On November 3, 2016, Donald Trump announced his Second Amendment Coalition. It is a group of grassroots leaders and elected officials who fight for individual liberties, support the right to carry personal protection and gather information to help defend the Second Amendment.
Guns.com caught up with two of its members, Jesse James, firearms manufacturer, and Kim Rhodes, six-time Olympic medal winner, at SHOT Show in Las Vegas in January 2017.
"The coalition is really about bringing a lot of industry and experience to the table," says Rhodes, "to help, advise and give him the best advice opportunities to help the industry that we can."
At the top of the list for James is universal concealed-carry reciprocity. "If you're fingerprinted and you're double background checked and you're firearm trained to have a concealed carry license in your state, that should transfer to every other state. And it doesn't now."
There is currently a bill in Congress that hopes to achieve this.
Most importantly for Rhodes is to encourage more women and children to get involved in the shooting sports. "Some of the things that are really important are getting more women and kids and really teaching about the positiveness of the shooting and the outdoor sports and making sure that our Second Amendment is there for our kids to enjoy for many many generations."
As a manufacturer, James thinks that some anti-gun laws actually make guns more dangerous. "States like California really go after laws that I think go the other direction. I think they make guns not safe." He says.
Both James and Rhodes are from California, although James now calls Texas home. They mention California's new gun laws that will add a host of new restrictions. "Prop 63 in California," says Rhodes, "which is one that is just passed, very limiting on magazines as well as ammunition, and for us in the state of California and me being a competitive shooter, it's very concerning. We're trying to fight that. We're going to fight it in court and hopefully repeal it because it is an infringement on our Second Amendment rights."
What do you think The Second Amendment Coalition should fight for?
