How having a threshold question for candidates can help you influence those around you

As the 2016 elections approach it is time for each of us as gun owners, Second Amendment advocates, freedom lovers, and patriots to prepare the single most effective form of advertising media there is. The best part is that for all the multimillion dollar media buys the candidates pay for, all the mass emails and websites created, this form of advertising has something the candidates can’t buy at any price. It has millions of outlets, with a reach that is unparalleled in modern advertising. Even more unique is the fact that we control it, can make it available 24 hours a day, and have the ability to change the message as needed.

It’s called a personal “30 second commercial.” That’s right - we each have the ability to influence those around us by simply stating our informed opinions in as little as 30 seconds. Whether asked specifically or through the course of normal conversation, we have the power to influence a person’s choice the way no radio or T.V. commercial can.

After all, who are your co-workers, friends or neighbors going to listen to - a radio spot by a candidate “who approves this message,” or a trusted friend co-worker or neighbor who is educated on what I believe to be the threshold question every candidate must answer correctly, before they get one second more of my time?

My personal 30 second commercial focuses on answering the question, “What is the candidate's views on my civil rights - particularly my Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms?” Certainly there is a better indicator of a person’s character than their views on my right to self-defense, right? Not to me. I believe that a politician's moral compass can be determined by how they reference free men and women the right to defend themselves. That is the indicator that I believe to be the most telling. Broken down, it speaks volumes. If a candidate for public office believes depriving a law abiding citizen of their God-given, fundamental rights, based upon the actions of another deranged, mentally ill, or evil human being, is the right thing to do, then that is all I need to know. What more is there that can possibly justify their decision to leave me helpless to die, by preventable attack?

Consider that for a moment: a person running for political office wants to deprive us, as good law-abiding citizens, not convicted of a felony, of the freedom to defend our gift of life. Over and over again the media bombards us with senseless policies, expounded by progressive anti-gun politicians, to solve the wrong problem. These progressive anti-gun; anti-civil rights proponents have been missing the real problem for years. After every incident in a “gun free zone” permitting the killing with impunity with no fear of being stopped until the necessity for the coward to commit suicide is created - after another Luby’s Cafeteria (22 dead); VA Tech (32 dead); Aurora, CO (12 dead, 70 injured); Sandy Hook (26 dead) - they still don’t get it. America doesn’t have a gun problem - we have a mental health problem.

Consider the toll in in Chicago, a city with some of the most stringent anti-gun control laws in the country, on the weekend of September 19, 2015: 8 dead, 45 wounded. Those are not results of gun problems; that is the result of a societal environment where human life has no value - where a young man proves his life’s worth by taking life.

The anti-gun politicians who push their “common sense” reforms (claiming that if “could just save one life” it would make stripping the rights from the responsible law abiding citizen worth it) refuse to understand is that evil exists, - an evil that isn’t stopped by a “No Guns” sign; an evil that is undaunted by laws that supposedly draws an imaginary line that evil “shall” not cross. Since Cain murdered Abel, we have known that the only thing that stops evil is the immediate ability to fight back with sufficient force stop evils threat.

That is why, to me, a person’s views on my right to self-defense is the threshold question that must be answered before a candidate gets even one more second of my time. Whenever I have the opportunity to replay my 30 second commercial to my co-workers, friends or neighbors I will be ready with my commercial based upon the answer to my threshold question.

As Americans, we owe it to each other to replay our commercial whenever and wherever we can. We must educate ourselves on the issues that matters most to us - to that threshold question. If you don’t know a national candidate's views on the threshold question, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action has several great resources to help you with your questions. Go to www.nraila.org. The NRA-ILA website contains a wealth of information, including news articles, candidates grades and endorsements, and grassroots alerts, just name a few. Also don’t forget about your state associations - including www.buckeyefirearms.org and other groups in your area - as well as resources like www.ammoland.com, www.sofmag.com, www.ar15.com, and so many more.

If we as gun owners, Second Amendment advocates, freedom lovers and patriots prepare our own 30 second commercials, by educating ourselves on the candidates based upon that threshold question: what are their views on my right to self-defense; be prepared to replay it whenever and wherever we can, we can’t lose.

Sean Maloney serves as legal counsel for Buckeye Firearms Association, and as an NRA-ILA EVC in Ohio. His efforts have led to his induction into the NRA-ILA EVC Hall of Fame. He is a member of the NRA Board of Directors and is currently seeking re-election.