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NRA Sees Challenges, Opportunities at State Level

Top priority at state level is protecting self-defense rights

National Rifle Association members look over pistols in the Smith & Wesson display at the 146th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on April 29, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia
May 8, 2017

Chris Cox, the executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, shared the group's view of where things stand at the state level as part of an exclusive interview with the Washington Free Beacon, which also touched on President Trump's first hundred days and the prospects for federal gun-rights legislation.

Cox said the recent focus on the potential for gun-rights legislation to move forward at the federal level has prompted gun-control proponents to shift much of their attention to the state level. He said spending from billionaire gun-control advocate Michael Bloomberg has the potential to be especially potent at the state level.

"We face a lot of challenges at the state level, and this is not a new phenomenon," Cox said. "What we've seen is that when we're succeeding at the federal level, our opponents will shift to the state level. When we're succeeding at the state level, they'll shift to the court system, try to abuse the court system to undermine the Second Amendment, try to go back to Congress. We've seen it in the international level. So, this movement back and forth is not a new phenomenon.

"We have great opportunities at the state level but we also face a lot of challenges. That's where Bloomberg, as we've seen, is investing a lot of his money. We've seen these ballot initiatives that set up well for one rich man to use his dollars to piggyback the message on a mainstream media that will parrot the lies. Then it's left ultimately to the National Rifle Association, the men and women of the NRA, to not only deal with the grassroots piece of it but fund the opposition to get the truth out. So, that's a challenge moving forward."

He said the NRA's top priority in the states is protecting self-defense rights. The group is working to keep certain deep blue states from further rolling back the ability of its citizens to use a gun to defend themselves in their homes or in public.

"The way we approach things at the NRA and the Institute for Legislative Action is at our core we are about self-defense," Cox said. "We also protect the rights of hunters, I'm a hunter myself, but the Second Amendment has nothing to do with hunting. The Second Amendment has to do with self-defense. So, we look for strategic opportunities everywhere we can to always move the ball forward towards … ultimately a full recognition of the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding people.

"There are states, like Vermont, where they've never had a permit system. There are states that are going in the wrong direction. We've had to sue the state of California over their most recent level of restriction that doesn't pass the constitutional muster regardless of the level of judicial scrutiny that you apply. Just a blatant violation of the Second Amendment. So, we are on defense and fighting tooth and nail to prevent freedom from being lost in states like New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, and others."

Still, Cox sees plenty of room for expanding on the NRA's accomplishments. Campus Carry has seen continued success. Constitutional Carry remains the most popular new gun policy at the state level with two states already adopting it so far this year.

"We're not always on defense," he said. "At the same time, we're pushing the ball forward everywhere. You've seen Constitutional Carry continuing to be adopted. You know, when these laws were passed starting in '87 when Florida became the momentum behind this movement of right-to-carry reform, none of those laws when they started were perfect. You still had to deal with the mass hysteria that we hear from our opponents on right-to-carry reciprocity: that it's going to be the Wild West and every fender bender is going to result in a shooting and all these dire predictions that never materialize because people who carry firearms lawfully and legally are the most law-abiding segment of society. So, we still have restrictions that we have to fight."

"It might be one state where we're trying to lower the cost associated with permits. One state it might be that we're trying to lengthen the validity of the permit from a time standpoint from one to three to five years to, ultimately, no need for a permit. So, there are always areas that we're looking for improvement. That will continue to be a big one at the state level: to go in, until we get national right-to-carry reciprocity, and continue to work with the states attorneys general on intrastate reciprocity agreements. Some are great. There's some states that recognize every state already. Some don't recognize even their own residents. So, we will continue to work in that area. We'll continue to work to remove these arbitrary lines for gun-free-zones."

Ultimately, Cox said, the NRA's goal is to expand gun rights in the many states that appear ripe for new pro-gun legislation and beat back attempts to restrict those same rights in the handful of states on the opposite footing.

"We'll continue to work to expand the rights of our members and all law-abiding Americans to freely exercise their fundamental rights," Cox said. "That's a guiding philosophy but it's also a very pragmatic approach to these state legislatures. While, at the same time, always trying to hold the line because freedom lost is much harder to regain and it's much more frustrating. That is our number-one priority above all else: to protect our members’ rights from further encroachment."

Published under: 2nd Amendment , Guns , NRA