In an editorial regarding S2431, a state bill that sought to increase criminal penalties for unlawful possession of a handgun, Bach accused New Jersey legislators of “knowingly and intentionally opting to pass legislation that will send law abiding citizens to jail.”

In a March 1, 2023 radio interview on “Cam & Company,” Barrett spoke about New York’s enactment of new gun violence prevention laws, stating, “In all of history when this kind of stuff has happened before, it's bad news. You know, and I hate to be one of these doomsday guys, but in past things like this result in the death of millions. You know, and World War II hasn't been 700 years ago, it's only been 70 years ago. And if people don't think that these things don't happen to modern, progressive, Christian nations like Germany was, they're wrong, brother, I mean we're sitting here just nearly repeating the same past of that, the disarming of the citizenry not based on any facts but based on cynical emotions that are put in and rushed through in the middle of the night before anybody has a chance to study the true facts, before their citizenry even knows what's going on. I mean holy smokes, what kind of state government was that? I can't believe that's one of the members of the Union here, one of the members of our Republic. It's just unimaginable.”

In a February 5, 2023 radio interview on “Cam & Company,” Barrett stated, “Yeah, I hope gun owners now see that how big of a target is on their back. Gun owners is a huge obstacle to the socialism that's trying to be introduced into our country now. You can't have socialism, and you can't round up hordes of armed free people and put them in cattle cars. It's just a very difficult process to do. So before you can have good socialism, you have to break the will of the independent thinking person, the self reliant person, and when you look at that self reliant people usually have a firearm. They usually have a flashlight. They usually pay their bills. They're not dependent on the government. You have to get rid of those people before you can make them, everybody lockstep dependent on the government, so that's why the big target. That's why they're after rifles. It has nothing to do with crime. This represents independent self reliant thinking people, and they are the enemy.”

In a June 19, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell wrote, “In 2010 [Director of the Center for Religious Liberty Ken Klukowski and I] published a book [“The Blueprint: Obama's Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency”] arguing that Barack Obama was creating an imperial presidency. The past few months prove that prediction was correct.” He continued, “The Constitution vests all lawmaking power in Congress. It vests all executive power to enforce and administer those laws in the president. And it vests all judicial power—including the power to determine whether lesser laws violate the Supreme Law (the Constitution)—in the courts … President Obama has arrogated to himself all of those powers. If Congress doesn't make the laws he wants, he just declares them under the name of ‘regulations.’ If he doesn't like a law on the books, he acts like the judiciary by proclaiming the law unconstitutional, and refuses to enforce it. He effectively makes or abolishes laws at will.” Finally, Blackwell warned, “This president has engaged in a series of unprecedented power grabs during his term of office. The past week's amnesty plan [for the American-born children of immigrants] is just the latest in a long train of imperial abuses. And he's done all this knowing he still has to stand for reelection. Can you even imagine how far he will go if he wins reelection and knows he will never again be held to account?”

In a May 9, 2023 op-ed for World Community, Blackwell accused President Barack Obama of being a “full-blown advocate of abolishing marriage.” He referred to efforts at the state to level to ban same-sex marriage as evidence that “Americans overwhelmingly do not agree that marriage should be ended.” According to Blackwell, that would be the result if same-sex couples were allowed to marry. “Three men marrying?” Blackwell wrote. “Two men and a woman? If everyone can marry, then no one can marry, thus ending marriage as we know it.”

In a February 26, 2023 web appearance on The Daily Caller, Blackwell said of Democratic President Barack Obama, “What you see is a president that ignores the Constitution, an administration that ignores the Constitution. And he wants to build a federal court system in his own philosophy and in his own image, and thereby give him, and his administration, unbridled power.” Blackwell was then asked why some polls were indicating that African-American support was down for President Obama. He responded, “I remember being in graduate school and I read a work of a psychiatrist in the late 1800s and he was talking about the Antebellum south and slavery. And he said, ‘What people don’t understand is that you have a slave, and you have to worry about that slave running and bolting towards freedom. So your guarding and you put him in chains. And what you have is not a slave, you have a captive.’ He said, ‘When you can take off the chains and you can do away with the guards and that captive will not walk and walk outside of the area of prescription of slavery, you then have converted that captive to a slave.’ And he said, ‘There is a fear of freedom, that slaves, unlike captives, wont take the risk of bolting because all of us, slave and master alike, like homeostasis or equilibrium.’ And so one of the things that I’ve started to notice is that more and more young black people are willing to take the risk of being free, the risk of being not dependent on the government, and that is something, that’s a force that the pill of dependency, you know, cannot overtake by the Obama administration.”

In a February 2, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell lamented that complaints by civil rights organizations led retired General Jerry Boykin to withdraw from speaking at the West Point military academy’s annual prayer breakfast. Blackwell wrote, “The Obama administration's hostility toward religion—and especially Christians—continues even to the detriment of our men and women in uniform.” Boykin is an anti-Muslim hardliner who has described the War on Terror as a “Christian battle against Satan” (a statement that was repudiated by President George W. Bush). He has also called Islam “a totalitarian way of life” and has argued that the First Amendment, which protects the free practice of religion, does not apply to Islam. A statement by VoteVets.org alleged that Boykin’s presence at the prayer breakfast would “put our troops in danger.” Blackwell called Boykin “an ideal choice” to speak at a prayer event held at a military academy. He went on to write, “This sad episode is yet another example of the Obama administration's ongoing hostility to people of faith,” despite the fact that the Obama administration played no role in the controversy.

In a December 8, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell wrote, “Mr. Obama and his administration keep Planned Barrenhood in business—shoveling billions to their lethal efforts. Because of them, six in ten pregnancies in Harlem end in abortion. There is no hope in that dread change.” In reality, only three percent of services provided by Planned Parenthood are related to abortion, with 90% of services aimed at preventing unwanted pregnancy

Writing about Iran, Blackwell authored a November 12, 2023 op-ed for the American Thinker in which he declared, “For three years, Mr. Obama has tried to appease the world's number one terrorist regime. … Even the anti-Semitic Richard Nixon was there for Israel, when the chips were down during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Barack Obama's record makes him unmistakably the first anti-Israel president in our history.”

In a November 4, 2023 op-ed for World Magazine, Blackwell claimed that the “Respect Marriage Act,” which would repeal the “Defense of Marriage Act,” would “abolish marriage.” He also said of the bill, “While calling for ‘respect’ in the Orwellian sense, it would offer true marriage the same ‘respect’ President Obama showed to the body of Osama bin Laden—a hasty burial at sea after summarily being put to death.” Blackwell also claimed that legalizing gay marriage would lead to polygamy.

In an October 29, 2023 op-ed for American Thinker, Blackwell cast doubt on the legitimacy of recent populist uprisings in the Middle East by writing, “It is a profound misunderstanding of democracy to think that merely by staging elections and showing off purple fingers of voters we can bring on a new order in Muslim lands. Edmund Burke said it well: ‘Men of intemperate minds cannot be free; their passions forge their fetters.’ Intemperate minds are what we see at work in the Arab Middle East. Opinion surveys throughout the region confirm that, by overwhelming majorities, the ‘voters’ for these sham democracies believe that those who convert from Islam must be put to death. As long as this grim reality exists, there will be no democracy in the region.”

In an October 1, 2023 op-ed for Townhall, Blackwell claimed that imposing a federal mandate that requires health care plans to cover contraceptives upon Franciscan University of Steubenville would destroy the institution. He added, “Chai Feldblum [an official in the Obama administration] is a tenured professor at Georgetown University Law School. This is the oldest Catholic university in the country. Ironically, Feldblum, is also a homosexual legal activist … The Obama administration is also the most anti-Catholic administration in American history. Never before have tens of millions of Catholic Americans been forced to subsidize the killing of unborn children with their taxes—as they are under ObamaCare. But now they are also forcing Catholic institutions to take part in the destruction of innocent human lives and the maiming of others by paying for abortifacients and sterilizations.”

In a September 8, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell claimed that Congressman John Lewis (D-GA)—who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech—intended to incite violence within the crowd with his original planned speech. In the actual speech Lewis delivered that day, he called for the crowd to nonviolently support the civil rights movement by “march[ing] with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have shown here today.” Blackwell’s editorial portrayed a nonviolent, pro-union rally on Labor Day 2011 as “an incitement to riot.”

Blackwell authored an August 19, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, criticizing President Barack Obama’s role in the death of Osama bin Laden. He wrote that what was missing from the raid (ordered by President Obama) was “presidential leadership.” Blackwell further opined that, “The real reason why President Obama has hurriedly put the bin Laden raid behind him is the same reason why George McGovern could not point to his wonderful combat record, or even let others point to it: The Democratic Party houses a large and influential pacifist element.”

In a June 12, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell claimed—without any evidence—that “San Francisco gay activists” were behind a local ballot initiative to ban infant circumcision.

After President Obama said that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was “on the wrong side of history,” Blackwell wrote a March 17, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post asking, “Where does that ‘wrong side of history’ idea come from? President Obama was at pains to tell the National Prayer Breakfast of his conversion experience. He certainly sounded sincere. But ‘The Wrong Side of History’ trope is drawn from Karl Marx. It presumes that there is a dialectic—a great impersonal, inevitable force moving through time and space. It presumes that history is going one way. Thus, to Marxists, you can be ‘on the wrong side of history.’”

In an interview with the radio program “NRA News” on February 11, 2011, Blackwell remarked, “We have to be thankful as a people to our internal alarm clock that has gone off in the form of the Tea Party, in the form of those who love our Constitution, and the brakes that it puts on the big and long reach of government.”

After actor Liam Neeson said that the Aslan lion character from the “Chronicles of Narnia” series could serve as an allegory for both Jesus Christ and other religious figures, Blackwell wrote a December 21, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post entitled “A Fatwa on Liam Neeson?” In it, he suggested: “Liam Neeson is certainly not stupid. He is, unfortunately, a dhimmicrat. A dhimmicrat is one who uses his social, cultural, or political position to smooth the path of sharia, the law they have in Saudi Arabia … Liam Neeson's fawning attempts may prove dangerous. He did, after all, publicly compare Mohammed to an animal. No matter that it's an allegory. It can still be taken up by Muslim rioters as ‘blasphemy.’”

In a November 2, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell—who does not believe in man-made climate change—claimed that “Cap and Trade” legislation would “nationalize all American enterprise.” “It would have the federal government control all decisions about what to produce, where to produce it, when to produce, where to market it, and how,” Blackwell wrote.

Commenting on a controversy surrounding the proposed construction of a Muslim community center near Ground Zero, Blackwell wrote an October 20, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post asserting: “Imam Rauf has been seeking funding for this mosque throughout the Middle East. He's in league with some of the most repressive and brutal regimes on earth. It makes no sense to fight a war on terrorism abroad while allowing Islamists to do a victory dance at Ground Zero. Just because Imam Rauf is soft-spoken doesn't mean he’s ‘moderate.’ What he says in his soft-spoken voice is that the U.S. had it coming.” What Rauf actually said was the following: “There's going to be a dedicated prayer space for Muslim, which we do need. And we want to have prayer space for Christians and for Jews. As I said, we have to build on our common platform.” Rauf also indicated that the project will disclose all donors and reject any money offered by organizations that advocate violence.

