If you only ever listened to the nightly news on the major networks in this country, you might think the good ol’ USA was quickly on its way to the netherworld. Seriously, I simply can’t stand to watch the news anymore because it’s downright depressing, maddening and frustrating. Thank goodness for alternative media sources.And as far as national mainstream reporting on what’s happening in the gun industry, you’d be pretty hard pressed to find even a scrap of evidence that things are going in our favor right now. But they are. Big time.
I’ve just returned from the 2018 NRA Convention and Annual Meetings and I’ll tell you something I’m 100 percent sure of – business has picked up in our industry and the mood is definitely positive. I stopped at dozens of booths during the show and I didn’t hear even one negative comment about sales. It’s pretty remarkable really, based on what you see and hear on TV.
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA says they’ve gained over a half-million new members in just the past few months. Of course, you may not have heard this in the news coverage because the media appeared more fixated on the couple hundred anti-gun protestors outside the building. Meanwhile, a record crowd of more than 87,000 people were inside. That’s kind of a big deal. It boggles my mind and staggers my comprehension at the utter and blatant news bias.
But you know what? Americans are flat-out tired of being manipulated and I believe the jig is up. Media approval ratings aren’t quite hovering in the single digits that Congress has, but they’re nothing you want to write home to mom about either. It’s clear, the mainstream media in this country has a fact vs. fiction problem. In a survey released earlier this year by the Knight Foundation, 66 percent of Americans said most news media do not do a good job of separating fact from opinion. In case you’re wondering… that’s bad. Very, very bad.
What the large influx of new NRA members confirms for me is that the public is taking the threat of 2nd Amendment infringements as seriously as they should be. And as President Trump articulated during his speech to NRA members, complacency is not an option right now. We need to fight harder than we’ve ever done before. Anti-gunners are discovering other means of harassing supporters of the 2nd Amendment through lawsuits, boycotts and a multitude of other nefarious and backdoor shenanigans and they are well-funded. Our industry and our allies need to be prepared for an all-out assault on our values and businesses as we ramp up to the mid-term elections in November.
Finally, I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Lt. Col. Oliver North is the new president of the NRA. On behalf of everyone at NASGW, I want to offer my congratulations to him on this tremendous honor and want to let the colonel and everyone else at NRA know that we’re behind them all the way. I had an opportunity to meet Mr. North when he was our featured speaker during the NASGW Expo last fall in San Antonio. The NRA has definitely chosen a worthy advocate and effective leader at this important time.
A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all those who qualify. I hope and trust you all were honored in the way you so richly deserve. Mom’s make the world go around.
Until next time,
Kenyon Gleason
President, NASGW