For those who are not familiar with “Project Exile”, its principle feature is a demand by the NRA management that the government enforce existing federal gun "laws". You read that correctly. The NRA’s current management wants to enforce the very same unconstitutional "laws" that for years we have worked so hard and spent so much money to oppose being passed. If you don’t believe this, then you haven't been reading NRA publications. If you don’t have any handy, visit the NRA website and search for the key words “project exile”.

When you do you will find - among many other similar horrors - this statement by Wayne LaPierre:

"The National Rifle Association believes in no unsupervised youth access to guns, period. We have always supported holding adults responsible for willfully and recklessly allowing access to firearms."

This means that – even if you leave a gun in a safe place, even if it is accessed by accident, even if you aren’t home, and even if no crime or firearm accident occurs - if a child gains access to one of your guns YOU become a felon if a jury decides to convict you, which these days they probably will. This also means that if you give permission to your 15-year-old boy or girl to take a .22 revolver to go shoot cans at your deer lease or at a friend’s rural property – as I did many times as a teenager – YOU YOURSELF can be criminally prosecuted for giving him or her the gun, and the "Winning Team" wants you PROSECUTED.

And by the way, so much for Thomas Jefferson's advice about giving young men a firearm to hasten their paths to responsible manhood; so much for hundreds of years of American outdoors tradition; so much for young men hunting or roaming the fields with a .22 the way you did when you were young. The "Winning Team" says "Flush all that down the toilet."

More from Mr. LaPierre:

"We believe that a lawful, properly-permitted citizen who chooses to carry a concealed firearm not only deserves that right, but is a deterrent to crime. We support the right to carry because it has helped cut crime rates in all 31 states that have adopted it ... with almost no abuse of any kind by the lawful citizens who took the courses, submitted to the background checks, passed the tests and became part of a proud citizens movement that's making America a safer place to live."

Took the courses? Passed the tests? Properly permitted? So much for the Second Amendment. So much for "shall not be infringed". So much for the "right" to bear arms. The words “properly permitted” and “right” are mutually exclusive in this context. A right that requires taking courses and passing tests is not a right, it is a privilege granted by the government and revocable by the government. The state of Vermont, unlike the NRA’s current management, understands the Constitution – they allow any law-abiding citizen to carry a firearm any way they want for any legal purpose.

Here’s NRA president Charlton Heston speaking about Clinton:

“Everyone remembers all the press support for his 'desperately needed' semi-auto gun ban – that outlawed guns based solely on their appearance. But nobody is reporting that, out of thousands of certain offenders, the Clinton Administration prosecuted four people in 1997 and four in 1998.”

Read that again—the NRA’s current president, a member of the “Winning Team”, is complaining that only four of your fellow citizens were prosecuted for buying, selling, or some other act related to possession of these perfectly constitutional militia rifles.

If you violate the unconstitutional ’94 Crime Bill, which we all fought so hard to prevent being passed, then the “Winning Team” wants you prosecuted. If you or one of your friends attaches a +2 extension to a "post-ban" Glock pistol magazine; or attaches a flash suppresser, folding stock, or bayonet lug to a "post ban" militia rifle; or accidentally carries a concealed weapon (with state "license" or not) into a federally prohibited area; or drives to another state to give a family member (even a son or a granddaughter) a handgun without going through the instant check registration scheme; or possesses a gun while subject to a restraining order, regardless of the absence of violence, and without a trial or any legal adversarial process having taken place; or commits any minor infraction of any unconstitutional federal gun law, then the NRA’s current management wants you prosecuted.