Commenting on his support of Delaware Republican candidate for Senate Christine O’Donnell in a September 16, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell wrote, “It should not go without mention that [Republican candidate Mike] Castle was the co-author of the Castle-DeGette bill. Under this measure, Americans would be taxed to create embryonic human beings. Taxpayers would then have to fund experiments upon those embryonic human beings, including cloning humans. Finally, the taxpayers would have to pay for the killing of these cloned humans and other embryonic human lives. This is a nightmare scenario for pro-life Americans.”

In a May 31, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell wrote, “What’s a dhimmicrat, you say? It’s not the same thing as a democrat. A dhimmicrat is a person who, while not Muslim himself, nonetheless clears the path for shariah law to be adopted and incorporated into otherwise free nations …. Eric Holder is a leading dhimmicrat in government today.”

Commenting on his belief that the United States promotes abortion in Kenya in an April 16, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post,
Blackwell flirted with “Birther” rhetoric by writing, “The Obama administration doesn't want to raise any questions about why it's pushing for fewer birth certificates in Kenya.”

In a February 26, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell claimed “If it is passed, ObamaCare will greatly increase abortions in this country by making them free.” In reality, in conjunction with the health care reform bill, President Obama issued an Executive Order preserving the restriction on the use of federal government funds to pay for abortions.

In 2010, Blackwell, along with Family Research Council colleague Ken Klukowski, published “The Blueprint: Obama’s Plan to Subvert the Constitution and Build an Imperial Presidency.” According to the authors, President Obama’s goal is to “transform the United States of America into a militant, secular welfare state dominated by an overbearing central government” by using tactics “such as changing voting laws, politicizing the census, coercing corporations into adopting its policies, planning to destroy talk radio, and seeking to make millions of illegal aliens into voting citizens.” They also claimed that Obama “shut down media outlets that expose the truth, and co-opt[ed] the rest of the media to parrot his daily messages.” On the subject of race, the book had this to say: “For affirmative action, the victims are blacks or Hispanics. (We can’t say all minorities, because the tremendous overall success of Asians and Indians proves that there’s no systemic racism that keeps all minorities down.)…Whoever you are and whatever you do, if you are not a wealthy white male with a great education and a great career, a stable family, and in fine health, then Barack Obama says you are a victim of something and will tell you who to blame.”

In a November 20, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post, Blackwell claimed “more than 90 percent” of Democrats “never go to church.”

In September 2011, National Rifle Association President David Keene announced the creation of an International Affairs Subcommittee under the NRA’s Legislative Policy Committee and appointed Bolton as chairman. Explaining why he picked Bolton to lead the committee, Keene said, “He may not be in the State Department anymore, but he’s as dedicated to preserving the Second Amendment as any NRA member and will be advising us on strategy as we confront our opponents in this newly dangerous forum.” The forum Keene was referring to is the United Nations. Keene has theorized that a small arms treaty being considered by the UN is designed to “destroy private gun ownership” in the United States. Bolton himself has suggested that the Obama administration is seeking to “use an international agreement as an excuse to get domestically what they couldn’t otherwise.”

In Vol. 4, No. 16 of Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries published in December 1996, Cooper wrote, “Objection to that sneaky piece that was slipped through at the last congressional session, depriving anyone convicted of ‘spouse abuse’ from forever owning a firearm, is rising to a crescendo. Certainly no one defends wife beating under any circumstances, but permanent recision [sic] of civil rights is not the answer. I have always held that the proper punishment for the wife beater is the public whipping post, but certainly not permanent deprivation of basic civil rights.” He also wrote, “Clearly propaganda is more potent than truth. Take this matter of Guernica, for example. Pablo Picasso, one of the more significant propagandists of the left, made a very successful point in claiming that the town of Guernica had been flattened from the air by the German Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War−this being an atrocity since the town had no strategic value. This point was accepted by the world press, and is now considered a fact, even for inclusion in encyclopedias. For those who have access to the official records it is clear that the Condor Legion had been grounded for two weeks prior to the occupation of the city by the Nationalist forces. Moreover, the German light bombers did not have the technical capacity for ‘carpet bombing,’ as later practiced by the Allies in Europe. Most conclusive, however, was the fact that there were no bomb craters in the streets. The buildings were pretty well demolished, but this was done from inside them. It is obviously impossible to flatten a town from the air without hitting any of the streets, but now, to the amazement of the well−informed, the German government is proposing to pay an indemnity to Spain for an atrocity never committed. Such goings on!” In reality, Guernica was bombed on April 26, 2023 by the Nazi Germany Luftwaffe and the Italian Fascist Aviazione Legionaria. The bombing is considered one of the first instances of military planes being used to target civilians. The idea that Guernica was a hoax has been propagated by supporters of right wing Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in order to cast blame upon leftist anarchists, rather than the Nazi and fascist forces, for the atrocity. Turning to a racial discrimination lawsuit brought against oil giant Texaco, Cooper wrote, “In continuing observation of what might be called the ‘hoax effect,’ Texaco has caved in to Jesse Jackson, even after both parties have discovered that the tapes responsible for the racial uproar were fake. Jesse Jackson, himself, has claimed he does not want to be bothered by the facts.” In actuality, tapes did exist of Texaco executives using racially disparaging language and plotting to destroy evidence related to the lawsuit. Texaco settled the lawsuit for $176 million.

In Vol. 2, No. 13 of Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries published in October 1994, Cooper wrote, “Since we are informed that these black ninja [federal government] helicopters do not in fact exist, we may infer that if you shoot one down it does not count.” He also wrote, “A friend of ours stationed in Korea recently tried to get through the exit station at the airport in possession of his legally−owned personal weapons. Long ago we used to report an occasion of total administrative confusion as a ‘Chinese Fire Drill.’ The term was then replaced by ‘Father's Day in Harlem,’ which, in turn, was supplanted by ‘An Iranian Funeral.’ Now we have the latest in this series, which is ‘A Korean Security Check.’”

In Vol. 2, No. 3 of Jeff Cooper’s Comenntaries published in March 1994, Cooper wrote, “Major Robert Hines, of the DC Park Police, maintains that [Deputy Whitehouse Counsel for President Bill Clinton] Vincent Foster, who was found dead in the park, was in possession of a ‘38−caliber 1911 Colt army revolver.’ Now there is a collector's item for you!” He also added, “The newspaper accounts coming out of the Waco trials are quite unbelievable at this distance. It would appear that the attorneys for the FBI are talking about some other occurrence entirely. They are quoted as telling the jury that ‘These people (the Branch Davidians) wanted to destroy your country!’ Somehow I never got that impression. What I would like to find out, however, is what sort of wounds caused the death of the three BATmen [ATF agents] who entered the upper story first. Those men were buried before anyone got a good answer to that question, and evidently it was not raised at the trial. It matters, however, if the BATmen shot each other, as seems likely. That might well be verified by the nature of their wounds.” Cooper also quoted Howard McCord’s novel “The Coming Civil War in America,” stating, “What Clinton and his kind want to develop is a population which sees itself as a victim of violent crime, economic injustice, racial and sexual prejudice, and helpless to correct these wrongs without government assistance. People who see themselves as victims look to rescuers, look to those who will help, for a victim is one who is demonstrably incapable of doing things for himself. He wouldn't be a victim otherwise. And under no circumstances must a victim take action on his own to remedy the evil he suffers from. Never. He should call the government to help.” Cooper also wrote that “a woman who cannot cook, like a man who cannot shoot, is in important ways incomplete.” Finally, Cooper went on to share a quote: “Under the administration of [white supremacist Cecil] Rhodes there were the fewest laws, the widest freedom, the least crime, and the truest justice I have ever seen in any part of the world.” Rhodes, a British colonialist responsible for the founding of Rhodesia, said of the British people, “I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race.”

In Vol. 1, No. 11 of Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries published in December 1993, Cooper wrote, “Pearl Harbor Day slipped by without much notice. I daresay a huge number of our population has never heard of Pearl Harbor and has no idea of what it is like to live in a nation of unified purpose. Apparently the Nips are playing it smart by entreating us to give up our guns. That would indeed be a proper revenge for their defeat. They could not destroy us in battle so they are now doing their best to destroy us politically by abrogating our constitution. They cannot accomplish this by themselves, but they are getting a lot of help from our own wimp culture.”

In a September 7, 2023 op-ed for the Daily Caller, Cox wrote, “So far this year, 369 people have been murdered in Chicago … [President Barack] Obama’s 2012 party platform makes it clear that if he wins re-election, he will work to bring the same, dangerous anti-gun policies that are destroying Chicago to cities and towns nationwide. For that reason, November’s election presents a clear choice between our Second Amendment freedoms and fundamental right to self-defense…and the murder and mayhem that Barack Obama helped bring to Chicago, but now wants us all to ignore.” The Democratic National Committee’s party platform states, “We recognize that the individual right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans' Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements—like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole—so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few." Most of the crime guns recovered in Chicago are originally bought in Illinois. According to a 2008 to 2012 study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, 45% of Illinois’ crime guns come from one county within the state, Cook County. Chuck’s Gun Store, in Cook County, supplies approximately 20% of the crime guns in Illinois. Roseanna Ander, executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, said that the data “suggests a key strategy in keep guns off the street is for law enforcement agencies to target the local gun stores most likely to sell firearms to straw purchasers.”

In a June 28, 2012, interview with NRA News, Cox spoke about a vote in the House of Representatives to hold U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt for refusing to comply with a Congressional subpoena for documents related to the “Fast and Furious” gun trafficking investigation on the southwest border. Cox stated, “The truth is, we’ve talked a lot about our dislike of Eric Holder. There’s no surprise that we think there’s something there … We believe, and have every reason to believe, that this was all part of their agenda to undermine the Second Amendment … I can assure you that Eric Holder’s contempt for the Second Amendment is the only thing that probably is stronger than Congress’ contempt for Eric Holder … We called for Eric Holder’s resignation over a year ago … But the best way to deal with Eric Holder, the best way to deal with these problems, is to defeat this president in November and to get some new people in there that have a little bit of common sense, a little bit of law enforcement background, that is legitimate, and that won’t be used to pursue a political agenda.” A report released by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General on September 19, 2023 found that there is no evidence that “Fast and Furious” was part of a broader conspiracy to advance new gun regulations. The report also found that there is no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder was aware of the tactics used in the investigation until after it was concluded in 2011.

On April 14, 2012, in a speech at the NRA Convention in St. Louis, Cox stated, “Friends, I know why President [Barack] Obama pays so little attention to the law. He thinks he’s above the law … He seems to think he’s the king of all three branches. How’s that for arrogance, folks?” Later, Cox referred to a discussion President Obama had with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in which he told Medvedev he would have “more flexibility” to deal with contentious foreign policy issues, such as missile defense, following the November 2012 elections. Cox quipped, “In other words, ‘cut me some slack Dmitry. Once I con these annoying voters into reelecting me in November, I can do whatever I want.’” Cox then warned the audience, “The stakes of this year’s election couldn’t be higher … Freedom is what’s at stake and it’s what we’ll lose if we fail. Let us cling to our firearms…with every fiber of our being.”

