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Remarks by Chris W. Cox at the 137th Annual Meeting of Members, Louisville, Kentucky, May 17, 2008

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Good morning!

At the NRA Institute for Legislative Action,
we have people on the ground at the federal,
state and local levels.

Our job is to stay on top of everyone who holds political office,
along with everyone who wants to …
plus several hundred gun-related bills at any given time.

Together,
we keep politicians honest about the
Second Amendment.

Now,
you may wonder if it’s possible to keep politicians honest about our gun rights.

Absolutely it is.

Because if they’re not,
we’ll make them find another line of work.

Here’s an example from the 2000 elections

After 20 years of stabbing gun owners
in the back...
Al Gore tried to hide his anti-gun agenda.

But it didn’t work.

So we helped him learn that in presidential politics,
America’s gun owners are a very, very “Inconvenient Truth.”

 

In 2004 John Kerry tried to fool gun owners with the same
“look-I’m-a-hunter” trick.

Needless to say,
ladies and gentlemen,
thanks to you,
we cooked his goose.

Even Bill Clinton tried to hide his anti-gun agenda.

He put on camo
and went duck hunting one day for the cameras.

So we took that photo and added some words:

“If Bill Clinton thinks hunting ducks will give him a pro-gun image,
he’s daffy.”

Let me ask you a question –
do you think Bill Clinton’s gone duck hunting since that photo-op?

How many goose pits has John Kerry been in since then?

 Election after election,
you and your fellow NRA members across America see through the fakes and frauds.

It’s gun owners like you who help us keep politicians on the
right side of the
Second Amendment …
or left out in the cold.

So what’s your NRA done for you lately?

For starters,
we’ve restored
the right of self-defense to a majority of the
U.S population.

We now have
honest-to-God
Right-to-Carry
in 40 states,
with 10 more to go.

Here in Kentucky,
you passed it in 1996,
and —
like every other
Right-to-Carry state — your violent crime rate has gone down.

And speaking of
self-defense,
we’ve got Castle Doctrine laws passed in 22 states so far,
including Kentucky.

The Castle Doctrine says if you’re attacked and you decide to protect yourself
and your family,
you don’t have to
run away first,
the criminal does.

And if he gets hurt,
that’s his problem.
 
And his relatives
can’t sue you.

It’s about time the law is on your side,
not the criminal’s side!

We now have hunter protection laws in all
50 states.

We have range protection laws
and state preemption laws in 47 states.

And here’s big news:

Two weeks ago,
a federal appeals court threw out
New York City's lawsuit against the gun industry,
thanks to the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that your NRA passed.

Lawful gun makers should never be sued into bankruptcy for the acts of violent criminals!

We’re also fighting
state-by-state for
Worker Protection
laws ...

to stop employees who own guns from
getting fired —
some after 10 and 20 years on the job!

This protection is essential.

Because if your employer can fire you
for locking your gun in your car at work,
then you can’t take it with you when you leave your house.

And if that happens,
your boss just nullified your Right to Carry … and self-defense …
and the Second Amendment —
all in one fell swoop!

Well,
the NRA believes
God gave you the
right of self-defense,
not your boss,
and we’re not gonna let him take it away!
(Reaction)

As you’ve heard, folks,
the Supreme Court’s about to rule in the Heller case.

I don't see how anyone can look at Washington,
D.C.’s gun ban and conclude anything but it’s unreasonable,
it’s wrong,
it’s proof gun control’s
a failure,
and it’s time to fix it.

God willing,
the Court’ll rule that the Second Amendment protects an
individual right.

But even that could be undone if new vacancies on the Supreme Court are filled by opponents of our firearm freedom.

So we have to make sure that a sworn enemy of the Second Amendment
does not take the
White House this Fall.

So let’s talk about two people who fit that description …
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Folks,
no matter what she says now,
Hillary Clinton is the same gal she was
as America’s most
anti-gun first lady …

married to America’s most anti-gun
president …

in the most anti-gun administration in American history.

In the Clinton
White House,
I think we all know who wore the pantsuits
in that family.

This woman’ll say anything to get what she wants.

You heard Hillary’s famous lies about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia.

We’ve got a potential commander-in-chief
who makes up war stories  ...

so lying about gun rights is easy!

When she was running for the U.S. Senate,
Hillary was proud to join the so-called
“Million Mom March”
for gun control,
right alongside ringleader
Rosie O’Donnell.

Let me take you back,
and let Hillary herself remind you
how she feels about
your gun rights.

That's the REAL
Hillary Clinton.

Hillary also believes you shouldn’t give your
son or daughter a gun without a waiting period.

She voted against protecting gun makers  from lawsuits for the
acts of criminals.

She voted to revive the semi-auto ban,
the myth her husband pushed through Congress in 1994.

And she voted against the NRA’s law that says the government can’t kick in your door and take your guns during an emergency,
like they did in
New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

She’s supported
gun control her entire political life.

But now …
all of a sudden … Hillary’s pro-Second Amendment.

Why,
she even has
fond memories of learning to shoot:

Yeah, right.

Well,
I wonder if he taught her to shoot with an expensive European
left-handed
Mauser 66 rifle …
with a rare double-set trigger?

That's the gun in this attack mailer against Barack Obama,
where Hillary accuses him of being anti-gun.

Hillary’s got her
gun story backwards
even on a stupid mailer.

Well,
Hillary’s rifle is just like her pro-gun record:

It doesn't exist!

That rifle’s just as bogus as her new target...
“illegal guns.”

 Saying
"I'm against illegal guns"
is like saying
"I'm against drunken cars."

Folks,
it's not about the object...
it's about the person who controls the object.

So, Hillary: 
YOU show me an
“illegal gun,”
and I’LL show you a criminal attached to it!

