The Gathering Storm
Michael Marks-FCI Director, Federal Affairs

In 1948, Sir Winston Churchill published a four-volume history of the Second World War, sharing with us his unique perspective on a conflict that had at the time been deemed unthinkable. The first book of that series, The Gathering Storm, described the political and social decisions that allowed the architects of WWII to bring the world to the flaming edge of ruin. In his own words, Churchill described the theme of the book as how good people, "through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to rearm."

Allusions to that awful war, most notably the offhand labeling of someone as a Nazi, are oft bandied about by journalists who display a shameful ignorance of the scope of that dire history. And yet, while it would be an injustice to cast our current crop of politicians on the same stage as monsters like Hitler and Stalin (remembering of course that those men started as no more than elected politicians of their own era), it is altogether proper that we should look at the lessons shared by the good Mr. Churchill as to how the citizens of great nations sat quietly as civilization quite literally collapsed around them. Those who do not learn from history, it is well noted, are doomed to repeat it.

As little as ninety days ago, many of the events we see on our headlines today would have also seemed unthinkable. In that brief time our government has given away billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars, with legislators from both parties later admitting that they hadn’t even paused to read the bill. It has overstepped its traditional role in bold strides towards socialism and nationalization of business. It has issued formal opinions declaring that veterans of the US Armed Forces, returning from defending our nation on foreign soil, are among the clear threats to America as part of a "right-wing extremist" movement. With frightening acceleration, our government is shooting from the hip, running a roughshod ad-hocracy that disregards precedent as well as constitutional foundation.

Nowhere is this prospect more frightening than in the hearts of conservative Americans who believe in self-reliance and self-defense, and who honor the troops who so selflessly placed themselves in harm’s way to protect us all. Quickly recognizing that action, even deplorable action, carries little public consequence, liberal politicians are setting their sights on a gun control agenda that would have been impossible under normal conditions. While the Supreme Court in the landmark Heller decision reaffirmed that gun ownership is an individual right, politicians have simply shifted their tactics from banning guns to taxing and regulating them out of existence. This is not some alarmist possibility, not a hypothetical doomsday scenario -- it is a reality, and the war has already begun.

With the return of "tea party" protests drawing Americans together by the thousands, the strength of a unified populace has come forward in the news as it has not been seen in decades. As Benjamin Franklin so aptly said "We must hang together gentlemen, else we shall most assuredly hang separately." If we do not merge our voices, if we fail to rally our troops and pool our resources, the runaway Washington freight train will crush our ability to enjoy our Second Amendment freedoms just as surely as if they had abolished the Amendment itself. And when the Second Amendment falls, there will be nothing left with which to defend the First.

As it has in the past, the fifty-caliber shooting sports are once again the first link in the chain that some legislators want to forge to strangle our firearm freedom. Whether crucified for cosmetic differences or Dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the fifty caliber shooting sports subjected to outlandish false claims -- Cong. Jim Moran of Virginia’s claim that a fifty could "knock a locomotive off the tracks" (no kidding) was my favorite delusion - the fifty has been considered the vital first victim in establishing precedent that guns and ammo can be restricted simply because of size. As admitted by California legislator Paul Koretz, author of California’s notorious AB-50 gun ban, once the fifty is no longer the biggest caliber available, they will go after the next caliber in line: your .45, your .308, and so forth.

Our defense, in this battle as in all battles past, is unity. At the forefront of the fifty caliber shooting sports stands the Fifty Caliber Shooters Association (FCSA), organizers of the nation’s largest body of fifty caliber sportsmen and women, who every year gather to enjoy the thrill and camaraderie of long-range marksmanship. Representing a huge and highly visible rebuttal of the gun-banners claim that fifties have no sporting purpose, FCSA has been a vital shield to the rights of gun owners, not just high-power rifle, but ALL gun owners. FCSA is committed to preserving and promoting the shooting sports, and maintaining a clear and demonstrable evidence of the fact that gun-owning Americans can and do enjoy even "big, loud guns" in safe and lawful competitions across the country.

We ask your help in keeping FCSA alive and well. In this economy -- created by the very scoundrels who now tell us they can "fix" our gun rights as well as they fixed Wall Street -- money is harder to come by and yet it has never been more desperately needed. Under the mere prospect of this current administration the price of ammunition has soared, with stores and wholesalers alike on months of backorder. This is not alarm, it is not fear-mongering... this is real and it is growing. In reading The Gathering Storm, we see a world that did not want to believe that war was around the corner, yet in hindsight the evidence was clear. Today we do not want to believe that our government would sell out its citizens, but it has, repeatedly. We do not want to believe that it would disparage and dishonor the very soldiers who defend it, but it has. And surely to God we don’t want to believe that less than a year after the Supreme Court reaffirmed our rights to own guns that a new Administration would try to take that right away by hook or by crook... but it is. We can band together now, and support the organizations that will make our voices heard, or look back one day as a nation disarmed and say "we should have seen this coming." Let us not, as Churchill said, through our unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature, allow the wicked to rearm. The time to act is now.

FCI is going to continue our fight as we’ve done for the past ten years, but once again we need your help and support. Please give consideration to help us continue the fight for our rights.