president’s column
By Ronald L. Schmeits, President

We Are A Team

I want to thank you for the honor and privilege to serve as the 60th president of this outstanding association—the largest and oldest civil rights organization in the world. Nowhere else is there such a group of dedicated members willing to stand up for freedom.

Like so many NRA members, I grew up out in the country—in my case, in rural Nebraska. My family owned guns. I grew up hunting, shooting and fishing.
Now my wife, Ann, and I live in New Mexico, where we like nothing better than to go out with our family on a sunny Sunday afternoon, set up some targets and spend an afternoon plinking.

Like you, we own firearms. We like to hunt and shoot. And we want to preserve and protect those traditions for future generations—not just because they provide so much enjoyment, but also because they sustain and secure all the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.

Someone asked me what major changes I plan as president, and my answer was any changes will be minor. I believe we have a talented, dedicated and driven leadership team, and an agenda in line with the needs of our freedoms. I am comfortable with the current approach because it works. The real "star" of this team is the team.

We must organize as never before. We must vote and convince others to vote to keep our guns and our rights out of the wrong hands—the hands of a gun-banning government regime.

When they try to blame our freedoms for crime, we must demand strict enforcement of existing laws and aggressive prosecution of those who violate them, and fight for prosecutors and judges who will enforce the laws as they're written.

We must have politicians who support the entire Bill of Rights—the First Amendment, the Second, the Fourth and all others. And when they fail to do so, we must apply sufficient political and public pressure to elect, or have appointed, those who will.

I believe there will always be groups and individuals, both here in the U.S. and around the world, who seek to restrict or revoke our freedoms. We must approach each threat as an opportunity to increase awareness and educate the people, to protect the rights of every American citizen.

I believe we should seek to increase participation in the shooting sports. In Europe, some shooting events draw more than our total number of registered shooters, perhaps because in those cultures, marksmanship is more than just a form of competition—it's an enjoyable outing for the whole family.

Our challenge is to develop new and innovative ways to exercise the Second Amendment so that single moms and dads, grandparents and extended families can participate and feel at home while giving young people an opportunity to experience the shooting sports.

If we do that, we can plant the seed that often grows into a lifelong interest and belief.

But to do all this, we must first protect the Second Amendment and our ability to exercise it. To prepare for the 2010 and 2012 elections, we must expand and strengthen our grassroots network to convince our 4 million members, the 25 million Americans who consider themselves members and 80 million American gun owners to say: "I'm the NRA and I vote!"

All of this takes manpower, money and participation from individuals as well as industry.

We need to build a financial foundation under NRA that's strong enough to weather any storm and big enough to accommodate every American who cherishes Second Amendment freedom—both now and in the future.

We are a team. We will never allow the theft of our freedom, dignity, honor or personal property. When it comes to freedom, we will not compromise and we will not be content to play defense—our freedoms depend upon us to advance!

We are the greatest nation on this earth. Let's make sure that freedom lives, and always remember that NRA stands for freedom.