Apathy is a complacent and marked lack of interest. The opposite of love, it is said, is not hate but indifference.
In the real-world application of Rochambeau (a.k.a. Rock, Paper, Scissors), pen beats sword but apathy smothers both.
Our Founding Fathers and Mothers embodied the idea that individual liberties were worth picking up a sword to fight for and thus secure an inheritance of freedom for all future generations. Men and women fought, bled, starved, and died to have the opportunity to write our U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights. The ideas enshrined in those documents, including the Second Amendment, were penned to give every American Citizen a road map for navigating the future.
The sword was, and is, necessary to fight in defense against those who would place the boot of tyranny on the necks of individual citizens. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are incompatible with Big Government control-driven taxes, regulations, and a never-ending conveyer belt of rights-killing laws piling one on top of the other.
Imagine if no one would have bothered to pick up the pen or the sword in our Founders’ era. Our grand experiment in freedom would have never been born, and billions of people would have been robbed of these precious and unique American values. Ideas are only useful when put into action.
The gift of life is worthy of protection. The right to protect life is natural and God-given and codified in the Second Amendment. Keeping and bearing arms, including swords, guns, and knives is precisely protected by our U.S. Bill of Rights. These protections, it is written, “shall not be infringed.” Only, they are infringed. A little more each year. And never more than under the current President and his administration.
What is the response of American citizens? Is it a full-throated rebuke of those attempting to steal our inheritance and diminish our ability to protect life? Or is it a deafening and apathetic yawn?
I asked the experts.
Pro-Second Amendment organizations exist at both the national and state level, including Citizens Defense Leagues (CDL). These organizations are designed to connect citizens quickly and easily with the core issues, the current legislative concerns, and how citizens can use their voices to stop bad laws and support good laws.
Philip Van Cleave, President of Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) says, “Apathy is a serious and long-standing problem with gun owners unless their rights are under severe and immediate threat. In Virginia, only a small percentage of the millions of gun owners are actively engaged in the work we do. To them I say, Get involved! Help make a difference! Join both a state AND a federal gun rights group.”
The President of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), Michael Gibbs tells us, “Since 2005, the Arizona Citizens Defense League has been instrumental in ushering 62 rights-protecting bills being signed into law by 3 different governors despite having a membership of less than 1% of Arizona firearms owners. While this speaks of the power of individual activism, can you imagine what we could accomplish if even 10% would become involved in advocating for their rights?”
In the state of Connecticut where the political balance is heavily Democrat and anti-gun, the President of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League (CCDL), Holly Sullivan, has this to say, “Too many of us tend to shy away from tough conversations, allowing the anti-gun narrative to gain traction. We need to normalize the discussion of blatant attempts to undermine the Second Amendment both with our legislators as well as in our communities. If we allow the other side to control the narrative, rest assured that they will.”
Alan Gottlieb, Founder of the national organization, Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), offered this, “In the United States while we have over 90 million gun owners, only about 6 million actively work to protect their Second Amendment rights. In fact, way too many do not even show up to vote in protection of these rights. The SAF hosts an annual free event, called Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) designed specifically to encourage the public to become more informed and involved in protecting our rights. We will be in Phoenix, AZ this year—come join the fun!”
Joining any of these organizations is an excellent and easy step in reversing that inaction and indifference. None of us can do everything. But all of us can do something. Take the advice of Philip Van Cleave, “Write Letters to the Editor in your local newspaper or digital news outlet. Correct misinformation on guns in online chat groups or wherever you can do so. And engage with your elected officials. Even a handful of people contacting a legislator on a specific topic can make a big difference.”
Cheryl Todd has an extensive history of being a Second Amendment Advocate. Along with being a Visiting Fellow for the Independent Women’s Forum, she is the owner of AZFirearms Auctions, Executive Producer & Co-Host of Gun Freedom Radio, the founder of the grassroots movement Polka Dots Are My Camo, and the AZ State Director for the DC Project.
No matter your age, your background, your ethnicity, or your religious affiliation, there is one thing that we can all agree on: nothing is more important than protecting what you love.
Where we are divided is HOW we protect those things that are most precious to us.
People who ascribe to the anti-gun rhetoric and agenda, and who belong to groups such as Moms Demand Action (MDA), Everytown for Gun Safety, and Giffords Courage to Fight Gun Violence, all proclaim that saving lives is at the core of their mission. We all can applaud and agree on that. Life is precious. And each of us can name at least one life we want to protect.
