We've got work to do! Opportunities, challenges and a commitment to the second amendment—these are foremost concerns of the executive Vice President & COO of Taurus International - An Interview With Bob Morrison

Shooting Industry, Feb, 2003

Some day, historians will look back at this time and note those who were willing to stand up and say we are not going to allow you to abridge our Bill of Rights and to take away the one means we have to defend it. We need more willing participants in and out of the firearms trade. What is happening to us now, if allowed to continue, will affect every legal business in the land. Even now it is spreading to fast foods, with the automobile and alcohol manufacturers targeted in the near future.

SI: How can others in the industry help?

Morrison: Join an organization that is mounting a counter charge. That's why the Hunting & Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation is so important. The Heritage Fund was formed so we would have a common defense against the lawsuits and other attacks on our industry. In addition, it gave us the means to lobby in our defense with legislators in Washington. It has brought us together.

The trial lawyers pursuing the cases against us never expected to come up against the team the Heritage Fund represents. It has been an incredibly expensive and time-consuming battle and continues to go on. We need help from everyone in this industry. If we don't do it, who will?

SI: You are opposed to comparisons of the lawsuits against the industry with those of other industries. Why?

Morrison: A number of people try to compare to the lawsuits we're fighting to the lawsuits against the tobacco industry. They're wrong. No other industry being pursued by these trial lawyer has the rights for ownership of their product guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Guns are not habit forming nor are they detrimental to health. We have to fight. We have no choice. In doing so, we're helping other industries that are also being targeted.

Simply stated, our freedom is at stake. It seems so clear to me. How can we allow a group of greedy lawyers to wrest away our collective rights guaranteed by the Constitution? The usurpation of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has already led to the annexation of other guaranteed rights. This nibbling will eventually lead to a peaceful surrender of our way of life and the enjoyment of the freedoms stated by the founding fathers.

We must awaken our fellow citizens and sound the alarm of being defeated through apathy.

SI: What more can be done to guarantee our future?

Morrison: With our industry, the answer lies in the organizations that have our concerns for freedom first and foremost in their strategic thinking. The NRA is the largest and most influential, but there are many others that have the same desire to preserve our liberty. In the firearm trade, it is the National Shooting Sports Foundation and its offspring, the Hunting and Shooting Sports Heritage Foundation (HSSHF).

The joining of forces to create a mutual defense fund and the logical thinking that has been portrayed by the legal minds in it make the most sense in mounting our counter charge. Through the Heritage Fund, we're doing that. However, many more companies, especially smaller ones, should join the HSSHF. Any company that makes any portion of its living from the shooting sports should be a member of the Heritage Fund.