Last week, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), accepted the Republican party’s nomination for vice president at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, WI. Sen. Vance’s life story is well-known to many through his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, which recounts his familial roots in Eastern Kentucky and his hardscrabble upbringing in Middletown, OH. True to form, President Trump chose a patriot with deep ties to Heartland America and to the values and struggles of its resilient, self-reliant people. JD Vance went on to serve with the U.S. Marines in Iraq, graduate from Ohio State University, and then distinguish himself at Yale Law School. He has not, however, forgotten where he came from. He has an unwavering voting record on Second Amendment issues as a U.S. senator, and his acceptance speech drew the most applause as he recounted finding 19 loaded handguns in his grandmother’s house after her death, which he said reflected her determination never to leave her loved ones unprotected. JD Vance is a solidly pro-gun choice for vice president and can be trusted to protect the rights of America’s gun owners.
Gun ownership is a way of life in the communities where Vance was raised, and he recalls first shooting a rifle at the tender age of 5. He also recalls the stern instruction on gun safety he received, which he said was “reinforced … constantly”. Vance’s military service further supplemented his first-hand familiarity and facility with firearms. And as a private citizen he has unapologetically posed with his own AR-15 on social media, including in one post viewed 7.4 million times. Guns are not merely a political prop or some newfound adult fascination to JD Vance. They are ingrained in his experience and the culture that produced him.
Vance demonstrated his commitment to the Second Amendment during his campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2021-22. In an op-ed for the Columbus Dispatch, he outlined the varied threats facing gun owners under the Biden administration, including anti-gun nominees, anti-gun rulemakings and executive orders, and an “unholy alliance between government and business” to suppress Second Amendment rights. He recognized these moves as “the worst kind of political showmanship,” restrictions that “will make it harder for law-abiding Ohioans to exercise their Second Amendment rights” while doing little or nothing to have a positive “effect on gun violence in our country.” Moreover, he publicly opposed the then-pending omnibus gun control monstrosity known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
Vance has proven as a senator, more importantly, that he is willing to back up those words with his actions and his votes. He has co-sponsored bills to (among other things): enact interstate reciprocity for concealed carry; remove suppressors from the National Firearms Act; overrule the Biden administration’s “zero tolerance” regulation of gun dealers; and prevent the use of declarations of emergency to be used as a pretext for gun control. He has also co-sponsored resolutions of disapproval for overreaching gun control regulations, including ATF’s attempts to re-designate braced-equipped pistols as “short-barreled rifles” and to impose “universal background checks” under the guise of changing standards for dealer licensing. He additionally has consistently cast pro-gun votes, including in favor of protecting the Second Amendment rights of veterans who are assigned fiduciaries to manage their VA disability benefits. JD Vance’s record on firearm issues shows him to be a trustworthy ally of gun owners in the U.S. Senate.
Vance’s candidacy is also opposed by the major gun control groups and the legacy media, who claim Trump/Vance is a “dream ticket” for “gun extremists.” Needless to say, it is hardly “extreme” to work within the political process to protect the Second Amendment. But, to borrow a phrase, it would be no vice in any event. And while those anti-gun groups are not often right about much, it is certainly true gun owners will sleep much more soundly once the hard work of electing the Trump/Vance ticket to the White House is accomplished.
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