On Monday, August 18th, I loaded up my pickup with over 40,000 petitions signed by NAGR members and supporters and hit the road bound for Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The lucky recipient of my nine boxes of correspondence from angry gun owners? Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).
The message? Immediately fire the Senate Parliamentarian and advance pro-gun legislation that will dismantle the National Firearms Act and totally deregulate suppressors as well as short-barreled rifles and shotguns.
While I was in beautiful Sioux Falls, I made sure to do a little sightseeing. I simply couldn’t pass up a chance to snag a photo of the massive billboard adorned with our poetic words, “John Thune Sold Out Gun Owners.”
Of course, as enjoyable as this trip was for me. It shouldn’t have been necessary.
Just a few weeks ago, Thune could have been a pro-gun hero. We had a solid bill that would have taken a hatchet to the NFA. It had the votes, it had momentum, it even had the support of the President; all we needed was a Majority Leader with the balls to tell the anti-gun Harry Reid-appointed Parliamentarian to pound sand when she tried to block our pro-gun legislation.
Unfortunately, for gun owners, John Thune chose to accept the non-binding decree from the D.C bureaucrat, singlehandedly snuffing out our golden opportunity to end a century-old gun control law.
Why Thune Caved?
I wish I could say this great surrender was an anomaly from a Republican in Leadership. Unfortunately, this pathetic behavior has become all too predictable, and frankly, the mainstream gun lobby is primarily to blame. You see, for decades, the establishment gun lobby has given A+ ratings, or at the very least turned a blind eye to countless Republicans who habitually sell out the Second Amendment.
Now, thanks to this self-inflicted culture of compromise in the D.C. Swamp, influential Republicans from even the most pro-gun states and districts regularly use your Second Amendment rights as a political bargaining chip, all in the name of advancing their political careers.
The result? A death by a thousand cuts evisceration of our cherished Second Amendment Rights.
How to Stop the Bleeding?
Here at the National Association for Gun Rights, we don’t play by the same rules as the establishment.
If you vote against gun rights, we will show no mercy. That’s why in this case we decided to hit John Thune where it hurts: His carefully crafted public image on his home turf.
It’s no secret Republicans in pro-gun states care about cultivating a rugged all-American pro-gun image even if their voting record says otherwise. Just check out the Facebook profile for any Republican in a pro-gun district: I’ll bet you a steak dinner you’ll find a photo of them wielding a rifle and making bogus claims like “no one is more pro-gun than me.”
That’s where our billboard program comes in. Thanks to the generosity of NAGR supporters, South Dakota is currently dotted with more “Thune Sold Out Gun Owners” billboards than the San Francisco sidewalk turd map.
Much to my delight, I drove past one on I-29 only a few miles before the exit for Thune’s Sioux Falls district office. So there is no doubt Thune’s staffers, Thune’s friends, and Thune’s donors have seen our billboards, and now the Majority Leader has some serious explaining to do to the folks who believed his shotgun-wielding photo meant he was the real deal on gun rights.
Just to make sure Thune got the message, his office is also now in possession of the 40,000 + petitions from pro-gun activists airing their grievances with Thune’s lack of pro-gun leadership.
Some may say we are being too hard on Thune, a Republican who votes right “most of the time.” I say if John Thune wants sympathy, he can find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis.
The pro-gun opportunity cost of Thune’s capitulation during the reconciliation, aka One Big Beautiful Bill fight, cannot be overstated. That failure can rest with no one but the Majority Leader, who chose not to fight.
However, we are not unfair, which is why we have done the heavy lifting for Sen. Thune and carefully spelled out Barney-style exactly what needs to be done for us to accept his apology.
What’ll It Be, John?
These are our demands.
First, fire the Harry Reid-appointed Parliamentarian. This is 100% within the authority of the Senate Majority Leader. They do it all the time and don’t need a reason whatsoever. This is the low-hanging fruit, and frankly, should have been done as soon as the Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate.
Second, there are already talks about another reconciliation package. This is excellent news as it provides another golden opportunity to pass pro-gun legislation with a simple 51-vote majority in the U.S., rather than the usual 61 votes, the Senate needs to break the filibuster.
With Congress heading back from recess, your National Association for Gun Rights is continuing to lead this fight. As for Sen. Thune, he can either choose to act like a LEADER and move to seize this golden opportunity to advance gun rights, or he can continue down this path of capitulating to the gun grabbers, and the grassroots retaliation will not let up.
About the Author
Ryan Frasor serves as Deputy Director of Political Affairs at the National Association for Gun Rights, where he has been a key member of the team for nearly a decade. A U.S. Marine veteran, Frasor brings battlefield discipline and strategic insight to the fight for the Second Amendment. His years of experience in grassroots politics and legislative battles have made him a trusted voice for gun owners nationwide.
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