It will have been one year on June 23 since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen and ever since, anti-gun Democrats have been acting like the decision never happened.

A state House representative in Olympia, Wash. may have pegged the reason why during an interview with me back in January. His analysis was matter-of-fact, entirely sensible and a little scary.

The gun control crowd wants a fight. They are determined to wage a war of perpetual litigation if necessary to have their way — or at least make sure you don’t get your way — at the expense of taxpayers rather than acknowledge they’ve been wrong about the Second Amendment.

Rep. Jim Walsh, from the Evergreen State’s Grays Harbor area along the Pacific Coast has watched them.

“That’s the dangerous thing,” he said about the gun prohibition mindset. “They have a blind spot on this issue. The profound question is whether it’s an ideological position or a political calculation.”

Either way, gun owners cannot allow them to win.

The Bruen ruling was devastating to the gun control movement. It removed the ability of anti-gun state governments and bureaucrats to arbitrarily deny citizens their right to bear arms by requiring a concealed carry permit/license applicant to provide “good cause” why he or she should get a license. It struck down a century-old mandate in New York, which also affected neighboring New Jersey, nearby Maryland, distant California, even farther-away Hawaii and a couple of other states.
Keep this in perspective: These laws were not just suddenly unconstitutional; they’ve been violating the Second Amendment for generations and everybody knows it.

But to show how self-righteous and stubborn they can be, legislatures in Albany, Newark and Sacramento not only scrambled to adopt new gun laws, they went out of their way to make the laws worse. Without saying so, those state lawmakers told the Supreme Court to essentially “stick it,” and went about their crusade to crush the rights of law-abiding constituents.

Bluntly put, gun control proponents don’t care what the high court said and they will continue their childish tantrum until the legal and political rug is pulled from beneath them. Thanks to support from equally self-righteous wealthy elites, who think they can run our lives better than we can, this fight might take a while.

One problem for gun rights advocates is the media hasn’t figured out what this battle is really about. The establishment press does not like the Supreme Court to have a conservative majority, so to typical left-leaning newsroom loafers, this is a conflict between progressives and the court. This much was evident months ago when The Hill — the Washington, D.C. news organ covering all things Congressional — headlined a story, “New York Seeks to test Supreme Court on gun control.”

The headline and the story below it were fundamentally wrong. Gov. Kathy Hochul and her allies in Albany weren’t testing the court, they were challenging the Constitution. That The Hill writers and editors couldn’t see this was disappointing, if not downright alarming. The press doesn’t seem to appreciate the dilemma they would face if the anti-gun Left is able to turn the right to keep and bear arms into a government-regulated privilege. Self-styled “progressives” might try to make the same “progress” with the First Amendment.

Let’s be frank: It would take maybe a heartbeat before some demagogues decided to put the screws to journalists and publications whose views they don’t care for. Instead of mandating a permit to purchase a firearm — as was the thrust of legislation in Washington, a citizen initiative in neighboring Oregon and existing law in a few other states — how about creating a government department of truth, where news stories might have to pass muster before publication? Yeah, that could never happen here, in a country where half the population thinks it’s a good idea to ban certain guns.

How To Fight Back

All right, we’ve identified the problem. Let’s consider some solutions — actions requiring gun owners get in the fight.
Trust me, you are not a spectator. You’re one of two things: a combatant or a casualty. There is no third option.

First, this fight is already in the courts and it is up to you to support the battle. Donations to such organizations as the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, Gun Owners of America, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and many state-level groups that frequently join in the lawsuits are critical. Legal battles cost money, and if you want to keep government off of your back, break out the checkbook and make a donation.

Secondly, it’s only six months until 2024 so start looking right now for political candidates willing to challenge the anti-gun extremists in your state legislature, county commission, city or town council and even on the school board. The other side is fighting on all levels and you must meet them head-on. One of the most effective ways is to vote out every gun-grabbing misfit on the ballot.

And don’t think for even a second your vote doesn’t count. The other side wants you to think of this as a means of discouraging you from voting.

Third, stop kidding yourself this fight isn’t about your lever-action deer rifle or double-barrel shotgun hiding in the corner closet. The battle over Second Amendment rights is all-inclusive. Everybody gets pulled in because the other side has already invited you by default. You’re a gun owner and the gun prohibition movement want you disarmed. To believe otherwise is folly.

Lastly, forget for the time being your dislike for others in the firearms fraternity, be it an individual or organization. We are all in the same boat. If it springs a leak, we all need to bail together. To get where we are going, we all need to row in the same direction.

One lesson to learn from liberals is they never fight amongst themselves in public. They all march to the same drumbeat, and set aside their differences to reach their ultimate goal — to crush your right to keep and bear arms.

You must do likewise. Stop treating this like a disagreement among friends. These people are not your friends and what’s more, they are not friendly to the Constitution.

As Rep. Jim Walsh said, gun control fanatics have been looking for a fight. Roll up your sleeves and give them one they will regret.