“It’s the time of year when Americans are inclined to make resolutions. Some will opt to try and lose weight. Others may want to quit smoking, cut back on drinking, start an exercise program, go back to school, or find more rewarding employment,” I posted back in 2016.  “Those can all be worthy goals for gun owners to aspire to, but they neglect the preservation and restoration of the right to keep and bear arms, surely a concern of all who are not oblivious to the efforts of those working to undermine and eviscerate it.”

That was actually a follow-up to a series of articles I’d written years earlier for Examiner.com, and ended up profiling 20 different achievable goals for gun owners that would not only enhance their personal skill sets and development, but also help to advance Second Amendment interests. By presenting a variety of options, gun owners could pick one or more to fit in with their specific talents, capabilities, and interests.

Because that site is no longer active, rather than redirect individual links to slow-loading Internet Archive web crawl results (which you can still do if you want to), summarizing below what each article said will provide the gist of things.

I will attend an Appleseed: Drawing from “To Plant a Seed,” my August 2008 Guns Magazine “Rights Watch” column about the Appleseed Project, the article included a link to the website so readers could learn more and find out how to enroll.

I will know my representatives: Who are your state representatives? Who is your congressman and your senator? Do you know how to contact them on gun bills and more? If not, why not learn? And if you do, are they approachable or would your time be better spent trying to protect your rights another way? (As an update, do you know how to express your views to them via “social media”?)

I will write letters to the editor: Do you see something gun-related in the newspaper spreading misinformation? A well-crafted letter can help correct that. Find out who to address it to, keep things on topic, resist the urge to morph from wit into insults, and make sure to adhere to posted word limits to increase the chance yours will be published.

I will join a gun rights group: National, state or local, or national, state AND local, and if you don’t like one, find another… If there’s one thing Democrats know how to do it’s to organize. Gun owners can benefit from keeping apprised of bills, lawsuits, and politicians to oppose and support, and network/attend events with like-minded shooters and activists.

I will send a politician the gun rights questionnaire: I developed a questionnaire (that I update from time to time) designed to elicit unequivocal answers about specifics, so if a politician says, “I believe in the Second Amendment you can better nail him down to “How?” and then compare words to performance. Feel free to develop your own.

I will build a guns and liberty video collection: Educating yourself is necessary and fine, but why not become a force multiplier and share them with others? You could show them to friends who come over, or set aside time at gun club meetings, or even get a room at the library and do a special showing for the public.

I will take a new person shooting: With an emphasis on safety, it’s not only fun, but afterward, you should have a person who is receptive to learning more, including why guns are important for more than just sport.

I will read Second Amendment books: Don’t just read them, purchase some: The people who do the work to bring them to us deserve to eat, too. And see if your library carries them and inquire if they don’t.

I will shoot a machine gun: Why the hell not? Besides, knowing how to control one is not just fun, I’d argue it’s a duty.

I will support legal actions/court cases protecting the right to keep and bear arms: If you have email and/or belong to a gun group, you get the solicitations. Figure out which efforts are important to you and which group(s) you support and then help. They need all they can get.

I will spread the word: If you get value from an author or website talking about things the mainstream media will not, and think others may as well, share their links. If you’re on social media, “like” and especially “share” the link on Facebook or tweet/retweet it on Twitter/X. If you come across something you think helps advance your interests, spend one minute letting others know about it — because that’s the only way to escape the echo chamber. And if you want to go the extra minute, send column links to larger media outlets and urge them to check out the work.

I will attend a gun show: Here’s another fun one that shouldn’t be too difficult to make or to keep, and this one is important because it can help reinforce that we’re hardly alone, and the good fellowship is restorative. It’s always interesting to me to see Everyday Americans surrounded by awesome hardware, and then note how peaceably everyone is behaving. So much for Everytown Unamericans saying guns cause violence.

I will boycott an anti-gun company: The only effort required here is to find an alternative, and while it’s not practical for all products and services, the ones it is feasible to avoid are the ones that can feel it the most. Just supplement it with one thing: Let them know.

I will buy a gun: What kind? What would you like? What do you intend to use it for? Are you new to shooting? Ask your friends. Go to the range and rent a gun and see if you like it. Are you an experienced shooter? Then you’re probably thinking this to yourself: Only one?

I will spend time with and give attention to those I love: Don’t let all this prevent that. Don’t forget the reason we put forth all the effort: to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.

I will give my children a development-appropriate education about guns: It’s self-evident that perpetuating ignorance and avoidance throughout the formative years is no way to teach competence and safety. And teaching that is a fundamental parental responsibility.

I will verify emails about gun-related bills with a credible source: It’s tough enough getting gun owners to respond to real threats or opportunities without frivolously mobilizing and alarming them, wasting everybody’s time and energy on distortions and non-issues. Here’s a good rule of thumb if you get an email urging action, including that you SEND IT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!! Does it have a link to a credible source? If not, you owe it to yourself–and to the people you would forward it to, to do a bit of research to determine its validity instead of just blindly passing it along.

I will get formal training: Whether it’s something new or an enhancement to something you’re schooled in, none of us “has arrived,”  we are in a constant state of learning and should consider ourselves perpetual students. That, and nobody likes a know-it-all.

I will attend a public demonstration in support of the Second Amendment: Bearing in mind caveats about avoiding trouble and crowds, and J6-style set-ups, showing judicious public solidarity with freedom advocates at rallies and the like is essential.

I will do them all: They are all doable, and none of them will be all-consuming. In any case, there’s no reason why we can’t do more than one, and no real excuse for doing none.

That’s the list I’ve put forth in the past, and I can think of a few additions. “I will vote” is something I should have had from the start. Sometimes the obvious is the easiest to miss. And “I will make a gun with a 3D printer” also comes immediately to mind.

So does a resolution I’ve kept many times in the past, with the caution that I’m speaking only for myself, that I’m not qualified to give legal advice, and it you do this and get caught, psychopaths with political power and armed enforcers will use up to lethal force to bend you to their will and try to destroy you:

“I will defy an infringement.”

Just make sure you get away with it.

Feel free to suggest your own resolutions below.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.