The current NRA management says that local versions of “Project Exile” are working—that they are reducing crime and taking criminals off the streets. But these criminals could have been “taken off the streets” before, and without any “Project Exile”, by simply enforcing existing violent crime laws and making the criminals serve their full sentences. Furthermore, “Project Exile” does exactly what HCI wants to do: by calling for stiff additional penalties and automatic sentencing for crimes committed with guns, it demonizes guns by implying that crimes committed with guns are worse than crimes committed with knives, bludgeons, or bare hands. In any case, no American, not even a criminal, should be imprisoned for violating unconstitutional laws. To do so violates our entire system of government and endangers everyone’s freedom. And make no mistake, these laws can be used against you and eventually will be used against you. But the current NRA management doesn’t care.

Some people say that taking a stand against an NRA program and the current NRA management is “dividing the gun community”.

First, get this straight: the current NRA management, the so-called “winning team” that has watched us lose so many rights in the last few years, is not the NRA. The “winning team” is not the NRA any more than the Clinton administration is our Constitutional system of government. The actual NRA is an organization, composed primarily of good and decent Americans. It can be a great and powerful tool for upholding the Bill of Rights. Therefore the NRA must be directed by men and women with a clear vision of these rights, and that is not the case at this time.

Second, take a look at the KeepAndBearArms.com website page which lists the national, state, and local organizations, as well as individual outstanding RKBA and Constitutional advocates, who are AGAINST Project Exile. Who is wrong in this issue – all of these organizations and the people they represent, or the NRA management? Who, then, is being “divisive” regarding our rights?

If you have any lingering doubts about the effectiveness of the current NRA management, here are some quotes from Wayne LaPierre’s column in the August 1999 issue of the NRA’s American Guardian Magazine:

1. “The NRA does the best job of any group in lobbying members….It’s just good, straight democracy.”

2. “We’re up against the best lobby in town…My hat is off to them. I admire them. They sure know how to do it.”

3. “There’s a lot of talk about extremists here. Let me make one small vote for the NRA. They’re good citizens. You know what? They call their Congressman. They write. They vote. They contribute. And they get what they want over time.”

Who are the patriotic Americans who wrote these glowing reviews of the NRA management? The first quote is from Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA, long-time enemy of the Second Amendment. Second quote, Dick Gephardt (D-MO) House Minority Leader and long-time enemy of the Second Amendment. Third quote, George Stephanopoulos, former Clinton campaign aide and Clinton administration spokesman.

Why would these men be praising the NRA? Why would Wayne LaPierre trot them out to show what a good job he’s doing? Is Mr. LaPierre a fool, or does he think NRA members are fools? All I know is that if the likes of Frank, Gephardt, and Stephanopoulos are praising the way the NRA management is doing its job, then something is seriously wrong with the way the NRA management is doing its job.

Am I suggesting that you resign from the NRA? No – not yet. I suggest this: Write, call, and email the NRA and DEMAND that they stop SUPPORTING these unconstitutional laws. Upgrade your membership so that you can vote in the next election, and vote AGAINST the so-called “winning team”, which has presided over the most profound and far-reaching losses of our Second Amendment Rights since the Gun Control Act of 1968, and vote AGAINST any board member or officer who supported or did not speak out against “Project Exile”. At the very least, vote to oust the top management, who have completely betrayed both your trust and the Second Amendment itself. Again, the “winning team” is NOT the NRA, they are simply the current managers. They are supposed to work for you, not against you

I know these are hard words. They are meant to be, because I view my country, the Constitution, and my rights with absolute seriousness, and I cannot stand by while our largest gun rights organization remains in the hands of those who are either ineffective or harmful to any of the above.

The NRA management’s “Project Exile” is a complete reversal of position on unconstitutional gun laws. It’s an utter betrayal of NRA membership and the organization’s proud heritage.

For those who are still baffled or in denial, let me put it in terms that anyone can understand: the NRA management is no longer calling for the REPEAL of unconstitutional gun laws, they are calling for their ENFORCEMENT. Exactly what part of that do you not understand?

NRA Members, click here: Signed NRA Petitions Needed

Brian Puckett is the Founder of Citizens of America, the pro gun media campaign team getting the message out far and wide. Visit their website at http://www.CitizensOfAmerica.org.