Gun control organizations like Giffords like to pretend they're all about keeping people safe. In their minds, gun control is a pathway to do that, but they tend to frame themselves as "gun safety organizations," which means they should be involved in more than just gun control right?
But while they're knee-deep in some silly stuff, the NSSF's Larry Keane points out what all his organization is actually doing to keep people safe.
Let's understand that this is over and beyond the concept of "guns save lives." That is, in my mind, indisputable but it's also not everything. Guns are objects with no volition of their own. They can't make decisions, which means they can be used for good or ill and can, perhaps more importantly, be mishandled in ways that hurt people unintentionally.
So there's a lot to work with here, and it seems Giffords and the NSSF have very different views on how to address this.
Gun control group Giffords is calling, “Lights. Camera. Action!” The group bent on restricting Constitutional rights put out an all-call for theater pitches to highlight criminal firearm misuse.
“Attention teen writers: Gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people in America. That’s unacceptable, and your voices deserve to be heard,” the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, stated. “Submit a 10-min play to @enoughplays for a chance to have your story told nationwide. Learn more at http://enoughplays.com/writing.”
Giffords’ pivot to actual theater matches their overall approach of using theatrics to push gun control laws that do little to hold criminals accountable for their crimes and instead only penalize law-abiding Americans seeking to exercise their rights to keep and bear arms and the lawful and highly-regulated industry that provides for the exercise of that Constitutional right.
It all makes more sense now.
That's right, Giffords is going to have short plays written that will play primarily to audiences that already agree with them, spend donor money on it, and then pretend they're doing something.
Absolutely brilliant.
Meanwhile, Keane notes what all his organization is doing, and this is just a taste:
Since its launch in 1999, NSSF’s Project ChildSafe® has distributed more than 41 million firearm safety kits that include a locking device and partnered with more than 15,000 law enforcement agencies across the country to give out the locks – no questions asked, free of charge – to promote secure firearm storage practices. The program, part of NSSF’s Real Solutions. Safer Communities® campaign, is just one facet of the firearm industry’s multi-pronged effort at true firearm safety. 2025 marks the 26th anniversary of Project ChildSafe, with many more years ahead of promoting safe and responsible firearm handling and storage.
Other initiatives include Operation Secure Store®, a partner program with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)to educate and help firearm retailers make well-informed security-related decisions to deter and prevent thefts. There’s also Fix NICS®, an effort by the firearm industry, which has changed the law in 16 states and in Congress to get all disqualifying background records entered into the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Firearm retailers must have confidence that FBI NICS has all the information necessary to ensure firearms are not transferred to prohibited individuals.
There's also Don't Lie For the Other Guy, a program that tries to educate and enable gun stores to identify and prevent straw purchases, which are illegal and something everyone out there wants to stop. This is, in fact, a program that groups like Giffords would do well to join forces with the NSSF on because this is an area of commonality.
Or one would think anyway.
See, Keane is right to point out how Giffords is funding one-act plays that just echo their talking points while the NSSF and other pro-gun organizations are actually doing the work.
Yes, I know the NRA has sponsored writing contests themselves, but the NRA isn't purely a gun rights organization. It's also a gun education organization, which writing contests fall under in my view. Giffords, however, decries the NRA at every opportunity, so I don't get why they'd decide to emulate them suddenly, which is what they're doing if they use that to justify their actions.
It should be remembered that the NSSF isn't a purely gun rights organization, but a trade association for the firearms and outdoor industry. These measures fit their mission just fine, even though they could easily justify not doing any of it.
So it's amusing that they're doing more than Giffords.
