January 14th, 2014
Townhall | Katie Pavlich
According to Jake McGuigan, gun and firearms accessory retailers provide endless opportunities from a grassroots standpoint.
“Retailers Need to Wake Up,” Director of Government Relations and State Affairs at National Shooting Sports Foundation Jake McGuigan said during a grassroots seminar at the 2014 SHOT Show Tuesday morning. “It’s not political, it’s our livelihood and our constitutional right.”
Anti-gun politicians throughout the country have done everything possible over the past two years, and over the past four decades, to turn law abiding citizens into criminals. In 2012, we saw New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sign the S.A.F.E. Act in the middle of the night, limiting law abiding gun owners to just seven rounds in their ten round capacity magazines. In Colorado, we saw legislators put the cap on magazines at 15 rounds, forcing Magpul and it’s more than 200 employees out of the state to Texas.
According to McGuigan, gun and firearms accessory retailers provide endless opportunities from a grassroots standpoint; after all, they’re the ones talking with customers on a daily basis. Effective lobbying begins at the gun store and with customers who live in local communities and neighborhoods. Retailers must explain to their legislators what will happen to their businesses if particular legislation is passed that harms them. They cannot continue to make the excuse, “We don’t want to be political.”