With Election Day less than two months away, and early voting beginning in many places in just a matter of days, now’s the time for gun owners to get involved if they want to keep their Second Amendment rights secure. On today’s Bearing Arms’ Cam & Co, Gun Owners of America Senior Vice President Erich Pratt joins me to highlight five races that gun owners should be involved in right now.

* Lauren Boebert (CO-3): You may remember Boebert for her confrontation of gun-grabber Beto O’Rourke when he was stumping for votes in Colorado last fall. Boebert’s also the owner of Shooter’s Grill in Rifle, Colorado, where all the staff open-carry, and she promises to be a fierce defender of the Second Amendment if she’s elected. Boebert actually defeated 5-time incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton during the Republican primary earlier this year, and is facing former state legislator Diane Mitsch Bush in November.

* Senator Steve Daines (MT Senate): Pratt calls Daines “a pro-gun leader in the Senate who is in the fight of his life” as he’s being challenged by Montana Governor Steve Bullock.  Pratt tells me that for GOA, this is the most important race in the Senate – and it is certainly one of the most contested races in the country. Bullock has embraced gun bans, red flag laws, magazine bans and more, but he’s still running campaign ads in which he claims to “support the Second Amendment.”

* Nick Freitas (VA-07): Freitas is taking on first-term incumbent Abigail Spanberger, who won election in the 2018 blue wave in part because of the campaign cash thrown her way by Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety. Spanberger’s been nearly silent on the issue of gun control on the campaign trail, and has so far agreed to only one debate with Freitas, but gun owners in the 7th District are highly motivated to send a message to Virginia Democrats when it comes to gun control after the passage of a half-dozen gun laws in the state legislature this year.

* Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21): He’s only in his first term, but he’s already emerged as one of the 2A leaders in the House. Roy’s opponent is former state legislator Wendy Davis, a darling of the Left nationwide because she tried to filibuster a pro-life bill in the Texas state house back in 2018. She’s been the beneficiary of a huge influx of campaign cash and has the backing of gun control groups like Moms Demand Action thanks to her flip-flop on 2A issues. It was just a few years ago that Davis was backing open carry in Texas and earning the ire of Shannon Watts, but now Davis is an out-and-proud “gunsense” voter and all has been forgiven as far as anti-gun activists are concerned.  

* Martha McSally (AZ Senate). Sen. McSally is not the strongest pro-gunner compared to the others, and honestly, she’s not run a great candidate, but her opponent Mark Kelly would immediately become one of the loudest voices for gun control in Congress if he’s elected to the Senate. Kelly is the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and one of the co-founders of the gun control group that bears her name. The polls have Kelly way ahead in this race at the moment, though some recent polls have shown the race tightening up a bit.

In addition to these five incredibly important races, we also highlight one of the many heroes of 9/11 on today’s show. Terry O’Hara was a member of the New York Police Department, and like many officers, he spent untold hours at Ground Zero assisting in search and recovery efforts in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Like far too many first responders, O’Hara suffered from severe health problems as a result of his heroic efforts to save lives and recover the remains of those killed in the attacks, and was eventually diagnosed with cancer in May of 2015.

Terry was one of the first people to reach out to me when my wife received her own cancer diagnosis in September of 2016. I’d never met him before, but he messaged me on Twitter with words of advice and encouragement, and we kept up a steady correspondence online in the ensuring months, even as his health grew worse. In February of 2017 Terry entered the hospital for the last time, and passed away surrounded by his family a few weeks later on March 10th, 2017.

I still carry the challenge coin that Terry gave me, and I’ve adopted his mantra as my own when it comes to encouraging those who facing their own battle with cancer and those folks like me who are the support system for a loved one: stay in the fight.

Terry O’Hara was a fighter, a fierce supporter of the Second Amendment, a loving husband and father, a good friend, and a great man. He continues to be missed, and those of us whose lives were touched by his courage and valor will never forget him.