Gun owners, NRA remain resolute in face of misaimed backlash

Amid all of the negativity illogically lodged against the NRA in the wake of the horrific Florida school shooting, another Crossroads of the West gun show took place at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix Saturday and Sunday. The vast area was packed with dealers and overflowing with purchasers, including many families, with children in tow, who understand the importance of our Second Amendment rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution by our nation’s Founders.

The shooting, perpetrated by a mentally deranged former student, highlights the need for follow-up on obvious concerns since deputies had been called to the family home of Nikolas Cruz 23 times. The FBI was alerted to him months earlier. His Internet postings showing him posing with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle and boasting about plans to shoot up a school, should have raised red flags about the threat he posed. The recently expelled 19-year-old, who began introducing himself as a “school shooter,” has been charged with 17 counts of murder perpetrated against classmates on Valentine’s Day. Despite repeated warnings, authorities took no decisive action. When the volley of gunshots sounded from within the school, the armed resource officer chose not  to enter the building.

Though years of warnings were ignored, backlash has irrationally focused against the National Rifle Association. The NRA is a pro-Second Amendment organization that protects the rights of Americans to defend themselves.

Under political pressure from the hard left, some corporations that have long offered discounts and benefits to NRA members have begun peeling away, though many remain in effect. This is the complete statement on corporate partnerships offered by the organization, which includes these words:

“……some corporations have decided to punish NRA membership in a shameful display of political and civic cowardice.  In time, these brands will be replaced by others who recognize that patriotism and determined commitment to Constitutional freedoms are characteristics of a marketplace they very much want to serve.

Let it be absolutely clear. The loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single NRA member from our mission to stand and defend the individual freedoms that have always made America the greatest nation in the world.”

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