Every year, there’s something to vote on. Every two years, we have national lawmakers to elect. Every four years, we vote for president. In and amongst those trips to the polls, all sorts of things could happen.

Our rights are on the ballot this time around. They’re always on the ballot, even if it doesn’t seem like that.

So while I wrote about the importance of talking to others about the election earlier today, there’s something that might be more important. You need to take your own happy butt out to vote.

We have endured nearly four years of President Joe Biden (D)—and Vice President Kamala Harris (D)—blaming you and me for the actions of violent criminals. We have endured their attacks on law and order, including Harris’ support for defunding the police.

We have endured their weaponization of government agencies against law-abiding citizens’ right to keep and bear arms, their attempts to bankrupt gun manufacturers and stores, their executive actions written to infringe on our freedom, their many attempts to disempower those who can’t afford armed security, their many lies about the nature of our freedom, their endeavor to allow a federal agency to write gun-control laws, and their wanton desires for gun bans and confiscations. We have even endured attempts by elected officials in New York state to bankrupt and dissolve the NRA.

Now we can push back at the voting booth. Now we can toss them out of office. The prospect of four years of a Harris administration actively at war with lawfully armed citizens is too much.

Go to NRAPVF.org, select your state and look over the grades for your candidates. We do this research so you’ll know precisely how the people who want your vote stand on your freedom. We hope you’ll also take the time to talk about these substantive issues at the dinner table and wherever you go. When you have such conversations, don’t hesitate to take out your phone and offer to share links to help voters understand what is at stake in this election.

Here’s the thing, though.

Once upon a time, gun owners were gun voters. They turned out in powerful numbers, often when no one else would, and the results were to see politicians take the concerns of gun rights advocates seriously.

But that’s not happening as much as it should.

Look at Texas’s Tony Gonzales. The man is barely a Republican and he was challenged by Brandon Herrera, who was as good on guns as you’re going to find. While Herrera put up a strong challenge, gun owners clearly didn’t turn out like they should have. If they had, he’d be on the ballot next month and not an anti-gun crusader in Republican clothing.

If we value our rights, we need to make damn sure no one in the halls of power will even think about trying to take them. To do that, we need to become a political force that cannot be dismissed by either party. Gun owners need to be gun voters and active in being so.

Otherwise, our rights might as well be nothing but words on a piece of paper.