Now, obviously, that links to my piece about the Business Insider piece. That’s because I’m contractually obligated to not waste your time by sending you back to that nonsense when I can link you to something far better.

Yes, I’m being modest here.

Anyway, the NRA and it’s essay contest. Some people don’t like it.

The NRA, however, is defending it.

The NRA regularly weathers a wide variety of attacks from members of the mainstream media, but a recent story from Business Insider has taken such attacks to an all-time low.

The Business Insider story, titled “The NRA wants your kid to love guns: Programs promote 2nd Amendment absolutism to kindergarteners on up,” begins this way: “For the National Rifle Association, no American is too young to join in their absolutist defense of the Second Amendment—and that includes kindergarteners.”

What Business Insider’s Laura Italiano is attacking is the annual youth essay contest, sponsored by the NRA’s Civil Rights Defense Fund. Apparently, to those on the other side of the gun-control battle, the theme “What Does The Second Amendment Mean To You?” is repugnant, despite the fact that the contest encourages youth to give deeper thought to their constitutionally protected rights.

The story goes on to quote gun-control activists who express how horrible they think it is to provide a venue for young Americans to learn more about the U.S. Constitution and their basic rights.

“It’s very dangerous for younger Americans to be indoctrinated with the viewpoint that the Second Amendment allows every American to lawfully possess a firearm,” said Kris Brown, president of the gun-control group Brady.

The Second Amendment, of course, protects an individual right.

Of course, that’s hardly the dumbest thing Kris Brown has said in the last week or two. Not by a longshot.

But Brown wasn’t alone in her criticism. She just offered the dumbest argument humanly possible.

At least she stayed on-brand.

As for the essay contest, the NRA’s piece hits many of the same points that I did, namely that gun control groups also host essay contests that don’t seem to be any kind of a problem for the folks at Business Insider. Indoctrination is good when they’re the ones doing the indoctrination, apparently.

Yet the response also goes into a discussion of the NRA’s many youth programs, which is an excellent point. The truth of the matter is that the organization does have a lot of impact on kids and youth shooting, but also has programs dedicated to youth firearm safety, something I don’t think anyone should have any kind of issue with.

But we need to remember the overall purpose of the Business Insider piece, something the NRA didn’t touch on.

The purpose is to try and shove gun ownership into a closet, there to rot until people forget that it’s actually a right one can exercise and probably should, especially under certain circumstances.

That’s what the issue really is on the NRA’s essay contest. They want kids indoctrinated in all sorts of things–things people like Kris Brown aren’t taking issue with–but not in the fact that they actually have a right to keep and bear arms because it’ll make it easier to strip it from them later.

Well, I’m glad the contest is still a thing. I hope other pro-Second Amendment groups have essay contests, too. I want every school kid in America to have an opportunity to talk about what the Second Amendment means to them.

And if Kris Brown and her buddies get bothered by that, well, that’s just a bonus.