[Music]
so let me start by telling you I know my
way around a gun I fired everything from
handguns to sixty caliber machine guns
most of that while I was in the army now
I believe that we can end mass shootings
in the United States and allow
responsible gun owners to own guns and I
think we already know how to do it we
just have to apply make America great
again see whenever there's a mass
shooting we love to compare the u.s. to
other countries there was a study by
criminology expert dr. Adam Langford and
he found that 31% of mass shootings
happen here in the United States that's
more than any other country and every
time one happens almost on cue we start
fighting about video games and the
number of guns and meanwhile the mass
shootings continue what we forget is
that we didn't have regular mass
shootings here in the United States
forty years ago so if we want to make
here safe we don't need to compare
ourselves to other countries what we
need to do is we need to compare us to
us what is different about us from 40
years ago you know what's different our
relationship to guns and our
relationship to fear
see for the first 200 years of this
country mass shootings weren't the norm
also for the first 200 years of this
country the primary reason people own
guns was for hunting and sport guns
actually brought people together to
enjoy the outdoors guns equaled fun and
gun ownership equaled responsibility
as a matter of fact there was an
organization that used to promote the
sport of shooting and work with the
federal government to make sure that
guns were safe and regulated that
organization was the National Rifle
Association
most people don't know are they
forgotten that the NRA used to drive
most of the gun legislation in this
country so we used all for the most part
agree on guns and we didn't hear about a
mass shooting every other week but then
something changed in the 70s there was a
crime spike in this country and the
media went nuts TV newspapers magazines
all started running these stories
constantly about crime and so we became
afraid also in the 70s the debate about
gun rights started to gain national
attention in 1977 the gun rights
activists took over the NRA from the
sportsmen and they shifted their mission
from sports shooting to gun rights first
it was the rights of hunters but then it
became just gun owners then in the early
80s there was a slump in handgun sales
and the NRA started marketing self
defense primarily to women then in the
mid 80s they started running ads in
newspapers promoting concealed carry
weapons and the themes that they used
were the threat of being beaten of being
robbed and of being raped so if you're
afraid if you want to defend yourself
you better get a gun and it's also about
this time that we started seeing a rise
in mass shootings so how does a fearful
citizen buying a gun lead to mass
shootings well today the number one
reason for gun ownership is self-defense
and what that means is that we've
unconsciously started buying guns to
kill people let's talk about that if I
go in to a store and I buy a gun for
self-defense I've crossed two very
specific lines the first line is I've
already decided that I'm willing to take
a human life and the second line is I'm
willing to use a gun to do it and
crossing those lines collectively
represent a significant shift for
America psyche see as human beings it
isn't a big leap to go from fear to
anger the big leap is will I take a
human life and will I use a gun and what
we've done over the last 40 years is
we've made fear the starting point and
we've eliminated those other two
barriers but don't just take my word for
it
listen to dick Heller himself dick
Heller was the plaintiff in the 2008
Supreme Court case where the Supreme
Court said that individuals have a right
to keep and bear arms for self-defense
in an interview after the decision
Heller said it was a great day for
freedom in America a great day for the
Constitution a great day for citizens it
was a great day for gun owners it was a
great day for fear ful people so let's
recap in the 80s we had fear and were
told to get a gun for that fear in 2008
the Supreme Court said we have a right
to our fear also about that time we
started writing laws that made fear a
reasonable excuse to shoot somebody take
Florida Stand Your Ground law an adult
with a gun George Zimmerman followed and
shot an unarmed child Trayvon Martin and
then shot the kid during a confrontation
now 40 years ago if you followed
somebody with a gun and then shot them
in a confrontation that you started
you're probably going to be charged with
murder and some states maybe even
premeditated murder because you brought
a gun to a fight but Zimmerman didn't
break the law the law was written in a
way that he was allowed to shoot an
unarmed person because he felt afraid so
somebody can shoot somebody because they
feel afraid so what we've done is we've
created this culture that says if I have
a problem here's the tool to solve it
and in a culture that allows us to use a
gun to address our own fears it's not
hard to believe that somebody who's
troubled or angry or disenfranchised
would then use a gun to solve their
problems and if you're mentally
disturbed we've now made guns rational
decision
so let's face it mass shootings aren't
the giant leap they used to be oh and it
gets worse because now it's not just
fear of crime its fear of losing our
freedom after mass shootings gun sales
go up and it's not because we're afraid
of the next mass shooter it's because
we're afraid of losing our freedom in
President Obama's two terms in office
gun sales went up a hundred and fifty
eight percent because we were constantly
told he was coming for our guns you may
recall about a year after the Columbine
shooting Charlton Heston gave a speech
to the NRA National Convention in the
speech he was encouraging members to
vote pro-gun in the coming election but
listen to the words that he chose as we
set out this season to defeat the
divisive forces that would take freedom
away I want to say those fighting words
for everyone within the sound of my
voice to heed and to hear from my cold
dead hands so is it any wonder we can't
agree when one side says gun controlled
the other hears you want to take my
freedom away but it didn't used to be
that way we used to agree so how do we
turn back the clock how do we get back
to being the America before all of this
well I'm not going to tell you to get
rid of your guns and I'm not going to
tell you to stop fighting for gun
legislation what I am gonna tell you is
if we want to make here safe again we
have to suck out this poison that has
infected us for the last 40 years fear
FDR warned us
he said the only thing we have to fear
is fear itself
that's not because there isn't anything
that can harm us that's because there's
nothing more destructive than what we do
to ourselves when we act out of fear
so before you repost that sensational
news story or you retweet that angry
tweet just ask yourself am I being a
part of the solution or am I being a
part of the problem and most importantly
we need to end fearful gun ownership if
you own a gun out of fear or worry know
what you're being sold and it's not in
your best interest I know you thought
you were buying peace of mind but what
you're really being sold was something
that has failed this country for the
last 40 years and if you're an NRA
member convince your leadership to go
back to its roots go back to promoting
safe gun ownership instead of this fear
of not having a gun and lastly if you're
a responsible gun owner America needs
you to go back 40 years and lead the way
again on responsible gun legislation
because the only way we lose the right
to bear arms is if we keep fighting for
irresponsible gun ownership because a
fearful gun owner and a safe society do
not mix but if we stop buying into the
fear and we go back to safe responsible
fun gun ownership we can make America
safe again
thank you
[Applause]