The year is 2026.
The United States has a Republican president, a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, a conservative-leaning Supreme Court, and a Justice Department that has a Civil Rights Division that, so far, has a 100% pro-2A track record.
Theoretically, the governing law of the land is the Constitution. And one of the most important liberties that safeguard our freedom is enumerated in 27 words with no qualifications, though courts and legislatures everywhere have added mountains worth.
This should be the IDEAL situation in which to repeal all infringements against the Second Amendment, defund and depopulate hostile and weaponized bureaucratic agencies, appoint objective and impartial judges loyal to the Constitution, and enshrine additional protections to safeguard against future anti-constitutional administrations through pro-2A laws and court decisions.
The reality is far from the ideal. Only a fraction of that has occurred. And it leads to a very difficult question: If in the best of circumstances we have failed to dramatically roll back infringements and safeguard our rights, what are we going to do when inevitably the political winds of change bring a new and hostile administration?
The answer to that question is: NOW is the time to create a plan.
The System is Broken
It cannot be a legislative plan because the elected representatives who hold a majority have largely failed to codify the Make America Great Again agenda. The sole, significant 2A legislative victory has been the (arguably temporary) repeal of the $200 NFA tax, which hostile legislators vow to reimplement to an inflation-adjusted amount of $4,000 upon regime change. Every elected official swears an oath to the Constitution and just as quickly violates it.
It cannot be a judicial solution because courts at all levels have shown the willingness to both defy Supreme Court precedent that protects the Second Amendment and to issue rulings that are hostile towards constitutional liberties on all fronts. The Supreme Court itself seems unwilling to defend its own decisions and lacks an effective enforcement mechanism. Legal battles against Biden-era administrative rules lack teeth because they can simply be reinstated. As we have covered before, policy changes do not secure rights.
Finally, it cannot be an executive solution because, even with a supposedly pro-Second Amendment president, we have seen numerous hostile and authoritarian takes from the president himself, along with Department of Justice leadership, attacking both First and Second Amendment liberties.
To state the obvious, the executive representing a Democrat administration will be even more hostile towards Second Amendment liberties.
What does that leave?
The State Solution
We have documented a trend showing that the Second Amendment battleground has shifted to the states. Although states have to abide by federal preemption, many refuse to enforce unconstitutional federal laws and have defunded state-level agencies so that they cannot participate in enforcing illegal federal measures. Other “red” states have codified additional protections, passed constitutional carry, and largely encouraged private firearms ownership. Some have created business environments welcoming firearms manufacturers.
But the tides are quickly changing at the state level with a clear bifurcation into two camps, which are pro-gun and those that are pro-disarmament. The rapid and dramatic shifts are backed and funded by globalist efforts using installed politicians and anti-gun groups to introduce legislation that outlaws, bans, and confiscates firearms. New York, California, Washington, Virginia, Rhode Island, Maryland, and New Jersey are just a few that come to mind. The state solution is limited.
Community and Individual Solutions
Government failure at all levels leads to an inevitable conclusion that communities and individuals are the last bulwarks against tyranny. Mass non-compliance becomes a necessity. However, non-compliance is a passive effort, equivalent to digging into the trenches and reinforcing the defenses. It is not an offensive way to win the battle. And much like a dam giving way to pressure, non-compliance fails when individuals give way as penalties become harsher both legally and financially. Few have the determination and guts to resist a door-to-door confiscation, which we see being threatened to the north in Canada.
A more effective form of non-compliance is mass, armed demonstration while openly carrying firearms, and normalizing the open carry of firearms in general, something widely championed by our colleagues at 2a.org. Even law enforcement firmly under the control of a politically left administration is unlikely to desire to engage fellow citizens in an armed confrontation. There is a certain safety and strength in numbers. Therefore, we need to reinstate the idea of – and practical application of – the Militia. The Militia is simply an armed, organized version of The People.
The normalization of collective training is the logical extension of the revival of The Militia. Not just for proficiency of arms, but as a political statement that The People are armed, trained, and prepared to resist tyranny – it is a counter-statement that is as loud or even louder than that of a politician penning a bill that disarms the People.
And finally, in the golden age of firearms manufacturing, it is our duty to promote the proliferation of firearms through purchasing, 3D printing, home manufacturing, sharing of open source files, and any other method that effectively nullifies laws and ensures the population is armed, regardless of the party in power. In other words, make it numerically impossible to ban firearms. Today, there are nearly 600 million firearms in the United States in the hands of approximately 100 million gun owners, with an adjusted 1,000,000+ background checks for new firearms purchases each month. Those numbers often peak under democratic administrations, even in staunchly liberal states.
Conclusion
There is a day coming when the executive order to protect the Second Amendment will be repealed; the Second Amendment Section of the Civil Rights Division will be disbanded; courts will reverse Bruen, Heller, McDonald, and other cases using the most imaginative and outrageous arguments; and states will simply outlaw possession of arms.
The logical conclusion is that at some point, the only way to defend the freedoms we hold dear will be to use the Second Amendment for its intended purpose, as our forefathers foresaw. While many hope this is a last resort, including this publication, it is an inevitable outcome if we do not start taking the measures above soon.