In a September 7, 2023 op-ed for the Daily Caller, Cox wrote, “So far this year, 369 people have been murdered in Chicago … [President Barack] Obama’s 2012 party platform makes it clear that if he wins re-election, he will work to bring the same, dangerous anti-gun policies that are destroying Chicago to cities and towns nationwide. For that reason, November’s election presents a clear choice between our Second Amendment freedoms and fundamental right to self-defense…and the murder and mayhem that Barack Obama helped bring to Chicago, but now wants us all to ignore.” The Democratic National Committee’s party platform states, “We recognize that the individual right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans' Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation. We understand the terrible consequences of gun violence; it serves as a reminder that life is fragile, and our time here is limited and precious. We believe in an honest, open national conversation about firearms. We can focus on effective enforcement of existing laws, especially strengthening our background check system, and we can work together to enact commonsense improvements—like reinstating the assault weapons ban and closing the gun show loophole—so that guns do not fall into the hands of those irresponsible, law-breaking few.” Most of the crime guns recovered in Chicago are originally bought in Illinois. According to a 2008 to 2012 study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, 45% of Illinois’ crime guns come from one county within the state, Cook County. Chuck’s Gun Store, in Cook County, supplies approximately 20% of the crime guns in Illinois. Roseanna Ander, executive director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, said that the data “suggests a key strategy in keep guns off the street is for law enforcement agencies to target the local gun stores most likely to sell firearms to straw purchasers.”

On April 14, 2012, in a speech at the NRA Convention in St. Louis, Cox stated, “Friends, I know why President [Barack] Obama pays so little attention to the law. He thinks he’s above the law … He seems to think he’s the king of all three branches. How’s that for arrogance, folks?” Later, Cox referred to a discussion President Obama had with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in which he told Medvedev he would have “more flexibility” to deal with contentious foreign policy issues, such as missile defense, following the November 2012 elections. Cox quipped, “In other words, ‘cut me some slack Dmitry. Once I con these annoying voters into reelecting me in November, I can do whatever I want.’” Cox then warned the audience, “The stakes of this year’s election couldn’t be higher … Freedom is what’s at stake and it’s what we’ll lose if we fail. Let us cling to our firearms…with every fiber of our being.”

In the February 2011 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Cox accused “anti-gun groups” of a “secretive…assault on the Second Amendment through [administrative agencies],” stating, “anti-gun forces will use any means at their disposal, no matter how undemocratic, to undermine the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.” Cox made reference to Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ “Blueprint for Federal Action,” a document which calls for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to promulgate or clarify certain regulations, including a regulation to require firearm manufacturers, distributors and dealers to report thefts of their products as soon as they are made aware of them; a regulation requiring gun manufacturers to put a second, hidden, serial number on every newly manufactured gun, and; a regulation requiring domestic manufacturers to use a standardized system for numbering firearms. Legislation that creates an administrative agency often authorizes the agency to promulgate rules through notice-and-comment rulemaking. The agency may also interpret the provisions of the legislation that created it, if the legislation is ambiguous and the agency interpretation is reasonable.

In the February 2011 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Cox accused “anti-gun groups” of a “secretive…assault on the Second Amendment through [administrative agencies],” stating, “anti-gun forces will use any means at their disposal, no matter how undemocratic, to undermine the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.” Cox made reference to Mayors Against Illegal Guns’ “Blueprint for Federal Action,” a document which calls for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to promulgate or clarify certain regulations, including a regulation to require firearm manufacturers, distributors and dealers to report thefts of their products as soon as they are made aware of them; a regulation requiring gun manufacturers to put a second, hidden, serial number on every newly manufactured gun, and; a regulation requiring domestic manufacturers to use a standardized system for numbering firearms. Legislation that creates an administrative agency often authorizes the agency to promulgate rules through notice-and-comment rulemaking. The agency may also interpret the provisions of the legislation that created it, if the legislation is ambiguous and the agency interpretation is reasonable.

On May 15, 2023 in a speech at the NRA Convention in Charlotte, Cox asked the audience, “Ladies and gentlemen, did you ever have the memory of some event in your life sneak up on you out of nowhere, smack you in the face and make you cringe with regret because you wish you had done something different? Now, I’m not talking about college indiscretions. I’m talking about Election Day 2008 [when President Barack Obama was elected president]. I bet a lot of people look back on that day and wish they could turn back the clock.” He continued, stating, “Every pro-gun leader you elect and anti-gun politician you defeat means fewer bad laws and more good laws. Good laws that make us all safer and prove that we're right, the gun-haters are wrong, and they need to keep their hands off our safety and our freedom ... That’s important, because every time we reduce fees, extend the length of your permit, or expand where you can carry can mean the difference between life and death. Self-defense reform is real health care reform.” He warned, “Look at what these politicians are doing. To pay for things we didn't ask for, can't afford, and don't need...they're scrapping things we can't live without ... When all this hits the fan and the politicians want cheap, easy answers, guess whose guns they're gonna come after? Yours and mine.”

On May 16, 2009, in a speech at the NRA Convention in Phoenix, Cox stated, “The sanctity of the Second Amendment, all of our rights, all of our freedom, is in your hands. Freedom calls you to her defense now more than ever before because she's under attack like never before.” This was because of the appointments/confirmations of Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief-of-Staff, Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, and Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, Cox explained. “We all know what to expect from our opponents,” he said, “They exploit tragedies. But to be honest with you, I never thought they’d pick an international tragedy. And as you've seen— that's exactly what they're doing with Mexico ... It’s been estimated that 100,000 Mexican soldiers have deserted the military in recent years to go work for the cartels. This is Mexico's problem. But the media and anti-gun politicians want us to believe that one more American gun control law or some international agreement will turn these ruthless murderers into boy scouts. You have got to be kiddin' me! We need to find 'em, arrest em', and send em' with the rest of the terrorists to Guantanamo Bay. Oh yeah, I forgot, that would be too ‘cruel.’ We should welcome them with open arms into our neighborhoods.” Cox warned, “Friends, these threats are real. Americans are concerned, and they're buyin' guns. So let’s give credit where credit’s due: In these tough times, the Obama administration deserves credit for the only part of the economy that’s goin’ strong—gun sales.” Finally, Cox told a story that “sums up the sorry state of affairs in [Washington,] D.C.”: “It’s 2006. Melroy Cort [an Iraq War veteran who had both legs amputated] and his wife are driving from their home in Ohio to Maryland. They drive through Washington, D.C. to get there. Melroy has a valid Ohio [concealed handgun] permit and he's carrying his 9mm in the car for protection. While driving through D.C., they get a flat tire, and pull over to fix it. Concerned, he takes his gun from the car and puts it in his jacket. Someone sees it happen and dials 911. Within minutes, the police show up and arrest him ... Now let me tell you a little something about D.C. If neighbors call 911 about some crack deal in progress there’s a 50/50 chance they’ll even send someone. But when a Marine Corporal –confined to a wheelchair because of his service to our country—strays into D.C. with his legally owned firearm they can’t put him in jail fast enough. And that’s our nation’s capital for ya. If you’re a gun owner, they put you in jail. But if you’re Mayor, and get caught smoking crack, they put you on the City Council.” The latter reference was to former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, who went on to serve on the D.C. City Council.

On the October 18, 2023 broadcast of “Cam & Company,” Edwards spoke to George Kollitides, CEO of Remington Arms. Discussing the 2012 presidential election, Kollitides stated, “I think this will be the most important election of our lifetime. The next president is going to be in an incredibly powerful position to appoint [U.S.] Supreme Court justices. It’s one thing to legislate a gun ban. That can always be overturned by a future president, a future Congress, and Congress can fight it, of course, and hope they don’t get vetoed and overruled. We’ve had the benefit of a strict interpretist Supreme Court which has been conservative and really held up the core traditional values of our country. So, I don’t necessarily just worry about the next four years of an [Barack] Obama presidency, I worry about my kids and my grandkids futures, because if we change face of the Supreme Court, we’re looking at a thirty-plus-year uphill battle.” Edwards replied, “Absolutely right … We are likely to see, over the next four years, whoever is president have the opportunity to put one perhaps as many as three or four justices on the Supreme Court and that will impact our lives for decades to come … We really can’t afford a court that is going to be hostile to gun owners.” Kollitides continued, stating, “Not only will the Second Amendment be under attack if we go to a liberal non-strict-interpretative court, but it’ll be the entire American way of life. When we appoint liberal judges, they take it upon themselves not to interpret the laws but to legislate the laws and there’s a lot of liberal courts doing that. So, the appeal needs to be not just to gun owners, although that’s obviously critically important…but I think many of the things we think about, all of our freedoms will be at risk. You know the liberal courts and the liberal politicians believe they know what’s best for Americans. They’re gonna tell us when we have to get health care. They’re gonna tell us what time we have to get out of bed every day. They’re gonna tell us where we have to go to work. They’re gonna take our money and redistribute it. This is an issue that every American needs to be worried about.” After Kollitides finished speaking, Edwards replied, “Absolutely.”

Prior to the November 2006 Congressional elections, Froman urged NRA members to vote for Republican candidates in a column in America’s 1^st Freedom, writing, “Disaster is looming on Nov. 7, and I need your help to save our freedom. I’m not exaggerating. We are at the edge of a dangerous political precipice. If we stumble, we will fall back to a pre-1994 [Democratic] anti-Second Amendment Congress. If we fail to act, out of apathy or because we want someone else to do our job, we betray not only ourselves but our children and grandchildren. We betray our country and Founding Fathers. Every gain we’ve made for the Second Amendment could be reversed unless we win this critical election.” Froman also added, “We are at war. Our freedom is at stake. The Second Amendment is America’s original homeland security and you, my fellow NRA members, are at the heart of our national defense. But Pelosi and her fellow extremists, who are hoping to take control, oppose our national security efforts and oppose your Right to Keep and Bear Arms.” Democrats did gain control of the House during the 2006 elections, and were the majority party until the Republicans retook the House in 2010.

On June 8, 2012, Heil spoke at a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event in Chicago on a panel entitled “Defending Self-Defense: The Liberal’s Shadow War on the Second Amendment.” According to Heil, there isn’t just a “shadow war” on the Second Amendment. “There’s a shadow war on SUVs, too. ‘The SUV went off the road and killed people,’ not the truck,” she mocked. Heil added, “I’d…like to thank the American Conservative Union for holding CPAC Chicago here in Chicago in Obama’s state of residence. I know a lot of you who are Illinoisans cringe at that, but you know what? That’s OK, because Illinois is the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.” Heil also spoke about her roots in Illinois, stating, “I hope that it really makes some people in Oak Park cringe that one of their home-born people is on the NRA Board of Directors … And also with [Northern Illinois University], they’ve turned anti-gun, of course, because of the tragedy there. But I graduated from NIU. I hope that makes some of those people cringe as well.” The tragedy Heil was referring to was a 2008 mass shooting at the school in which a mentally ill student (who was a legal gun purchaser) shot and killed five students, wounding 21 others, before killing himself. Heil also told the following story: “When I was a kid in Oak Park, that’s actually when they started their anti-gun nonsense because I vividly remember as a kid the Sinclair station on, is it Austin, and the Eisenhower … My dad used to get the gas tank filled up there and I vividly remember one of the workers there, after some of this anti-gun stuff started, having a gun on his hip while he was pumping the gas. That stuck with me. I wasn’t pro- or anti- as a kid, I didn’t know anything, but that’s a vivid memory. That’s one thing that that gentleman did that stuck with me and now I’m a member of the NRA board of directors. You never know what kind of impact just a little bit is going to have.” Referring to the 2000 “so-called” Million Mom March on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., which was attended by approximately 750,000 people, Heil said, “Who would be against a bunch of moms wanting to protect their children? You know, that’s what they portray it. Well, they wanted to take away guns is their ultimate goal. And, you know, to counter that you would think of that young mother…just after New Year’s, she was a new widow and young baby. She had to use a gun to protect herself and she did everything she could to not do that, but in the end she had to use a gun to protect herself. The Million Moms would have disarmed her. They would have disarmed her.” In fact, there is nothing in the reform proposals advocated by the Million Mom March that would prevent law-abiding mothers from owning firearms. Heil also identified the following movies as “anti-gun”: “The Lorax,” “Lethal Weapon 3,” and “Lethal Weapon 4.” Finally, Heil warned, “You know and we know if the Second Amendment goes, the rest of everything else that we hold dear is going to go as well.”

