Second Amendment work being directed towards the Spanish speaking communities. I have never seen an ad or article written in Spanish. I don't see or hear commercials broadcasted in Spanish. I don't see public outreaches into the Spanish speaking communities by gun rights organizations.
The same can be said for the Black Communities in America. Are there ever any public outreach programs to get Black Americans into the shooting sports? Any ads or publications specifically targeting them and showing the history that gun control has as a racial tool to oppress Black Americans? No. I don't see it nor does anyone that I know see it either.
The only segment I see being targeted is women. And even then it is mostly economic to target a growing demographic for new sales.
But sadly the majority of the advertising that I do see is not based on pushing the narrative that the Second Amendment empowers women, especially women of color. Moms Demand Action does that very well with their publicity shots of their groups.
I don't see organizations reach out to minority women and teaching them the fundamentals of proper firearm handling and why they should have a firearm. I don't see them discussing such landmark Supreme Court cases like Warren v. District of Columbia. A case that held that the police do not owe a specific duty to provide police services to citizens based on the public duty doctrine. That leaves women defenseless if they have no viable means to defend themselves.
For those that don't know; Carolyn Warren, Joan Taliaferro, and Miriam Douglas were for fourteen hours the captive sex slaves of Marvin Kent and James Morse. The women were raped, robbed, beaten, forced to commit sexual acts upon one another, and made to submit to the sexual demands of their attackers. Law enforcement failed to respond and act in a timely and correct manner. In today's era of the #MeToo movement, why isn't that being pushed by gun rights organizations? Why is the below image of a minority woman properly armed and able to defend herself not being broadcasted and advertised in monitory communities?
The Gun Owning Community and the various Gun Rights Organizations need to realize this and adapt or as time continues to march forward. Be swept into the dustbin of history as our Second Amendment rights crumble due to age and lack of upkeep.