But protecting what we love sometimes requires that good people stand against predators and murderers with the very tools that MDA, Everytown, and Giffords vilify: guns. People who understand that reality dedicate their own time, money, and energy to training themselves and others to be safe and responsible gun owners. This training and education is truly what will protect those you love.
People who value life and liberty belong to groups like The DC Project: Women dedicated to safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms. Members of the DC Project are the counter-voice to the groups that are solely focused on guns and laws. The DC Project focuses on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by emphasizing education, not legislation, as the key to keeping our communities and our children safe.
KidSafe Foundation is another organization that loves kids enough to empower them to be safe around guns. KidsSafe has trademarked the phrase “ZERO firearm accidents are the only acceptable goal!!®” and teaches age-appropriate safety training to children to ensure kids know to “Stop, don’t touch, run away and tell an adult!” if they find a gun, or if a friend is playing with a firearm.
Reducing suicide is the goal of Walk The Talk America (WTTA). By building a bridge between mental health professionals and responsible firearms owners in order to reduce suicide and increase the availability of trusted mental health care, WTTA is “paving the way by educating mental health professionals about gun culture and breaking negative stigmas around mental health for gun owners.”
Another solution-focused organization is Hold My Guns (HMG). HMG helps to reduce firearm-related deaths by partnering with local gun stores and ranges to offer safe and voluntary storage of firearms to people and families who want to temporarily remove guns from their homes. As stated on HMG’s website, “While many organizations use ‘gun safety’ as a cover to take away your rights, our focus is to never compromise rights for the sake of ‘safety.’”
The anti-gun groups think that laws will make us safer. Each one of these groups condemns something they call “gun violence” and believes that laws will stop this kind of violence. One can only assume that the people in charge of these organizations are aware that guns, all by themselves, cannot cause violence. Surely, the people in charge of these organizations know that it is people who cause violence. Some use guns, others use knives, and still others harm their fellow humans with cars, bombs, and even clubs and hammers.
Perhaps it’s not as catchy to say that their organizations condemn people who harm other innocent people; sometimes by using guns.
Inherent in the brand names of these groups is the valuation of children, towns, safety, and courage. However, when we take a look at their methods of protecting these things they purport to hold dear, they have but one tool in their toolbox: laws. Laws they naively expect law-breakers to follow. These anti-gun groups believe that laws, more laws, and some as-yet not enacted magical laws will make humans who do not value and respect human life somehow value and respect words on a legal document stating that assault and murder are bad. Extra bad, apparently, if the murderer uses a gun.
Every one of the organizations mentioned is undoubtedly sincere in its mission to save lives and make our communities safer. However, laws piled on top of more laws are not making the difference we all seek. Teaching and training children from their youngest ages to respect firearms and how to be safe around them is as common sense as teaching them to be safe around kitchen knives. Helping people get effective mental health care, free from stigma and judgment, and allowing safe and voluntary storage of firearms for families going through difficult times and emotional turmoil or drug addiction offers real-world solutions for individuals where and when they need it most. And emphasizing education over legislation is how we all truly can protect what we love.
Cheryl Todd has an extensive history of being a Second Amendment Advocate. Along with being a Visiting Fellow for the Independent Women’s Forum, she is the owner of AZFirearms Auctions, Executive Producer & Co-Host of Gun Freedom Radio, the founder of the grassroots movement Polka Dots Are My Camo, and the AZ State Director for the DC Project.
I am heartbroken over the evil that has overcome Uvalde, Texas. And I, as a mom and a grandma who has grandchildren in the Litchfield Elementary School District, am outraged that our system has continued to fail us. Over the last twenty years, we’ve taught kids to hide, protect, and wait for help. More must be done.
Gun-free zones are dangerous, and it is time to protect schools like we protect airports, hospitals, courthouses, and banks and we must stop threats with equal or greater force. I support the Second Amendment and believe that education is the key to gun safety, not legislation. In an era of increased crime, reduced funding for police, and long response times – I must be my own first responder to protect myself, my family, and my community, which is why I carry a firearm. The evil in Uvalde was not caused by a gun, it was caused by a broken system that continues to push paper, policies, and legislation versus solving the root issue. We must heal the pain in our communities, strengthen families, and improve economic opportunities. Most importantly, it is TIME to fund meaningful programs that address mental health, safety, and firearm awareness and training.
Cheryl Todd is the Arizona State Director for the DC Project.
