PRESIDENT'S COLUMN
By Ronald L. Schmeits, President

Help Make 2010 A Historic Year For Preserving Firearm Freedoms

Happy New Year!

Have you heard the news? Political pundits predict that 2010 could go down in history as a turning point.

Many of America's most fundamental ideas—from free speech and open debate, to your Right to Keep and Bear Arms—are being questioned, challenged and redefined in unprecedented ways.

That means the decisions we Americans make this year, about where we're going and what's worth fighting for will reverberate for generations.

So let me outline some of the challenges facing your Second Amendment rights this year and tell you how you can protect them.

Between now and June, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide, in a landmark case, whether the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments like Chicago, or merely to federal jurisdictions such as Washington, D.C.

As you know, the court ruled in 2008 the Second Amendment protects an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms for self-defense in the home. But that case applied to Washington, D.C., which, unlike the 50 states, is a federal enclave.

So the day after the court issued that ruling, the NRA sued the city of Chicago—not just to overturn Chicago's gun ban, but also to set a precedent to protect the Second Amendment against state and local government infringement nationwide.

The NRA is one of the parties in the case, and we're working closely with top attorneys and constitutional scholars to present our side.

Good or bad, whatever decision the court hands down will prove the enormous importance of your votes—for the presidents who nominate, and for the senators who confirm, the Supreme Court justices who rule for life on such history-making cases like this.

In that light, this year's elections will cast long, looming shadows far into the future. In November, Americans will elect 435 House members, 36 U.S. Senators, 37 state governors and countless state and local politicians. Firearm freedoms will be at stake in every race.

That's why the NRA's affiliate, the NRA Freedom Action Foundation, is working to identify, educate and register to vote every gun owner, every hunter and everyone who cares about Second Amendment freedom in America through TriggerTheVote.org.

Please join me to help muster and mobilize an Election Day army. Make a contribution to the NRA Freedom Action Foundation. Then, back it up by getting fellow gun owners and freedom-loving friends registered to vote.

In so doing, you can send the kind of message that shuts down big-city mayors who want to build national campaigns on "gun control."

That's what New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his dwindling group of "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" are trying to do. They're pushing Congress to impose New York City-style gun bans on the entire United States.

What they don't mention are the laws they're pushing would do nothing to stop activity that's already illegal—but would raise prices and lower availability of firearms for lawful buyers like you.

The NRA has been working to get that truth to Congress and the American people, but it's hard to compete against Bloomberg's billions. We need your help.

Please go to www.nraila.org/mayors to find out if your mayor is part of Bloomberg's coalition. If so, alert him or her to the truth and urge him not to be a party to Bloomberg's schemes.

But the greatest danger facing firearm freedoms in 2010 may be from the United Nations, where foreign governments and gun-ban groups have worked quietly for more than 15 years to impose "global gun control" upon the U.S. through international treaties.

The Bush administration told U.N. gun grabbers to back off, warning the U.S. would never consider any agreement that infringed upon Americans' Second Amendment rights.

But now, everything has changed.

With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announcing the U.S. is willing to negotiate—and the Obama administration deceptively blaming American gun owners for Mexico's drug war violence—freedom-hating governments and gun-ban groups are celebrating worldwide.

Worse, they know the makeup of the U.S. Senate, which ratifies or rejects international treaties, will probably change after this year's elections. So they're liable to act fast.

The NRA is one of just a handful of pro-gun groups working to stop this U.N. push. The other side has hundreds of groups.

So stay informed, stay involved with the NRA, spread the word and get others on board. Because 2010 could be the most challenging year for freedom ever.