In an October 3, 2023 video in which the owners of the shooting range Freedom Armory endorsed Heil for the NRA board of directors, she stated, “Now is a very important time because we have a threat to the United States of America and that threat is the United Nations. And they have the Small Arms Treaty coming up … It is actually an attack on our Second Amendment rights. And once they shred that, they are going to be shredding the rest of the Constitution.” In fact, the U.N. Small Arms Treaty would set only international standards for the export of conventional weapons—leaving domestic laws regulating the possession of firearms untouched.

In a January 14, 2024 interview with Lou Dobbs on Fox News, Keene spoke about President Barack Obama’s upcoming recommendations on gun violence prevention, scheduled to be revealed at a press conference on January 16, 2013. Keene stated, “What Newton gave [the Obama administration] was an excuse to do what they’ve wanted to do for some time, which is to launch a full-breadth attack on the Second Amendment and that’s what they’re doing regardless of what the President claims.” Keene was referring to a mass shooting on December 14, 2023 at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 first-graders and six adults were killed.

In an October 4, 2023 interview with NRA News, Keene spoke about the administration of President Barack Obama, stating, “This is an administration that on many fronts and over many issues has committed many sins. Perhaps the worst, in a general sense, is their willingness to flaunt the law and the Constitution. You see it in little ways and in big ways. This is an administration where, if you don’t agree with them, if you don’t like President [Obama]’s position, then your rights are suspect anyway. They’re now doing it on the First Amendment, for Lord’s sake. They view the First Amendment and the Second Amendment in [the] very same way. These aren’t rights. These are privileges granted by government that can be restricted or taken away by government. So, now in the area of free speech, maybe you should only be free to say things that the Obama Administration agrees with or that our enemies agree with or that don’t offend anyone … This is perhaps the most institutionally dangerous tenancy that we’ve seen on the part of the administration—its willingness to flaunt the Constitution, ignore the law and then govern unilaterally through executive order and harassment of people they don’t like without any reference to what they should be doing in their proper role within a federal structure … This election is the most important of our lifetime because if this man is given four more years in the White House, he will do frontally what he’s been trying to do behind the scenes. Without the fear of having to face an electorate again, Barack Obama will come after the Second Amendment in many ways. There will be, if he’s reelected, a small arms treaty signed at the United Nations. He will have the opportunity to appoint one, two, three justices of the Supreme Court. Lord knows how many lower court judges. Combined, they can either restrict the [District of Columbia v.]Heller and McDonald [v. Chicago] decisions in such a way that they become meaningless or they can outright reverse them at the Supreme Court level. If that happens … America’s gun rights are at risk … If they have their way, those rights which you think are not only sacrosanct and which are sacrosanct, but which you think you’ll never lose could indeed be lost.” Keene offered no examples of ways in which President Obama is restricting freedom of speech. Keene also referred to a U.N. Small Arms Treaty which would set only international standards for the import/export of conventional weapons—leaving it to individual countries to “regulate internal transfers of arms and national ownership, including through national constitutional protections on private ownership.” Furthermore, such a treaty would require approval by two thirds of the U.S. Senate. Finally, Keene referred to the Heller and McDonald decisions. The Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, held for the first time in U.S. history that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to firearm ownership for self defense in the home; striking down D.C.’s handgun ban. In McDonald v. Chicago, the Court held that the Second Amendment, as interpreted in Heller, applied to the states through the Due Process Clause.

In the September 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Keene wrote, “Governor Mitt Romney is the Republican Party’s presidential nominee and the one man capable of denying President Barack Obama another four years in the White House … Gun owners in Massachusetts fared well under Romney … During his speech at NRA’s 2012 Annual Meetings, Romney, an NRA Life Member, championed the U.S. Constitution. Romney commended the NRA for calling for the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder, who continued to be defiant before Congress’ demand for answers in the so-called ‘Fast and Furious’ scandal … The choice is clear: if President Obama wins a second term in November, he will go after America’s gun owners, our freedoms and the values we cherish.” Keene was referring to the discontinued “Fast and Furious” gun trafficking investigation on the southwest border and Attorney General Eric Holder’s failure to comply with a congressional subpoena for documents related to the operation. A report released by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General on September 19, 2023 found that there is no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder was aware of the tactics used in the investigation until after it was concluded in 2011.

In the August 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Keene wrote, “The hostility of most leftists in regard to the very notion that their fellow citizens might have a right to own firearms or to engage in the shooting sports is difficult for many of us to understand, until we realize it’s not just about guns. It’s about freedom and traditional American values … What they really object to goes far beyond firearm our ownership of firearms. They believe the traditional American individualist values that drove the nation’s founders to limit the power of government and protect our right to defend ourselves must give way to a new set of values that cedes governance to the state. In a very real sense, their hostility to firearms and the Second Amendment isn’t about guns or violence or crime; it’s about values. They see those who adhere to the values of the founders as a continuing threat to the new world they dream of creating.”

In a May 16, 2023 interview with NRA News, Keene discussed his May 15, 2023 editorial in the Washington Times in which he accused the administration of President Barack Obama of “calling out, investigating and doing their level best to demonize major Romney contributors.” Keene told hosts Cameron Gray and John Popp, “The Kennedys realized that, even then, as mean as they could be, that you couldn’t as president, or speaking for the president, pick out individual citizens and attack them because you had more power to demonize and destroy a life than almost anybody in the country. And it’s clear that that’s what the Obama campaign is trying to do.” Keene further accused the Obama Administration of “trying to stifle dissent, trying to shut up those who disagree with it, and then to bully people.” Keene accused the mainstream media of being complicit, stating that it was “unforgivable [for the media to have] taken this case and gone after the contributor [Iowa businessman Frank Vandersloot] … Politico may be able to smear you, and they’ve smeared almost everyone we know at one point or another. They have not a high regard for the truth.”

Keene defended the practice of blocking access to the identity of political donors, saying, “It was decided that in the name of campaign reform that while you couldn’t limit people’s speech by denying them the right to speak, that perhaps disclosure was the lesser of all evils, that everybody should know who was paying for the speech and all of that and that was sort of generally considered the lesser of evils by all parties involved. But what’s happened is that this disclosure has been taken by people as a way of taking the lists and then trying to intimidate the people who get involved by demonizing them and preventing other people from getting involved.” Keene also defended “voter security” legislation, comparing it to President Obama publicizing the names of PAC donors. He observed, “If [voter security] is a violation of anybody’s civil rights, what is the president of the United States and his campaign doing about the civil rights of those people who don’t support him? He would use anything in his power to deprive those folks of their right to have a voice in the most important democratic process that goes on in this country.”

During the course of the interview, Keene also claimed that President Barack Obama “went after the Catholic Church,” a reference to a January 2012 Obama Administration announcement that the health care reform law requires employers to provide health insurance which covers contraception for women free of charge. President Obama subsequently rejected an exemption for religiously affiliated private employers. Keene portrayed the Obama administration as out of touch with average Americans, saying, “He and his buddies, all of whom sort of come from the same place if you will, they don’t hold jobs, they never held jobs in the private sector, they’ve been in colleges or think tanks. They sit around and talk with each other and none of ‘em disagree with anything.”

Finally, Keene spoke fondly of former U.S. Senator Jesse Helms, who opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday. Keene bragged to NRA News, “Jesse had a been a friend of mine since before he was elected to public office.”

In the April 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Keene wrote about the 2012 presidential election, saying, “Everything we believe in is at risk this year.” He accused “[President Barack Obama] and his minions” of “operating under the radar right now,” warning, “If we don’t make every vote count this year, we are going to find ourselves targets of a government dedicated to stripping us of our rights. The future is in our hands and will be determined by what we do.”

In the January 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Keene accused President Barack Obama of “working overtime to gut the Second Amendment,” stating, “This is a president who has signaled to the international anti-gun community that the United Nations should go ahead with its plan to develop a treaty that could severely restrict or eliminate our Second Amendment rights.” He warned, “We are facing the most crucial election of our lifetimes in terms of the Second Amendment … The bottom line is that our rights are truly in danger. We cannot rely exclusively on the courts or even Congress to protect them. We are the final line of defense of the Second Amendment. We all have to be prepared to fight as never before.”

In the October 2011 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, Keene suggested that Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents purposefully armed criminals during their botched “Fast and Furious” operation. “What [gun dealers] perhaps didn’t fully appreciate is that the [ATF] agents wanted [guns] in the wrong hands and were hoping they would later show up at crime scenes in Mexico to perhaps prove that many of the firearms used there were coming from this country,” Keene wrote.

In a February 23, 2023 speech at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City, LaPierre spoke about universal background checks, stating, “It’s aimed at registering your guns. And when another tragic opportunity presents itself, that registry will be used to confiscate your guns … Picture this: your name, your address on a map giving directions to your home that could include a list of all the specific firearms you own. That’s a pretty handy list if you’re a seasoned criminal or a drug dealer or a gang member, isn’t it? How safe do you think that government list would be?" In fact, throughout U.S. history, federal and state laws have required registration of certain firearms, and such measures have never led to any confiscation of firearms from those in compliance with the law. Additionally, existing federal law prohibits the creation of a national gun registry and none of the proposed gun violence prevention legislation referred to by LaPierre sought to change that.

On January 22, 2013, in a speech at the Weatherby Foundation International Hunting and Conservation Awards in Reno, Nevada, LaPierre stated, “[President Barack] Obama wants to turn the idea of absolutism into a dirty word. Just another word for extremism. He wants you, all of you, and Americans throughout all of this country, to accept the idea of principles as he sees fit. It’s a way of redefining words so that common sense is turned upside down and that nobody knows the difference.” LaPierre was referring to President Obama’s second inaugural address, in which he stated, “We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.” LaPierre also addressed President Obama’s January 2013 proposals to reduce gun violence, stating, “He wants to put every private, personal firearms transaction right under the thumb of the federal government. He wants to keep all of those names in a massive federal registry. There’s only two reasons for a federal list on gun owners: to either tax ‘em or take ‘em. That’s the only reasons. And anyone who says that’s excessive, President Obama says that’s an absolutist.” In fact, the Obama administration had never proposed the creation of a universal list of gun owners. “Absolutes do exist,” added LaPierre. “Words do have specific meaning in language and in law. It’s the basis of all civilization. Without those absolutes, without those protections, democracy decays into nothing more than two wolves and one lamb voting on, well, who to eat for lunch.”

