To those boycotting the NRA-

It was three weeks ago that a crazed gunman walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen individuals lost their lives, a horrific tragedy that is beyond heartbreaking.

Since the shooting occurred, we have seen surviving students used to further the debate on gun control. Many of these students skipped the funerals of their friends in order to appear on talk shows demanding action! We have witnessed a call to boycott the NRA and to also boycott any companies that have ties to the NRA.

First National Bank of Omaha, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Avis Budget Group, Hertz, Alamo, Enterprise, National, Starkey Hearing Technologies, Chubb, True Car, SimpliSafe, SimpliSafe, Sirva…… are just a list of the few companies that have conceded.

I understand the need to place blame on someone or something, it’s a natural response to tragedy. The immediate reaction is to say, “well if _________ wouldn’t have happened, than ________wouldn’t have occurred. This is a natural human response. For the gun control crowd, the solution is less guns. If we didn’t have guns, this wouldn’t happen. We need less guns, is their thought process. Many people point to Australia where guns were taken from Australian citizens in 2002, close to 1 million guns were confiscated. They have not had a mass shooting since. Now one must note that there are “Mass Shooting”s and there is also “Gun violence,” both result in the loss of innocent human life. So one third of all the guns in Australia were taken by the government in 2002. You would think that their murder rate would decrease dramatically if one third of the guns were taken, but it didn’t. In fact the United States murder rate has decreased more than Australia’s since 2002, while gun ownership has risen in the United States. The statistics prove that fewer guns does not mean less gun violence. I know it’s stating the obvious but these MASS SHOOTINGS we witness have occurred in “Gun Free Zones.” The law says “NO guns” should be allowed and yet these crazies don’t abide by the law. Would creating another law prevent gun violence?

We must also note that The United States had to FIGHT for their Independence, Australia did not. We fought using firearms. It is part of our cultural make-up. The Second Amendment was put into place to restrict government not the individual. Every tyrannical government throughout history ALWAYS DISARMS it’s citizens prior. And yes, this could sound a little paranoid, if we didn’t have to FIGHT FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE TO BE FREE from Tyranny. But we did have to fight for our independence to be free, and we remember this EVERY JULY 4TH.

But to be honest, let’s not even focus on the guns. Let’s for a moment imagine all the guns in the United States have been confiscated. All GUNS are now illegal, just like Heroin is illegal in the United States. If you REALLY WANTED to find Heroin you could though. So if you REALLY wanted to get a hold of a gun, you could in some black market circles. So let’s say some crazy loon, gets a hold of a gun and he decides to head to his high school were he had been bullied. What will stop this guy from unleashing hell on innocent people? What policies, procedures, and extra measures have we put in place to secure the building so that “crazy loon guy” does not get to live out his sick, twisted evil fantasy??? Because THIS is where we START! NOT GUNS, not boycotting the NRA, but fortifying and protecting those that are helpless!!!

The idea to boycott the NRA in response to a Mass Shooting makes absolutely NO SENSE. In fact this concept lies in the valley of the absurd. This also makes me question the leadership at the companies listed above, because NO logic is being applied here. Boycotting the National Rifle Association is actually boycotting Gun Safety. It’s boycotting an organization that is putting women on an even playing field when it comes to self defense. It is boycotting the education of proper firearm use. It is boycotting those that armed black Americans during the Civil Rights movement so that they could protect themselves against the KKK. It is boycotting those that defend our individual rights as citizens. NO NRA MEMBER HAS EVERY CAUSED A MASS SHOOTING. The children calling for the boycotting of the NRA are being used as political props, it’s sad just sad.