Issue Position: Standing Up For Gun Rights

Issue Position

David is a life member of Gun Owners of America, the Alaska Outdoor Council, and the National Association for Gun Rights, and a member of the NRA. He has previously been endorsed by the National Association for Gun Rights, and as a first-time candidate for public office received the NRA's highest grade for standing up for the rights of gun owners.

"A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well digested plan is requisite: And their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories, as tend to render them independent on others, for essential, particularly for military supplies." --George Washington's First Annual Message to Congress (January 8, 1790)

"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."
-- Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, 1941

The second amendment is the lynch pin on which hang all other constitutional rights. Without a culture that promotes firearms ownership, not only are our second amendment rights in jeopardy, so are all of our other rights. Our last attorney general, the highest law enforcement officer in the nation, is on record publicly declaring: "We need to brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way", so as to discourage Americans from owning and using guns. We need to reverse that brainwashing and encourage those who live in our community to think about weapons safely and responsibly.

Having served as a military police officer, I cannot attest too strongly to the need for law-abiding citizens to be prepared to defend themselves if and when the need arises. I am aware of too many instances, like the recent tragedy in Orlando, in which unarmed people were killed or injured and law enforcement officers arrived too late to avert the tragedy. Such tragedies are the inevitable result of a culture that discourages gun ownership by law-abiding citizens. Gun control accomplishes one thing: It deprives law-abiding citizens of the ability to protect themselves and their families.

To combat the war against gun ownership we must be equally determined to promote a culture that respects and values the proper use of firearms in a free society, and the special role they have played in our nation's history. Volunteer organizations like the Revolutionary War Veterans Association and Project Appleseed should be at the heart of that effort. Having attended an Appleseed Shoot myself, I enthusiastically endorse the program and recommend that every Alaskan consider attending an upcoming shoot. Firearms are both an Alaskan and an American tradition. It's a tradition shared by millions of Americans and one we should be proud to see exercised by future generations of Alaskans.

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