In the October 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, LaPierre wrote, “Of all the threats to American liberty posed by the [President Barack] Obama administration, the most dangerous is the corruption of the U.S. Department of Justice where high-level misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance have become the norm. The U.S. Department of Justice is supposed to be a neutral guardian of the rule of law and protector of our national order. It is supposed to uphold the United States Constitution. Instead, under President Barack Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, it has become the national enforcer of Chicago-style thuggery on the national scene … Under operation ‘Fast and Furious,’ Holder’s Justice Department has abetted federal felony gun-law violations and international gun running—resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Mexican nationals and the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Arizona.” LaPierre was referring to the discontinued “Fast and Furious” gun trafficking investigation on the southwest border. A report released by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General on September 19, 2023 found that there is no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder was aware of the tactics used in “Fast and Furious” until after it was concluded in 2011. LaPierre then turned to the topic of Voter ID legislation, stating, “But no clearer example exists of the deep corruption at Justice than its efforts to vacate state laws preventing election fraud … The Obama/Holder Justice Department is running a vote fraud protection racket by jamming the courts with lawsuits opposing state mandates that provide a simple solution to election cheating–Voter ID … Now connect the dots to another key assault on our freedom. Aligned with the Department of Homeland Security, Obama’s top federal law enforcement leaders are refusing to enforce immigration laws to stem the tide of hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens, potential illegal voters.” Voter ID laws in Texas, North Carolina, and Florida have been challenged in court by the Department of Justice over allegations that they disenfranchise minorities. In July of 2012, the DOJ began investigating Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law to determine whether it discriminates against minorities. Furthermore, research has shown that in-person voter fraud of the kind LaPierre warns about is extremely rare in the United States.

In a July 5, 2023 interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News, LaPierre spoke about a proposed U.N. Small Arms Treaty, stating, “The fact is the U.N. doesn’t protect people. It doesn’t save the innocent. You could stack to the ceiling the bodies of the innocent a thousand times over that the U.N has failed to protect. The dead people don’t get to vote on this U.N treaty. And Americans don’t want to be added to that pile of dead people that have been left defenseless by the U.N. policies … The U.N. gun control plan is the most extreme imaginable. It says people in the United States turn over your personal protection and your firearms to the government and the government will protect you.” In fact, the U.N. Small Arms Treaty would set only international standards for the import/export of conventional weapons—leaving it to individual countries to “regulate internal transfers of arms and national ownership, including through national constitutional protections on private ownership.” When pressed on this by Kelly, LaPierre responded by saying, “Right now it would affect every handgun, rifle, and shotgun American citizens own … It sets up global agencies, data centers, tracking, monitoring, surveillance, supervision, it institutionalizes the whole U.N. gun plan within the bureaucracy of the United Nations with a permanent funding mechanism. And included in this gun plan is implementation legislation that they are going to press for the United States to adopt.” Treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the U.S. Senate.

On June 29, 2012, in a speech at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver, Colorado, LaPierre stated, “If you don’t remember anything else I say tonight, mark this down: this is the most dangerous election in our lifetimes ... It’s a fight for our country, it's a fight for our values, it's a fight for the freedoms we believe in, all of our Second Amendment liberty, all of the rights we’ve worked so hard to defend, all of what we know is good, and what we know is right about America. All of it could be lost if [President] Barack Obama is reelected ... The fight is on. Everything we believe in’s at stake and at risk ... Never has American freedom been more disregarded, denigrated, diminished, and often destroyed ... Almost every way you look at it, almost every aspect of American freedom is in some state of decline. Just think about it. Our right to speak out, our right to assemble, our right to practice our religion, our right to seek the kind of health care we want for our families, the economic freedom to earn and spend and save, to own our own homes, to buy the kind of food we want to feed our children, to raise and discipline our kids, even the simple right to fly the American flag. The increasing collapse of American freedom is becoming staggering. Because, by almost every measure, we are less free today than we were a short decade ago. President Obama? He won’t tell you that ... Never has honest leadership been so lacking as in the Barack Obama White House.” LaPierre also spoke about the discontinued “Fast and Furious” gun trafficking investigation on the southwest border and President Obama’s decision to invoke executive privilege over documents subpoenaed by Congress, stating, “I guarantee you that there’s somethin’ that stinks to high heaven in those papers in order for this administration to be willin’ to walk into this briar patch. Executive privilege really is the last gasp of a cover-up ... [Barack Obama] chose the Richard Nixon option to cover it up until after the coming election. No one died as a result of Watergate, yet several members of Nixon’s cabinet and staff went to prison ... Just like Nixon, this president has put his administration in the same state of vulnerability, at the edge of a federal penitentiary.” A report released by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General on September 19, 2023 found that there is no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder was aware of the tactics used in “Fast and Furious” until after it was concluded in 2011.

In a June 25, 2023 interview with Lou Dobbs on Fox News, LaPierre stated, “So much of the national media oughta just take down their logo and put an Obama bumper sticker on because they’re so tied to reelecting this president. I mean, the Washington Post writes the other day, I mean, they’re still writing stories patting themselves on the backs for Watergate, which was a third-rate burglary. I mean, even Bill Clinton was a dalliance with an intern. This is hundreds of peoples dead, federal agent dead. And the Washington Post writes the other day, ‘it was an honest bureaucratic mistake.’ I mean, there’s all kinds of double standards, political dishonesty, duplicity here that make the American public sick of what the political class does.”

In the June 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, LaPierre warned, “American freedom as we know it is in jeopardy.” He wrote, “There is no greater freedom than the ability to own a firearm to protect yourself, your family, your community and your country. That freedom is the heart and soul of our nation. And that soul is at stake in this election … If [President Barack] Obama wins this year, he will wage an all-out assault on America’s heart and soul. This isn’t just the most important election of our lifetimes–it’s the most important election for our children’s, grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s lifetimes.”

In his opening remarks at the 2012 NRA Convention in St. Louis on April 13, 2012, LaPierre warned, “If President Obama gets a second term, America as we know it will be on its way to being lost forever.”

In the March 2012 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, LaPierre warned that if the NRA fails to end the “Barack Obama regime…the Right to Keep and Bear Arms could well perish in a Supreme Court heartbeat.” He added that an “Obama majority” on the Supreme Court would “rule that only the government has a right to guns, not individuals like you.” “We have time to stop the Obama juggernaut and to make history together,” LaPierre stated, “but we must start now—not only to save our guns but to save our heritage. The future of freedom in America depends on it.”

On February 10, 2012, during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), LaPierre warned listeners that “This is the most dangerous election in our lifetime … Our soul is at stake in this election. The campaign is a fight for our country, our values and the freedom we believe in.” LaPierre then detailed a “massive” conspiracy by the administration of President Barack Obama to “deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment.” LaPierre then boasted, “We’ll spend and do whatever it takes to tell the truth the media ignores.”

During a January 2012 radio interview with Glenn Beck, LaPierre agreed with Beck’s assertion that when it comes to raising money in politics, “You have to go out and drum up the money, the unions just take it. They just have it. They just take it out of everybody's paycheck.” LaPierre went on to claim, “We raise it all through 5, 10, 15, 20 dollar contributions that Americans are willing to preserve freedom. And they're willing to support it. But, you know, that's what NRA is about. I mean, I always say we're about our membership and we're about giving voice to our membership.” In fact, the National Rifle Association does not raise all of its money from small donors. A report by the Violence Policy Center indicates that since 2005, the NRA has received between $19.8 million and $52.6 million in contributions from corporate interests. After Beck raised the specter of the reelection of Barack Obama leading to private gun confiscation in the United States, LaPierre responded, “We can’t let it get to this point. Every Second Amendment supporter needs to make sure that President Obama does not get a second term to destroy the Second Amendment.”

Under LaPierre’s leadership, the National Rifle Association has frequently promoted gun confiscation conspiracy theories surrounding the administration of President Barack Obama and/or a treaty being considered by the United Nations to curb illegal, international sales of small arms. In a November 3, 2023 op-ed for the Washington Times, LaPierre wrote, “The Obama administration … hatched a political conspiracy to deceive Americans and hide its true agenda to dismantle the Second Amendment and our freedom. By delaying its anti-gun legislative agenda, it’s tried to dupe gun owners into believing our fundamental freedom is safe. The political calculation of the White House is clear: Deceive the voters and get re-elected at all costs and then, with no more elections to worry about, get busy dismantling the Second Amendment and destroying American freedom forever … Mr. Obama…is responsible for his administration’s efforts to support a United Nations treaty that could severely restrict or effectively ban civilian ownership of firearms worldwide.” In fact, since assuming office, President Obama has not advocated for any gun control measures, instead signing legislation to allow firearms in national parks and on Amtrak trains. Furthermore, the UN has no power to alter American gun laws. Any UN treaty that called for changes in U.S. gun laws would have to be ratified by a 2/3 vote of the U.S. Senate.

Under LaPierre’s leadership, the National Rifle Association has frequently promoted a gun confiscation conspiracy theory concerning the administration of President Barack Obama. On September 23, 2011, LaPierre addressed the Florida Conservative Political Action Conference and told those in attendance, “The fight for 2012 is a fight for our country, our values, and our freedom. And if NRA has anything to say about it, President Barack Obama won’t get a second term … Our freedom is at risk in this election like never before … The president will offer the Second Amendment lip service and hit the campaign trail saying he’s actually been good for the Second Amendment, but it’s a big, fat, stinkin’ lie, just like all the other lies that have come out of this corrupt administration. It’s all part of a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment in our country … Before the president was even sworn into office, they met and they hatched a conspiracy of public deception to try to guarantee his re-election in 2012 … We see the president’s strategy crystal clear: Get re-elected and with no more elections to worry about, get busy dismantling and destroy our firearms freedom. Erase the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights and exorcise it from the U.S. Constitution. That’s their agenda … President Obama and his cohorts, yeah they’re going to deny their conspiracy to fool gun owners. Some of the Liberal media, they’re probably already blogging about it. But we don’t care, because as far as we’re concerned, the lying, conniving Obama crowd can kiss our Constitution.” In fact, since assuming office, President Obama has not advocated for any gun control measures, instead signing legislation to allow firearms in national parks and on Amtrak trains.

In his 2011 book, “America Disarmed: Inside the U.N. & Obama's Scheme to Destroy the Second Amendment,” LaPierre compared the United Nations Small Arms and Light Weapons Destruction Day, first held on July 9, 2001, to the public burning of books authored by Jews in Nazi Germany. He wrote, “The burning of Jewish and un-German books was followed within a few years by the burning of Jews and other supposedly un-German people. Jewish Books Destruction Day helped change popular consciousness so as to pave the way for genocide. Likewise paving the way for genocide was the systematic disarmament of Jews and all other opposition elements, in Nazi German itself and in conquered territories. How long until a U.N.-declared official day of hate is celebrated with governments actually killing people? Will the mass burning of firearms help set the stage for mass executions of gun owners?”

