The National Shooting Sports Federation, or NSSF, is what many anti-gun voices claim the NRA is; the organization that actually represents the firearm industry, and they do that by working to block gun control measures all over the nation.

With a job that big, you can’t expect every effort to be a win. As the old saying goes, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.

But the NSSF is claiming some big wins in state legislators this year.

A new Axios report shows state lawmakers passed more pro-firearm industry bills over the past 12 months than gun control measures. That’s reflective of the efforts of NSSF’s Government Relations – State Affairs team working relentlessly to promote, protect and preserve the firearm industry from gun control efforts that seek to hobble and even destroy it.

According to the Axios report, more than 1,700 firearm-related bills have been introduced in state legislatures since last May, following the Uvalde, Texas, tragedy. Ninety-three of those bills were passed by legislatures and signed into law. Of those, 56 percent “expanded access to firearms or benefited the firearms industry by allowing manufacturing in the state or protecting them from liability lawsuits.” On the flip side, nearly 44 percent of the bills “restricted access to firearms or supported victims/potential victims in gun-related cases.”

Some states have been tougher than others. Several states like Washington, Oregon, California, Illinois, New York and Connecticut have supermajorities that skew toward gun control. Other states, like Arizona, Nevada and Virginia are slim majorities or split between the parties controlling one side of the legislature or the other. Still, other states like Florida moved aggressively to protect the firearm industry.

NSSF’s Government Relations team didn’t take any state for granted – as either completely for the firearm industry or against it. Nothing was – or is – taken for granted.

Among the measures NSSF is touting here are efforts to undermine Operation Chokepoint, which seeks to cut off lawful firearm-based businesses from financial institutions, as well as the recent gun control bills in Nevada that were vetoed by the first-year governor.

This is important for all of us, especially me, to keep in mind.

We’ve been winning in the courts left and rights since Bruen, of course, but we also need to be winning in the legislatures as well. Stopping anti-gun measures is vital, but so is passing pro-gun laws.

Our rights matter, and retaining them matters, but even more than that, we need to restore them from the decades of creep gun control forces have managed.

NSSF is clearly getting the job done, though they’re not doing it alone. A number of gun rights groups have also been fighting for and against similar measures. At least most of them also deserve a pat on the back for their efforts.

But it’s also not time for anyone to rest on their laurels.

Next year’s state legislative cycles will bring more threats to our Second Amendment rights. It’ll bring more opportunities to restore our rights.

The fight is never over.