USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “In 2014, Bloomberg and his billionaire buddies poured over $10 million into the passage of their gun owner registration scheme in Washington State via a ballot measure (I-594) similar to what we expect to see filed in Arizona,” Arizona Citizens Defense League tells members in a plea for awareness and support. “In a press release crowing about their Washington success, Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety stated they were also targeting Nevada, Maine and Arizona for the same treatment.
That struggle in Nevada, with the defense spearheaded by Nevadans for State Gun Rights, is one I’ve been urging support for. They’re in the thick of things and need help now. And the current struggle there is part a larger plan of state-by-stage subversion, first revealed in a little-heeded warning back when Bloomberg was busy setting up state organizations.
Activists in Arizona don’t intend to wait to prepare for an assault. They’re too seasoned and savvy for that, and they’re under no illusions about what a Bloomberg victory would mean.
“Thanks to AzCDL, with the passage of Constitutional Carry and other good gun laws, Arizona has been ranked as the number one state for gun owners for the last three years,” the group explains. “Taking us down is the gun grabbers’ number one goal.
“Yet, in response to our recent fund raising efforts to battle Bloomberg’s assault on Arizona, we’re hearing ‘This is Arizona – it will never happen here’ as if there was some invisible force field surrounding the state that prevented voters from being duped,” AzCDL notes.
Perhaps that’s due to hubris, laziness, ignorance or apathy, or more likely a combination of all of those. What gun owners interested in peaceably preserving the right to keep and bear arms need to figure out is how to overcome that. The Founders left a remarkable system for seeking political and legal redress, albeit one that has been allowed to be corrupted, almost to the point of no return in “progressive” states. Much of that is because too few seem willing to participate in the rigors of working that system, and too many seem to think an occasional anonymous complaint or “Molon Labe” comment on a blog or forum is all the contribution and sacrifice that will ever be required of them.
AzCDL has been at the forefront of keeping Arizona relatively more “gun friendly” than many other states, and that’s because of the dedication of grassroots supporters, gun owners like you and me who have learned they can be more effective banding together in an organized manner. Still, when that effort results in something novel, such as the Uniform Firearms Transfer Compact bill (which has the potential to thwart Bloomberg’s moneyed Astroturf assault), most gun owners haven’t even heard about it, let alone know what it could do or how they can get involved. If you want to know more, start here. Just don’t count on the “news” media to spread the word – that’s wholly dependent on those of us who care enough to get involved.
The bottom line is Bloomberg intends to throw himself into Arizona with everything he’s got. He knows if he can buy a “victory,” it will confirm what all gun-grabbers rely on: That by sticking to a strategy of bamboozling the ignorant, a well-funded juggernaut can roll over the next objective, and the next one after that.
Bloomberg’s PR machine will be able to accomplish in each state what could not be done at the federal level. That’s why Arizona will be the jewel in his crown, and why he wants it so desperately — because the flip side is, if he’s stopped, his momentum will be broken, and gun owners will get a huge morale boost.
Outside of infirmity or poverty, it’s tough to come up with a reason why every Arizona gun owner interested in protecting his or her rights isn’t a member of AzCDL. It’s also tough to fathom why gun owners in other states don’t recognize that if Bloomberg wins there, he’ll be setting his sights on where they – where you — live next.
Why not give your brothers and sisters on the front lines in Arizona a helping hand, as you would want patriots in other states to support you in time of need? At a minimum, why not be a force multiplier and help them keep the rest of the gun community informed on what Bloomberg is doing in their state, and what they are doing to counter it?
Or, seeing how effective it is at getting gun-grabbers to back off and go away, you could just leave a “Molon Labe” comment.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.