At the 2007 National Rifle Association annual meeting, LaPierre told the audience, “So no matter what the animal rights terrorists throw at us, no matter what crime wave illegal immigrant gangs cause, no matter what deals are cut in the back rooms of the United Nations, no matter who is slamming gavels at the Supreme Court, no matter who is sitting in the White House, and no matter who wins what election or chairs what committee, if they are enemies of what’s in that exhibit hall over there, if they threaten what that great hall preserves [guns], if they dare assault the one freedom that secures all freedoms, this National Rifle Association, millions and millions of members strong, you will rise and stand and we, together, will fight them all.”

Reacting to President Barack Obama’s call for the wealthiest Americans to “pay their fair share” of taxes, Norquist compared Obama’s economic policies to former Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin by tweeting, “ Obamas [sic] ‘new’ strategy to divide America: Get the Kulaks.” The Kulaks, a group of relatively affluent peasants who owned land, were the “class enemy” of the poorer peasants under Stalin’s totalitarian regime. Beginning in 1930, Stalin called for the elimination of Kulaks, endorsing methods including execution and deportation to unpopulated areas of Siberia. MSNBC host Chris Matthews called Norquist’s tweet, “Another far right attempt to frame the president as some type of foreigner who doesn’t really know America.”

In a September 9, 2023 op-ed for World Net Daily, Norris wrote, “Fewer than 60 days remain before Election Day. I don’t need to tell you how important this election is to the future of our country. The stakes are high, and that’s why I proudly serve as honorary chairman of Trigger the Vote, the NRA’s nonpartisan campaign to register voters who support the Second Amendment. As a proud gun owner and defender of our Constitution, I am working within the system to make sure my voice is heard in Washington … There’s a storm brewing on the horizon. Those who want to restrict our freedom have not surrendered. In truth, they are counting on this election to make their move. They are playing the long game, looking down the road to a day when one or more vacancies on the Supreme Court could upset the current balance. The Heller and McDonald decisions were decided by razor-thin, 5-4 majorities in the Supreme Court. Those who want to overturn these decisions are betting on at least one of the five Supreme Court justices to retire or otherwise leave service during the next four years. Some pundits have suggested that the number of Supreme Court vacancies filled by the next president could be as many as three … Our freedoms hang in the balance by the thin gossamer thread of a single vote. If that vote turns, the victories we worked so hard to solidify could be reversed … We need to make sure we have a president whose nominees for any court – including the Supreme Court–will support the original meaning of our Constitution.” The Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller, held for the first time in U.S. history that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to firearm ownership for self defense in the home; striking down D.C.’s handgun ban. In McDonald v. Chicago, the Court held that the Second Amendment, as interpreted in Heller, applied to the states through the Due Process Clause.

In a June 24, 2023 op-ed for World Net Daily, Norris accused President Barack Obama of conspiring with Boy Scouts of America (BSA) national board member James Turley to overturn the BSA policy that bans gay scouts and leaders, citing Turley’s “close affiliations with the pro-gay Obama administration.” Turley was nominated to President Barack Obama’s Export Council in 2010, was granted a seat on an investment advisory panel which met in October 2011, and attended a state dinner hosted by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in March 2012. Norris wrote, “Is it a coincidence, too, that on March 3, 2009, Obama became the honorary president of the BSA–a position proudly and publicly held and highlighted by all presidents since President William Howard Taft in 1910, but that Obama’s induction was held behind closed doors in the Oval Office with seven or so Boy Scouts present and absolutely nothing noted in the White House daily briefing or any other official communication?” He continued, asking, “Is it a coincidence that as the honorary BSA president and a ‘constitutional lawyer’ that Obama hasn’t had one minute in his schedule over the past years to defend or say anything about the series of lawsuits that have been levied against the BSA because of its First Amendment rights to stand against atheists, agnostics and homosexuals? It is a coincidence that Obama will stand up repeatedly for the children of illegal immigrants (and grant them amnesty and the taxpayers’ monies) but that he will not once stand up for children in the BSA and the organization’s rights and freedoms to hold their own core values and beliefs?” Finally, Norris wrote, “Hasn’t America reached a new low in its history when the president of the United States (and the honorary president of the BSA!) distances himself and his administration from the Boy Scouts of America and yet invites groups like the Secular Student Alliance to participate in its faith and college missions?”

In a May 13, 2023 op-ed for Ammoland.com, Norris criticized a proposal by the Obama Administration to prevent “children younger than 16 from doing ‘agricultural work with animals and in pesticide handling, timber operations, manure pits and storage bins’ while also forbidding them from using ‘power-driven equipment’ and working in the ‘cultivation, harvesting and curing of tobacco.’” Norris asked, “What’s next? The feds’ crackdown making it illegal for kids to wash dishes, because a knife might cut them? No grinding up food, because the garbage disposer might malfunction and start suddenly while their hand is in it? No more cooking or ironing, because their hands might get burned? No more housecleaning, because the Environmental Protection Agency has designated the mixture of certain cleaning chemicals as hazardous to touch or breathe in? Let’s get real, folks! How far do the feds have to mingle in our manure before we say enough is enough? How far do we have to slide down the slippery slope of socialism before the descent becomes irreversible, before we say, ‘Welcome to Greece’?” Norris further accused President Barack Obama of proposing the measure to continue “implementation of Agenda 21, a United Nations program launched in 1992 for the nebulous purpose of reaching global ‘sustainable development’ but which actually promotes a European socialist system that will undermine and chip away our freedoms, liberties and rights.”

In a March 8, 2023 op-ed for WorldNetDaily, Norris wrote, “On Glenn Beck’s radio show last week, I quipped in response to our wayward federal government, ‘I may run for president of Texas.’ That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state … How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?”

In a November 30, 2023 op-ed for WorldNetDaily, Norris complained that the media was not portraying the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan positively enough, claiming, “One can partially point the finger at the economy or election coverage as reasons for the reduction of Iraq war articles. But I believe those issues were used more as justifications for the liberal media’s intentional neglect to report U.S. Middle East military progress. Who doesn’t recognize that we live in a time in which there’s little if no publishing space for positive military stories about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?”

In an October 26, 2023 op-ed for WorldNetDaily referring to then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, Norris wrote, “Today, presidential nominees can get away with murder, literally. They can smoke, toke and hang out with terrorists who do. What were once considered legitimate leadership litmus tests are now regarded as off-limit character assassinations and hate language.” He also wrote, “Abortion is not about a woman’s ‘right to choose.’ It is about a more fundamental ‘right to life,’ which is one of three specifically identified unalienable rights in the Declaration [of Independence].”

Contradicting National Rifle Association claims about the source of illegal guns pouring into Mexico, Norris wrote in an April 28, 2023 op-ed for WorldNetDaily: “It appears drug cartels are again using revenue derived from their ‘free trade’ to illegally purchase weapons in the U.S. and smuggle them back into Mexico, where they are bolstering murder rates up 100 percent in certain towns.” Turning to immigration, Norris added, “All we need to do is to post signs and position manned trucks at key points, just like our government does at Area 51, the top secret military airfield in remote central Nevada, around which there are no fences or walls. There is never a breach or unwanted border crossing there, at least that we hear about! And why? Because the boundary sign reads and is never questioned, ‘Warning: Use of deadly force authorized.’”

In an October 8, 2023 op-ed for WorldNetDaily entitled “Is the American Military ‘The Christian Taliban’?” Norris wrote “The fact is, our country is more obsessed with highlighting Christian fundamentalist abuses than we are the plots and ploys of Muslim extremists who are attacking our troops.”

In a November 1, 2023 op-ed for the Washington Times, North wrote, “When Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman sat down to draft the Declaration of Independence, they began with a ‘Bill of Particulars’ against King George III. They accused the monarch of ‘repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.’ Now, 236 years later, ‘We the People’ are about to decide whom we should hire as our chief executive and commander in chief. It’s an appropriate time to review the grievances of our Founding Fathers—and examine the offenses committed by our present head of state”:

• “HE has redefined Marriage and enacted Rules and Regulations abridging the religious Liberties and Freedom of Conscience protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution by requiring church-affiliated Institutions to provide Insurance Coverage for Contraception and Abortions under Obamacare.” Though President Barack Obama has stated publicly that he supports same-sex marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as that between a man and a woman, remains law. Furthermore, while the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act does require religiously affiliated institutions to provide insurance coverage for contraception, it did not in any way alter existing, strict federal restrictions on the funding of abortion.
• “HE has bowed to foreign Potentates, begged our Adversaries for Space and Time until after the Election, and apologized for the Blood and Treasure expended by brave Americans in offering Others the Hope of Freedom.” President Obama has bowed to several foreign dignitaries during the course of his presidency, including the Saudi King, the Emperor of Japan, and the Queen of England, as a customary gesture of respect upon greeting them. North’s “Space and Time” reference is in regards to a discussion President Obama had with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in which he told Medvedev he would have “more flexibility” to deal with contentious foreign policy issues, such as missile defense, following the November 2012 elections. North was also likely referring to speeches President Barack Obama gave in 2009. “Blood and Treasure” might reference a speech in Strasbourg, France on April 3, 2009, in which President Obama stated, “America Has Shown Arrogance.” Additionally, in President Obama’s address to the Summit of the Americas opening ceremony in the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on April 17, 2009, he stated, “While the United States has done much to promote peace and prosperity in the hemisphere, we have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms. But I pledge to you that we seek an equal partnership.”
• “HE declared an act of Terrorism at Fort Hood, Texas, to be workplace Violence… [and] failed to dispatch military Force to save Americans in Harm’s way in Benghazi.” North was referring to a mass shooting at Fort Hood on November 5, 2009. In that shooting, Nidal Hassan, an Army psychiatrist killed 12 people and wounded 30 others. The Department of Defense classified the shooting as “workplace violence.” He was also referring to an attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya on September 11, 2012. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack. Congressional hearings revealed that the State Department was aware of, and rejected, several requests for increased security in Benghazi; however, Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security stated on October 9, 2023 that House Republicans had consciously voted to reduce the funds allocated to the State Department for embassy security since winning the majority in 2010. When asked if he had voted to reduce funding for embassy security, Chaffetz stated, “Absolutely. Look we have to make priorities and choices in this country. We have…15,000 contractors in Iraq. We have more than 6,000 contractors, a private army there, for President Obama, in Baghdad. And we’re talking about can we get two dozen or so people into Libya to help protect our forces. When you’re in tough economic times, you have to make difficult choices. You have to prioritize things.”

In an April 6, 2023 op-ed for the Patriot Post that discussed the Passover and Easter religious holidays, North wrote, “The Egyptian Pharaohs and Roman emperors are gone. Yet Jews and Christians now living in the region must contend with new lethal threats: the hatred of radical Islamists seizing power from Tunisia to Syria; vicious sectarian cleansing; and the prospect of being incinerated by an Iranian nuclear weapon. Tragically, all this is being facilitated by the catastrophic incompetence, malfeasance, naivete and hubris of an American president—with the complicity of the mainstream media.” North’s mention of Tunisia was a reference to the “Arab Spring” phenomenon. During 2010 and 2011, widespread protests in Tunisia eventually led to a change in government and democratic reforms. North concluded his column by writing, “According to Matthew's Gospel, Judas Iscariot sold out Jesus of Nazareth for 30 pieces of silver. What is Barack Obama's fee for selling out Christians and Israelis?”

