President's Message: Honestly, We’d Appreciate the Honesty

I suppose it might be too much to hope for, but I hope I never have to hear another anti-gun champion suggest “we really don’t want to take your guns.” The problem with not telling the truth is that you can’t be trusted. Ever. About anything.

 I wouldn’t like it, but at least I could respect a person’s opinion if they were just honest about what they really wanted. When you understand what someone really wants, it can help to facilitate an actual conversation. But when they start out by lying, it pretty much ruins that possibility right out of the gate.

Look, we’ve heard over and over for years, and particularly during the past few months, that no one wants to take guns away from law abiding citizens. Supporters of the 2^nd Amendment and gun rights are accused of being paranoid, delusional, melodramatic and irrational for even hinting that we believe anti-gun advocates want to confiscate the contents of our gun safe. Yet the recent actions of multiple states and municipalities would suggest otherwise.

 Many states have recently passed a ban on AR’s and high-capacity magazines, and many more are currently considering it. The list of gun ban proposals is growing daily it seems. And just in case legislation won’t work, big banks and credit card companies are rushing to assist the gun control crusaders by making it more challenging for those in the business of guns to get any financial assistance.

 But wait, in case you still are in doubt about the real intentions of the anti-gun crowd in America today, the words of one of the young speakers at the recent rally in Washington, D.C. made it crystal clear. (Though I don’t think this is quite what organizers of the event were really expecting, and it may have caught them off guard.)

 In just one sentence, a young woman literally proved the point that 2^nd Amendment supporters should be concerned about supposed gun safety or sensible gun control laws, because they appear to be merely euphemisms for “taking our guns.” Here’s what she said: “When they give us that inch, that bump stock ban, we will take a mile.” Folks, if this wasn’t so scary, I’d actually give the young Parkland High School student credit for being the most honest speaker at the rally.

 Does every anti-gunner want to take away guns? No, I don’t believe so. But so many anti-gunners aren’t telling the truth. And honestly, that makes honest conversation nearly impossible.

 To protect our rights, we must first admit they are under assault. Pretending any longer this isn’t the case is not helpful. Stay vigilant. Defend the 2^nd Amendment wherever, whenever and however you can.

NASGW Scope™ Comes to Life

On another, more positive note, I’d like to make a brief mention about a development which promises to change the way NASGW members do business. For the past few years, and more specifically, the past 12 months, the NASGW has been working feverishly toward the creation of a data collection initiative for the benefit of our members.

Though challenging at times, thanks to the commitment of NASGW’s board of directors, an incredibly supportive group of distributors and strong encouragement from manufacturers, I’m happy to tell you the NASGW Scope™ program is now very real.

NASGW Scope™ has the power to revolutionize how our members make business decisions, by providing access to aggregated distribution channel sales and inventory data. This data has never been available before and won’t be available anywhere else. We’ll be releasing complete details in the next issue of InSight, so stay tuned.

I hope to see you all in Dallas for the NRA Annual Meetings. Let’s stand together to support the 2^nd Amendment. It’s needed now more than ever.

Until next time,

Kenyon Gleason