Gun control advocates will never truly stop working to restrict our right to keep and bear arms. Despite their protestations to the contrary–often sincere protestations, to be fair–their every effort seeks to do little more than retard our ability to buy and carry firearms in a lawful manner, all while doing little to stop the criminals who are already skirting existing laws and will think little of breaking still more laws. It’s simply what gun control advocates do.

However, they seem to be grasping that there’s little they can do at the national level. Their every attempt seems to die on the vine, making congressional efforts a waste of time.

Instead, they’re focusing their attention on the state level where they believe they can create change.

Advocates of stricter restrictions on gun ownership believe they can notch new wins in state legislatures across the country this year, after Republicans in some states signaled they would be willing to break with the National Rifle Association to support some new rules.

Advocates pointed to Massachusetts and New Jersey, the first two states to ban so-called bump stocks, the rifle modifications used by a gunman to murder dozens at a concert in Las Vegas last year. Both bills were passed by Democratic legislatures and signed by Republican governors.

A bump stock ban won approval from a legislative committee in Virginia earlier this week. Similar bills have been introduced in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Indiana and Washington.

“States are really taking the lead on banning these weapons in the face of Congressional inaction,” said Robin Lloyd, director of government affairs at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. “There is a growing acknowledgement and recognition that we have a gun safety problem in this country, and there are common sense solutions.”

No, it’s not an acknowledgment of anything. It’s fear prancing around like it’s a viable basis for good policy when it’s nothing of the sort.

It’s funny how they start off talking about “breaking” with the NRA, though. The NRA is still the boogeyman to gun grabbers. What they don’t get is that the power of the NRA isn’t in its bank account or membership, but in its leadership.

As the largest gun rights organization in the nation, even non-members look to them to vet politicians. Gun rights supporters look at the NRA grades for politicians in order to decide who to support and who note to support. A bad grade for a Republican is a death sentence in most primaries, for example.

Republicans who side with Democrats on gun control measures have all but signed their political death warrants. Only Republicans surviving in Democrat strongholds could possibly survive such a move, and they tend to have supported other Democratic talking points well before that moment.

However, this focus only illustrates the importance of supporting local gun rights organizations. While groups like the GOA and the NRA do operate at the state level as well, they tend to be focused on the nation as a whole. Their focus may be on pushing through constitutional carry in Alabama, which does nothing if you live in New Jersey, for example.

Support gun rights groups on every level, otherwise you may find yourself under draconian anti-gun rules before you know it.