Not everyone who owns a gun is what we think of when we talk about gun owners. 

On the surface, the criteria for being a gun owner seem pretty simple. Just own a gun.

In reality, there’s something more. Gun owners don’t just own a firearm, they support other law-abiding folks owning guns, too. They support and defend the right to keep and bear arms. They recognize that while someone wanting to take someone else’s guns might be leaving you alone right now, it’s just a matter of time before they knock on your door as well.

America’s 1st Freedom editor-in-chief, Frank Miniter recently pointed out some examples of where this difference plays a factor in politicians.

I know Kamala Harris said she has a Glock, even if she wanted to ban them, and that Joe Biden once talked about shooting his double-barreled shotgun off his back porch at night, which itself is likely illegal. And I know that Tim Walz has a shotgun, even if he doesn’t seem to know how to load it. And, who knows, maybe even Nancy Pelosi has a gun—as her husband was attacked by a man with a hammer inside of their home, the need for security should be painfully obvious to her.

But there is a difference between those who use guns as political props and those who actually enjoy the shooting sports or who take on the responsibility of learning to shoot and carry for self-defense. 

A lot of anti-Second Amendment politicians have made fools of themselves by acting as if knowledge of guns can be feigned. But then, poseurs are soon sniffed out. Barack Obama learned this when he posed with an over/under. John Kerry did when he tried to talk like a hunter as he ran for president—if you recall, he got into trouble for boasting about his Chinese-made semi-automatic rifle (incidentally, I was the the interviewer he told that to).

With all of these false claims in mind, it is good to know that the Trump administration is loaded with actual gun owners.

So, let’s consider this administration.

Of course, this administration is currently filled with people who not just say they own guns, but have defended the right to keep and bear arms for people like you and me.

See, when a politician pushing for gun control makes a big deal about having a gun themselves, they want you to trust that they’re not going to take things too far, that they just want that “common sense” gun control they love to talk about. They think you’ll trust them because why would they ban their own guns?

But let’s also be real here. After a certain point in a political career, folks reach a certain point where they’ll be considered elites for the rest of their lives. They’ll be the ones exempt from any anti-gun legislation or, at a minimum, who will have the means to comply with new rules.

As Miniter puts it, for them, guns are props for political purposes. However, if they get their way, gun ownership will be a status symbol that they’ll still cling to just the same.

It’ll be the rest of us who are completely and totally screwed.