An Open Letter to New Gun Owners

Dear Fellow American,

You don’t have to explain that to me.

I completely understand why you were among the record-breaking wave of Americans who bought their first firearm in the past four years.

You saw firsthand the disastrous impact of the “defund the police” movement. You saw what happened when prosecutors refused to put violent criminals behind bars and simply let them back on the streets.

You saw the lawless and wide open border where drug cartels, murderers and terrorists could walk brazenly into our country. You saw the riots. The burning cities. The excessive violence. The murder and chaos.

And then one day it hit you: you realized deep in your soul that the only way you could truly protect and defend yourself and your loved ones was to exercise your God-given right to self-defense and purchase a firearm.

As Executive Vice Chairman of the National Rifle Association, I congratulate you on this life-changing step and your entry into the patriotic community of American gun owners.

I highly recommend that you, if you have not already done so, ensure that you obtain proper NRA certified training in the safe and responsible use of your firearm.

And if I may, I’d like to ask you to take a few minutes to think about the powerful implications of something you may not even be aware of yet:

This November, for the first time in your life, you will be casting your vote for president not just as an American, but as an American with a gun.

The difference may be greater than you think.

Think about it.

You have exercised a fundamental human right promised to you by our Constitution. But there are politicians who do NOT believe in that promise – who do not believe in YOUR right to keep and bear arms.

Kamala Harris has indicated in a legal filing with the Supreme Court that she believes the Second Amendment does not guarantee your individual right to own a firearm.

She has gone on record saying she wants to ban tens of millions of guns, and every magazine that holds more than 10 rounds. She has said she would order the forced confiscation of firearms in the possession of law-abiding citizens like you.

Her allies in the U.S. Senate have already written a bill that would ban virtually every semi-automatic handgun in America, including popular self-defense pistols (perhaps like the one you bought) in .380 or 9mm calibers.

And when Kamala Harris ran for president in the 2020 primaries, she said that if she didn’t get her gun control policy through Congress within her first 100 days, she would take executive action to impose her anti-freedom views on the American people by executive order.

Make no mistake. These are not the policies of someone who believes in your right to self-defense. These are not the views of someone who believes you should be able to own the gun you bought to defend your life.

These are not the actions of someone who will protect your gun freedom for the next four years. And that is why you need to think about what it means to “vote like gun freedom depends on it” in this election — an election that will be decided by the narrowest of margins.

In fact, by the numbers, America’s first-time gun owners (over 22 million!) like you have the power to swing this election in favor of freedom – and away from Kamala Harris and her anti-gun, anti-freedom agenda. You are America’s largest voting bloc in 2024.

At the NRA, we’ve been on the front lines of these types of election fights for years. We’ve led the fight to preserve America’s Second Amendment freedoms — to ensure that law-abiding citizens like you have the right to purchase a firearm to defend your life.

We cut through the lies and the spin and show gun owners which candidates will protect their rights…and who will trample on them. Over the years, we’ve supported a wide range of Second Amendment champions from all walks of life.

We are not driven by a party. We are driven by an issue. And our issue is defending YOUR right to keep and bear arms.

Join our proud association by visiting NRA.org to find an NRA-certified instructor near you.

If we work together this November, we can save our freedom, keep our guns, and preserve our most essential right to defend our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

Thank you and may God bless you.

Yours in freedom,

Doug Hamlin
Executive Vice Chairman and CEO
National Rifle Association of America