By Sandy Froman

Until Lyndon Johnson came to the White House in 1963 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, gun control was simply not a national issue. There were no significant federal gun control laws on the books, and the NRA was a shooter's organization that intentionally shied away from any political involvement.

All of that changed with the 1968 assassinations of Sen. Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King. In the civil unrest that followed, the media found a new whipping boy – America's gun owners. The media blitz against gun rights was unprecedented and became the driving force behind Democrat leaders proposing national gun control.

Although JFK and his brother, Sen. Robert Kennedy, had been NRA Life Members, America's new president, Lyndon Johnson, was a committed gun control advocate. No president ever matched his power and his will when it came to controlling the legislative process. His attorney general and much of his senior staff searched for new ways to restrict gun ownership among the American people. This was part of Johnson's Great Society vision of an all-powerful federal government controlling the lives of ordinary Americans.

LBJ also put anti-gun judges on the federal courts at every level. Liberal Thurgood Marshall, an opponent of the Second Amendment, was appointed to the United States Supreme Court. All three branches of the federal government lurched to the left in most policy areas, including firearms.

Keep in mind that up until this time, private ownership of firearms was not in any meaningful way controlled by the federal government. Johnson's administration was the beginning of the federal government superseding state authority in all aspects of people's lives, including ownership and lawful commerce in their private property – in this case, firearms.

Click here to read the entire article from WorldNetDaily.com.

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I
advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives
boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind. Games played with the
ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no
character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be your constant companion of
your walks." - The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division

Ohio fifth in nation for number of shooters

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- America's favorite summertime sports
have long been played on trails, waters, fields, courses and courts.

And, now we know, they're played on shooting ranges, too.

Statistics gathered over the past three years show that
target shooting -- with rifle, handgun and shotgun -- is actually more
popular than many pastimes historically considered mainstays of warm-season
recreation.

Click 'Read More' for the entire story from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.