In a May 3, 2023 appearance on the radio show “NRA News,” North claimed, “The enhanced interrogation for which George W. Bush was so criticized going all the way back to 2003—that enhanced interrogation was what allowed us to find out where [Al Qaeda leader Osama] bin Laden was hiding and if you hadn’t had it, you still wouldn’t have the guy.” This claim has been debunked by many government officials, including U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who wrote, “I have sought further information from the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and they confirm for me that, in fact, the best intelligence gained…was obtained through standard, non-coercive means, not through any ‘enhanced interrogation technique.’”

In a January 7, 2024 op-ed for the Patriot Post, North expressed his belief that “death panels” existed in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 health care reform bill.

In a January 14, 2024 op-ed for Newsmax, Nugent asserted, “The whole global warming lie is a giant, international environmental scam and hoax designed to control people by instigating fear and panic. There is no global warming, only hot-air from Al Gore and his gaggles of Woodstock rejects who have made many millions by perpetuating something that just isn’t so.” Contrary to Nugent’s statement, global climate change is a phenomenon that is well-supported by research conducted by agencies such as the National Academy of Sciences, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.”

In February 2013, Nugent appeared on right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ radio show. Jones has accused the U.S. government of being involved in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Nugent said, “Alex, you're doing God's work … What you're celebrating, and what you are sharing with the radio listeners out there is indisputable, it's irrefutable, and I got to thank you because it's so late in coming that those of us with the balls and the inside view of the criminality of this government right now, the unprecedented abuse of power and corruption and fraud and deceit by the Chicago gangster scammer ACORN-in-Chief [President Barack Obama] is so diabolical that I just wanted to say thank you from the trenches.” Nugent was making reference to ACORN, a community activist organization and its affiliate, Project Vote. After the 2008 election, the John McCain (R-AZ) campaign accused the group of perpetrating “massive voter fraud.” Neither ACORN nor its employees have ever been found guilty of—or even charged with—casting fraudulent votes. Several ACORN canvassers have been found guilty of faking registration forms. The evidence shows that the canvassers faked the forms to get paid for work they didn’t do, not to stuff ballot boxes. A report by the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress, stated that there were no instances of individuals who were allegedly registered to vote improperly by ACORN or its employees and who were reported "attempting to vote at the polls."

In an October 7, 2023 interview on Armed America Radio, Nugent stated, “Regardless of your ideology, this guy, this President Barack Obama clearly is intentionally dismantling the greatest quality of life in the history of the world. His policies are anti-American. His polices and his czars and his administration are anti-American, anti-quality of life, anti-freedom, anti-liberty, and anti-being the best that you can be. Every word, deed, and action by Obama is against the very spirit of rugged individualism, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution … This guy, this Barack Obama is a Mao Zedong wannabe. Everything he stands for, all of his policies, all of his smoke and mirrors, his mastery of deception and deceit and outright lying, is so Mao Zedong. In fact a lot of his czars, a lot of Barack Obama's czars, will look right in the camera and say, ‘Yeah, I'm a communist and I like it’ … The President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, which is supposed to be respected by the heroes of our U.S. military; Barack Obama goes to the Vietnam memorial wall in Washington where 58,000 American patriots and heroes and warriors gave their lives fighting communism. When he is not at the wall pretending to show tribute to these warriors, he's implementing communism. The very system that these warriors died fighting against … And for Americans to accept that the Commander in Chief is implementing communist policies while feigning respect for heroes who fought communism is one of the most vile, repugnant, obscene gestures in the history of American politics.” Nugent, by his own account, evaded being drafted for the Vietnam War in the 1970s by taking controlled substances and smearing his body with feces before a fitness exam.

In an October 1, 2023 interview with Big Hollywood, Nugent stated, “[President] Barack Obama hates America. Barack Obama hates freedom. Barack Obama's voting record, his upbringing, his education, his words, his actions, his misdeeds, all reek of everything anti-American, anti-Constitution, anti-Bill of Rights. The latter of which is most deviously manifested in his voting record against the individual right to keep and bear arms … America faces doom if we re-elect Barack Obama to the presidency. It is a dire, dangerous forecast for freedom … If he wins in November he won't have to kowtow, he won't have to placate anybody anymore. He will be able to go for the jugular, and that includes the jugular of the Second Amendment. He will begin again what he did in Illinois as a gangster politician and go against gun rights, he will tax ammunition, he will ban certain types of bullets, and he will ban certain types of firearms. His goal is Attorney General Eric Holder's goal: namely, to brainwash Americans into believing that guns are bad and that the Second Amendment does not mean individuals have the right to keep and bear arms. Barack Obama is a smoke-and-mirrors scam artist who has convinced people he believes one and one equals two, while he shoves three-and-a-half down your throat … In November 2012, we are voting for [Republican presidential candidate Mitt] Romney/[Republican vice presidential candidate Paul]Ryan because we are voting for the very soul of America. If Barack Obama is elected again, this country is done." Nugent was referring to a speech Eric Holder, then-U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, gave to the Woman’s National Democratic Club on gun violence in 1995. Holder stated, “We want to have…an informational campaign to change the hearts and minds of people in Washington, D.C. and particularly young people. They are saturated in the media and entertainment, or by the entertainment industry, with violence. And I think too many of our young people, in particular our young men, are fascinated with violence, and in particular fascinated with guns. What we need to do is change the way in which people think about guns, especially young people, and make it something that’s not cool, that it’s not acceptable, it’s not hip to carry a gun anymore, in the way in which we changed our attitudes about cigarettes. When I was growing up, people smoked all the time…but over time we changed the way people thought about smoking…and that’s what I think we need to do with guns, really change the way people think about them … This is not going to be something that’s very easy to do, because we are, quite frankly, fighting something that appears every day on television, on the radio, in our popular music, in movies that these kids are exposed to … We need to get really innovative, really creative things that are gonna grab the attention of these kids and change, as I said, the way in which they think about guns … I have asked the school board to make a part of every day some kind of anti-violence, anti-gun message. Every day, every school, at every level. One thing I think is clear with young people, and adults as well, is that we just have to be repetitive about this … We need to do this every day of the week and just really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”

On August 10, 2012, in an interview with Newsmax, Nugent stated, “Everybody dead in Aurora was unarmed and helpless. Everybody dead in Milwaukee was unarmed and helpless. Everyone dead at Virginia Tech was unarmed and helpless. How dare President [Barack Obama] or [Congresswoman] Nancy Pelosi, or [New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg want more of that? [Republican presidential candidate] Mitt Romney made the terrible mistake of banning a certain type of firearm in the past — what they call assault weapons, which is not what they are. But he has seen the light. I spoke with him at length. I am convinced in my absolutist Second Amendment heart and soul that Mitt Romney will never even consider any more infringements on guns, ammo, fire power, access of guns ever again for Americans. He’s learned his lesson. Compared to Barack Obama and his team, Mitt Romney is indeed Michael the Archangel. He is a knight in shining armor for individual rights to self-defense.” Nugent also spoke about a proposed small arms treaty at the United Nations, stating, “When they talk about reducing unnecessary violence by eliminating small arms in the hands of citizens around the world, they’re talking about the same thing that Hitler talked about: Disarm the populace so you can control them at your every whim.” In reality, the treaty would set only international standards for the import/export of conventional weapons—leaving it to individual countries to “regulate internal transfers of arms and national ownership, including through national constitutional protections on private ownership.”

On July 28, 2012, Nugent Tweeted, “Dear UN Blue Helmut gangsta punks & all freedom hating people everywhere, I am the NRA. Eat shit & die. Sincerely, Ted Nugent.” Nugent was likely referring to a small arms treaty discussed at the United Nations in July. The treaty would set only international standards for the import/export of conventional weapons—leaving it to individual countries to “regulate internal transfers of arms and national ownership, including through national constitutional protections on private ownership.”

In an email interview published July 9, 2023 in Michigan Live, Nugent responded to a question about threatening remarks he had made towards President Barack Obama and Democrats by stating, “I have been deeply involved in this tragic culture war raging in America for a very long time. I am painfully aware of the criminal abuses by the president, his attorney general and most of his administration. Anyone unaware of these violations is either brain-dead or woefully disconnected from reality. I know what I am doing and I know what I am saying. I meant it then and I mean it now.” He also spoke about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s chances of winning Michigan, stating, “Even those feeble-mined [sic] Michiganiacs on the receiving end of the government’s communist offenses of redistribution are waking up to how unfair and suicidal this system is for any meaningful quality of life in MI and America. This waking up is alarming all smart people to the disastrous results of the liberal democrats' destruction of our great state. By any honest scrutiny, Romney will stop this destructo derby and re-institute some accountability.”

In a June 22, 2023 radio interview on KMOX, a St. Louis news radio station, Nugent told the host, Mark Reardon, “You notice, I just get up in the morning, I go to work, and idiots blow up. I don’t try to make idiots blow up. I just do the right thing, state the truth and celebrate logic and idiots go berserk. I’ve never been more proud of myself in my life.” When Reardon asked Nugent about threatening remarks he made against President Barack Obama and Democrats at the 2012 NRA Convention, Nugent replied, “Like I said, I just get up in the morning and I go to work and I make the national news because I dare to celebrate self-evident truths and, more importantly in 2012, more importantly now than ever, because remember there’ve been more criminals in our government right now, to spotlight the cockroaches. There are more cockroaches, more criminals, more corrupt power abusing punks in our government right now. And if you don’t get that, move to Canada. It’s just unbelievable. So I, as a ‘We the people’ guy, obligated by the heroes of the military who sacrificed so I can have these First Amendment freedoms, I’m gonna use my First Amendment freedoms and I’m gonna identify that the number one cop in this country is a felon … [U.S. Attorney General] Eric Holder is the enemy. Obama is the enemy. [Secretary of the Treasury Tim] Geithner is the enemy … I stand by every word I said.” Nugent also spoke about the “soulless, spineless weenies” at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, stating that he was charged with illegally shooting, killing and transporting a black bear for “dar[ing] to stand up for my Second Amendment rights.” He signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and agreed to a $10,000 fine and a two-year probation. Nugent then turned his attention to female Democrats in the House of Representatives, stating, “The [U.S. Congresswoman Debbie] Wasserman-Schultz and the [U.S. Congresswoman] Sheila Jackson-Lees, by the way, have you ever watched all of my haters talk? Each and every one of my critics is an absolute subhuman buffoon. If you watch the way they speak and the little spittle forming in the corners of their mouths, these are entrenched, addicted haters of freedom. Which is why they hate me. They’re on record to quote and worship Mao Tse-tung.” In fact, neither Congresswoman has quoted Mao Tse-tung. Nugent also added, “I love killing game with guns. I have my own Ted Nugent ammo coming out so, I’m gonna do a lot more gun hunting.” When asked when the ammo was coming out, Nugent replied, “That should be on every vegetarian store’s shelf by mid-July.” When Reardon remarked on Nugent’s endorsement of the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, Nugent replied, “My conversation with Mitt Romney convinced me…he will get this Mao Tse-tung gang out of the destructo-derby suicide mission that Barack Obama’s steering this country.”