When are you gonna start attacking criminals…
instead of America’s
law-abiding gun owners?

Folks,
Barack Obama is just as radical as Hillary Clinton.

He’s just not as experienced at lying about it yet.

You know,
Obama preaches HOPE … and CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN.

Well,
BELIEVE IN this: 

If he’s president you can only HOPE to survive a home invasion,
because Obama’s CHANGE …
gives you NO HOPE for armed self-defense!

Because he simply doesn’t believe in it!

Not for you, anyway.

Everything you need to know about
Barack Obama’s radical view of gun rights
can be told in this
true story from his home state of Illinois.

It’s four days after Christmas in 2004,
late at night,
in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette.

A father named
Hale DeMar is tucking his kids into bed.

But behind his reassuring smile,
Hale’s mind is on
full alert.

Because the
night before,
someone broke into his home,
and stole a house key and the family car.

Suddenly,
Hale’s security alarm shatters the air.

He grabs his handgun and discovers the intruder,
an ex-con,
in his home.

He shoots and wounds the criminal,
who escapes in the family car he’d stolen the night before.

Hale DeMar saved his family …
but lost his innocence.

He was arrested and charged with violating the Wilmette
handgun ban.

The father of two faced a year in jail.

Now you and I know something’s wrong with this picture.

And so did the
Illinois Legislature,
which quickly proposed a law to let gun owners defend themselves in their homes.

Did Illinois state senator Barack Obama vote for Hale’s right to defend his family?

NO!

And he didn't just vote against it once …

he voted against it
four times!

Let that sink in:
Barack Obama voted against letting
law-abiding citizens
have a handgun to save their own lives in their own homes.

So where does
Barack Obama leave you?

Well,
let’s see …
armed thugs kick in your door at 3 a.m.,
ransack your house,
tie up your kids,
rape your wife,
and slit your throat.

Barack Obama won’t be there to help.

But he will be somewhere else opposing your right to stop any of it with a handgun.

Of course,
Obama and his family enjoy a ring of armed security ‘round the clock.

But for you and me,
NO self-defense with a gun at home —
or anywhere else.

That's because
Obama has always opposed Right to Carry.

Quote:
"I mean I am consistently on record and will continue to be on record as opposing Concealed Carry"

What about a woman with a valid protection order against the man who's threatened to kill her?

Or a rape victim who has to walk through the same dark parking lot where she was assaulted?

Should THEY have a right to carry?

Obama says NO --
leave 'em defenseless.

It's not surprising
he had a perfect
anti-gun record in Illinois.

He not only voted for every gun-control bill...
he even wrote a few himself.

Here’s one of his highlights –
or should I say
low-lights: 

He wanted a federal law to ban all gun stores within five miles of a school or park.

Folks,
that would effectively eliminate every gun shop in the United States.

But at the same time,
Obama did NOT oppose porn shops
near schools.
I don't get it --
maybe it's a cost-cutting measure:

maybe he thinks
keeping porn shops
near schools...
makes sex education cheaper.

As a U.S. Senator,
Obama not only tried to blame the gun maker
for the acts of criminals,
he tried to blame the
gun owner, too.

Obama wrote legislation that would make you
a felon,
if your gun was stolen and used in a crime.

So while the gun maker goes bankrupt …
and the gun owner
goes to prison …
what about the criminal?

In his book --
"The Audacity of Hope" --
he writes about the
gang banger who randomly shoots into a crowd because he feels “disrespected”.

Obama says this about the gang banger --
and I quote:

"we should acknowledge that there’s a hole in his heart that government programs may not be able to repair."

Now that’s not the audacity of hope --

that’s the idiocy of hype!

Go down the anti-gun wish list and Obama wants it all.

He supports the Washington, D.C.
gun ban ...

one gun a month,
if any ...

banning all forms of semi-automatic firearms.

and a total ban
on hand guns.

And he has always favored licensing and registering gun owners.

So in the
presidential debates,
Tim Russert asked him  if he would support it as president.

Listen very carefully to the first words of Obama’s answer:

"I don't think we can get that done."

He doesn't think he can get gun owners licensed and registered
right now …
as much as he’d like to.

That’s the real
Barack Obama.

He’s so radical the National Journal ranked him as THE most
liberal member of the U.S. Senate for 2007.

It’s a good thing he’s skinny cause there ain’t much room to the left of 
Ted Kennedy!

But don’t just take my word for it …
listen to the man speak for himself.

Last month at a
private fundraiser for San Francisco millionaires,
he said what he really thinks about us:
that we’re a bunch of country bumpkins
so bitter about our
sorry lives,
that we cling to God
and our guns.

It’s a home video,
so it’s rough,
but take a look:

That’s Barack Obama,
the radical out-of-touch elitist who believes
we’re so bitter that we can only survive by clinging to God
and guns.

Well Barack,
we are bitter
and we should be!

We should be bitter ...

that these elitist hypocritical snobs
try to play us for a
bunch of fools.

We should be bitter ...

that Hillary and Obama look gun owners
in the eye...
and LIE about their support for the Second Amendment.

We should be bitter ...

that Obama’s pastor hates America ...

and that his wife is ashamed of our country.

We should be bitter ...

that Hillary sold out our freedoms years ago
and thinks we’ll just forgive and forget.

We should be bitter ...

that our friends in the Democratic Party
keep nominating their worst gun-hating candidates.

But when Hillary and Obama mouth off like they have ...

and
vote like they have ...

and lie like they have ...

and trample Second Amendment freedoms like they have ...

you bet the members of this proud Association are bitter.

For gun owners
across America,
this is how bitter looks.

This is how bitter sounds.

And come November...

let’s show ‘em
how bitter votes!

Thank you very much!

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NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.