At a June 9, 2023 performance at the Republic of Texas Biker Rally in Austin, Texas, Nugent told the audience, “There's an American Dream. There's no French dream. There's no Cuban dream. There's no Spanish dream. Is there a Mexican dream, except 'Get the f--k out of Mexico?’ I can't blame you." He then asked the “Republic of Texas Motherf--kers" if they were "ready to dance with Uncle Ted." Nugent explained that his collection of Gibson guitars, which were displayed at the performance, was meant to be a message to the federal government, which is "infested with f--king criminals.” He continued, “Any pussies from the [U.S.] Fish and Wildlife out there, you want to take my guitars? F--k you!” Nugent was referring to several U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department raids on Gibson for importing endangered wood. Finally, Nugent gave a shout-out to the "NRA gun nut motherf--kers out there … Put a f--king gun in your hand, Texas, stormtroopers [are] coming … They, unfortunately, are the real enemies right now. We're gonna fix it in November, aren't we boys and girls?"

In a May 22, 2023 editorial for Human Events, Nugent wrote, “If it were not for this crazy out of control corrupt government, my life would literally be perfect…the enemies of America infesting our government have got to go.” Nugent assured readers that he is doing his part to make that happen, stating, “I fight with all my might and resources on a daily, if not hourly basis to spotlight the cockroaches everywhere I go, and it is getting scarier and more dangerous all the time to speak out in America like I do.” He praised Texas politicians, such as Governor Rick Perry, but warned, “We also have America hating Obama clones like [Congresswoman] Sheila Jackson Lee who represent all that is wrong with America and Texas.”

During an April 17, 2023 radio interview with Dana Loesch , a Tea Party activist and CNN contributor, Nugent stood by the threatening remarks against President Barack Obama and Democrats he had made three days earlier at the NRA Convention, calling his message “ 100 percent positive .” Nugent continued by calling the Obama Administration’s policies “ toxic ,” “ corrosive ,” and “ an abuse of power ” that are carried out by Obama’s “ czars and his henchmen .” Nugent added derogatory comments about Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, calling Wasserman-Schultz a “brain-dead, soulless, heartless idiot ” and Pelosi a “subhuman scoundrel ” and “ wicked witch .”

On April 14 2012, Ted Nugent signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, admitting that he had illegally shot, killed and transported a black bear in southeast Alaska in May 2009 and transported it in violation of the federal Lacey Act. Nugent agreed to a $10,000 fine and a two-year probation. He also agreed to pay Alaska $600 . After signing the agreement, Nugent advised fellow hunters, “ even when you are aghast at a maniac, inexplicable, illogical law, please abide by those laws at all costs .” According to Nugent, his prosecution for killing the black bear was the result of a “ witch hunt” inspired by his political activism. “ We are the people turning up the heat, and that’s why I’m being singled out by certain fish and game agencies and certain U.S. attorneys ,” he stated.

In a January 9, 2024 op-ed for the Washington Times, Nugent wrote, “Diversity is America’s greatest strength, according to the left and its socialist, Marxist, commie cohorts and co-conspirators running rampant across the country. If you listen carefully to these America-hating, social-engineering liberals, virtually all behavior, conduct, morals and beliefs make America stronger. This, of course, is toxic, brain-dead logic that leaves ordinary Americans shaking and scratching their heads in confusion and disgust. We recognize bull dung when we hear, see and smell it, and we have no desire whatsoever to embrace it … The left is forcing its version of diversity throughout our society and culture. According to the left and its acolytes, we are supposed to respect people who refuse to respect Old Glory or learn English, look for a job or put forth the effort to do an honest day’s work. We are supposed to respect all cultures, values, laws and religions—even when they have proved throughout history to be dangerous and diametrically opposed to our American way of life, customs, laws and traditions. It will be a cold day in hell before I embrace voodoolike religions and unclean stone-age cultures that retard progress instead of advancing it. The real issue is that by forcing diversity and multicultural nonsense in our workplaces, schools and government agencies on people who still cherish common sense and traditional American values, we’re ripping the nation apart.” Nugent went on to claim that Attorney General Eric Holder’s statement that some critics of President Obama are motivated by race is “the ultimate act of racism.” He continued, “I respect diverse people who respect and cherish basic American customs, traditions, goodwill and values. I have no respect for left-wingers who employ intimidation to make multiculturalism or diversity mandatory as the law of the land. The diversity punks believe in racial set-asides and preferences. You won’t ever solve discrimination by engaging in reverse discrimination. Maybe a racist like Jesse Jackson or Mr. Holder believes in reverse discrimination, but ordinary Americans do not. We are much too focused and intelligent to buy into such Jabberwocky. Real diversity, real change, real progress is accomplished by promoting and embracing Western culture, values and traditions, which is what made America great and created the greatest quality of life ever. Weakening this proven methodology under the artful guise of diversity, multiculturalism and political correctness is every bit as insidious a threat to America as are voodoo-inspired terrorist punks.”

In an August 18, 2023 interview with conservative talk radio host Vicki McKenna, Nugent said the following:

• Nugent called himself the “funniest black man in America.”
• “You have a warrior [in Wisconsin] now. Scott Walker, the [Republican] governor of Wisconsin, is a warrior. He is a great man. He is upgrading the quality of life in Wisconsin—bringing accountability, pragmatism, and rugged individualism back to the forefront of a great state.”
• “There’s a lunatic fringe. There’s always been a lunatic fringe. Unfortunately and heartbreakingly, the lunatic fringe now has a president. The lunatic fringe has given the green light to corruption, fraud, deceit, lying, the abuse of power the likes of which I’ve never seen… Let’s be perfectly honest—we have a president of the United States of America who was raised by communists that hate America. Went to a church regularly—well, they call it a church, I call it a voodoo cave. They went to a voodoo church where they preached hate for America, where it was racist worse than the Ku Klux Klan. Are you kidding me? This guy is the president of the United States?”
• “America has the dumbest, fattest, most disconnected, slovenly children in the world thanks to the [National Education Association (NEA)]. NEA, unions, no thank you. Move to Canada. They already have policies that reward slovenliness up there.”
• “Let me tell you who the goons are, who the lunatic fringe is: Eric Holder, Tim Geithner, Hillary Clinton, who side with the goons, the savages, the rapists, the murderers of the U.N.”
• “By voting in [Republican] Scott Walker as Governor of Wisconsin you just said thank you to the family of a dead soldier.”

During an interview on NRA News on May 16, 2013, Porter suggested Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter held sweeping anti-gun views, stating, “You look at the so-called discussion that you’re having now, it’s the same discussion we were having in 1968, when that Congress and that President wanted to disarm the American citizenry. It’s the same arguments demonizing gun owners, demonizing law-abiding citizens who are going to work every day, paying their taxes, following the law and they’re still the ones where they’re concentrating their regulation on instead of dealing with the problems the criminal presents. President Nixon tried to take guns, President Carter [tried], so this conversation is certainly not new." Porter was making reference to the 1968 Gun Control Act, which established categories of prohibited firearms purchasers (i.e., convicted felons, substance abusers, those under active restraining orders, etc.), which the NRA supported. Neither Presidents Nixon nor Carter pursued any major gun violence prevention initiatives during their time in office.

In a March 23, 2023 blog for the American Daughter Media Center entitled, “What Obama Has Just Done,” Printz quoted an article that stated, “I guarantee you we will now be descending more and more into the abyss of socialism and marxism. On March 19, 2023 [President Barack] Obama had the Treasury invest 1 trillion dollars that we do not have. The fed created this out of thin air in an imitation of Germany in the 1920s and 30s. ALERT: Price of Gold up $80 almost immediately, everyone is abandoning he (sic) dollar and we are about to be slammed like a third world nation.”

Printz contributed a July 8, 2023 blog to the American Daughter Media Center win which he praised a t-shirt that read, “The difference between [then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack] Obama and [Al Qaeda leader] Osama [bin Laden] is just a little B.S.” The shirt, which featured a picture of Barack Obama in a turban, made a play on the similarity between the spelling of Obama and Osama.

Printz reposted an article entitled “Rape of Europe” that called Muslim immigrants, “plagues that will turn the old continent [Europe] uninhabitable” on his American Daughter Media Center blog. The article featured an interview with Henryk M. Broder, who compared acceptance of multiculturalism to “the stupid blonde woman author with whom [Broder] recently debated. She said that it is sometimes better to let yourself be raped than to risk serious injuries while resisting. She said it is sometimes better to avoid fighting than run the risk of death.” Commenting on the article, Printz added, “This is not good news. But it should be no surprise to the socialist, everybody’s the same, no borders, muticultualist (sic), left-wing liberal [so-and-sos] that are trying to ruin this country.”

In 2011, Sigler warned that there is a widespread effort amongst Democrats to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with the
popular vote. Sigler warned that using the popular vote to elect U.S. presidents “would lead to rule by tyranny.”

In the June 2009 edition of America’s 1^st Freedom, Sigler wrote, “American firearm freedom is under attack on many fronts. Obama, Biden, Holder, Clinton Pelosi, Feinstein and other federal officials have evil designs on that freedom … They are all biding their time, waiting for the right opportunity to strike—and strike they will, unless we are united and prepared.”

Sigler’s first “President’s Column” in the NRA’s America’s 1^st Freedom magazine in May 2008 quoted from the opening lines of The American Crisis, a Thomas Paine work read to the Continental Army before the Battle of Trenton to encourage resistance against the British. Sigler compared Paine’s call for the Continental Army to oppose the tyrannical British monarchy to the need for NRA members to oppose the federal government, writing, “Right now, storm fronts are advancing within all three branches of government—executive, legislative and judicial—and threatening to combine into a catastrophe for your Second Amendment freedom.”

In an April 15, 2023 interview with NRA News at the NRA Convention in St. Louis, Walker stated, “It is vitally important in this election that we get people out on campaigns. We cannot sit still. If [President Barack] Obama’s reelected, he is going to appoint one to three more U.S. Supreme Court justices and a lot of people don’t think about the Supreme Court are who are supposed to be upholding the U.S. Constitution … And, the [District of Columbia v.] Heller case, we won it five to four. I don’t like that ratio. If Obama appoints one more Supreme Court justice we will lose our Second Amendment Rights as we know them for the rest of our life and without the Second Amendment all of our other rights are gonna go down the hill right behind ‘em.” The Supreme Court, in its 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, held for the first time in U.S. history that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to firearm ownership for self defense in the home.

In a February 3, 2023 interview with NRA News, Walker claimed that sales of firearms to American women were on the rise, stating, “There is not a definitive reason but there’s a lot of components that are going into this equation. I think the political climate, with the economy, crime has gone up ... I think women have figured out that they can’t rely on their husband, boyfriend or a police officer to be there to protect them 24/7. So, women are takin’ it into their own hands … Being able to carry a firearm and having your own self defense is a great equalizer.” Neither Walker nor NRA News produced any retail gun sales data to support this claim. Furthermore, violent crime declined for the fifth year in a row in the United States in 2011, according to the FBI