A 73-year-old St. Louis County, Mo., man looked up from his television one night to see an armed man holding 4" shears to his wife's throat. The intruder had broken into the couple's basement through a window and tied a curtain around his face as a mask. The man grabbed the homeowner's wife when she came downstairs and forced her into the living room where he demanded money from her husband. The homeowner managed to keep his wits about him and told the bandit that he needed to retrieve his wallet from the bedroom. He returned instead with a gun and, as his wife pulled away, shot her captor. The man was able to pull the woman outside with him, but finally succumbed to his wounds and collapsed. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, MO, 11/20/03)

Jeff Pantzer of Stuart, Fla., was awakened in the night by the sound of blinds rattling. Someone had broken in just five months previously, and Pantzer now kept a shotgun just in case. He took up his gun and fired as he saw a man's legs enter his window, scaring the would-be burglar right out of his shoes. "My safety was my first consideration," Pantzer said. "It was real quick, he was halfway in the window ... I fired, and he exited the window at the same time ... ." The suspect was not apprehended, but police say he may be linked to four similar burglaries in the area. (The News, Stuart, FL, 11/27/03)

A Salem, Mass., resident learned what a great deterrent owning a gun can be. The resident called police, not to report being a victim of a crime, but to say that he discovered a man "all dressed in black" trying to break into his home. The resident aimed his gun at the would-be intruder, who decided to cut his losses and run. (The Salem News, Salem, MA, 11/28/03)

Two armed men burst into a Coatesville, Pa., home and demanded money from the two occupants in the living room. One of the armed invaders went up to the master bedroom and threatened to shoot or beat the couple in bed if they didn't hand over some money. The man in bed, identified as Omar Reid, grabbed a pistol from the nightstand drawer and shot the robber just as he shot at Reid. With one intruder down, Reid then raced down the stairs where he encountered the second man and they exchanged fire. The second home invader fled the scene. Reid was not injured during the gunfire. The wounded invader was taken to the hospital. (Daily Local News, Westchester, PA, 11/7/03)

When Judy Abram had her sisters over to play dominoes, a man walked up to the house and attempted to break through Abram's living room window. She yelled at the man to leave, but he continued corning in the window. Abram then ran to her bedroom and returned with a pistol. She aimed it at the home invader saying, "Can't you see I have a gun? Get out of here!" The intruder continued 10 advance on her so she fired at him, emptying her gun. Suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, the home-invader then went to a neighbor's house, where he crashed through the living room window and collapsed. He was pronounced dead at the scene. (San Antonio Express- News), San Antonio, TX, 11/03/03)

A Freeport, N.Y., woman has her boyfriend and his brother to thank for rescuing her from a rapist. First Squad Det. Lt. Andrew Fal of Nassau, N.Y., reported that the suspect was believed to have been hiding in the basement of the home for some time. When the woman's boyfriend left for work, the intruder hid his face with a surgical mask and went upstairs. He attacked the woman in her bedroom, punching her repeatedly in the face, and then tried to rape her. The boyfriend's brother, who also lives in the home, heard the commotion and thought his brother was having a fight with his girlfriend. He called the brother on his cell phone to see what was going on, and when his brother told him he was driving to work, the two realized the woman was in real trouble. The brother called the police and retrieved a 9 mm pistol. The woman's boyfriend returned to the house where he and his brother confronted her attacker, holding him at gunpoint until authorities arrived and placed her attacker under arrest. (Newsday, New York, NY, 11/22/03)

A Madison County, Miss., woman shot and killed her attacker during a home invasion. The woman had answered her door late one evening when a man armed with a gun forced his way inside. "He physically assaulted her," reported Madison County Sheriff Toby Trowbridge. The homeowner managed to pull her gun just as her attacker drew his. The home invader, shot in the abdomen, ran from the house and collapsed in the driveway, according to police reports. A suspected accomplice drove away in a car and has not been located. The homeowner was taken to the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to her side, and was reported to be in stable condition. (Clarion- Ledger, Jackson, MS, 12/02/03)

"The First Amendment commands that Congress 'shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech.' The command cannot be read, "to allow Congress to provide for the imprisonment of those who attempt to ... alter the civic discourse." -U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy

Those are welcome words, sensible words that any freedom-loving American should rightly expect from a United States Supreme Court asked to strike down a tyrannical, politically motivated law banning political speech by groups such as the National Rifle Association-a law enacted purely for the protection and self-interest of members of Congress who voted for it.

Yet those fine, brave words of Justice Kennedy were not the words of the Court, but from his bitter dissent to a 5-4 decision, which he warned "breaks faith with our tradition of robust and unfettered debate."

The law in question, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA): makes pre-election broadcasts of issue advertising-by groups such as the NRA or the Sierra Club, and by all labor unions-a crime if the government can claim those ads refer in any way to a politician running for Federal office. Under BCRA, it will be a felony for NRA, using corporate funds, even to refer to a "Schumer bill" or a "Feinstein amendment" if those words are aired in any broadcast media 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election and can be heard or viewed anywhere in their home stales of New York or California. Even use of the phrase "The President" in such an ad is a prohibited criminal act-nationwide.

That section of the law-which was the NRA's principal target in the challenge joined by scores of highly diverse groups and individuals-was all but ignored by the national media, which boiled everything down to a sound-bite About banning "soft money" (heretofore unlimited donations to political parties for housekeeping, and get-out-the-vote and general advertising campaigns). My guess is that most people-until the Supreme Court decision-did not have a clue as to what the law did to their rights and freedom.

When the decision came down December 10, 2003, declaring that Sen. John McCain's ban on paid-issue advertising was "constitutional," I-like all who have been involved in the long court challenge to this reprehensible law-was deeply stunned and outraged. After all, this is America, and in the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared such paid political speech-which did not expressly advocate the defeat or election of a candidate - to be totally protected by the First Amendment.

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia's reaction is far better than anything I could put into words: '"This is a sad day for freedom of speech. Who could have imagined that the same Court which, within the past four years, has sternly disapproved restrictions upon such inconsequential forms of expression as virtual child pornography ... and sexually explicit cable programming ... would smile with favor upon a law that cuts to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government."

Justice Scalia specifically referred to nonprofit corporations such as NRA as the means for individuals to participate in "those entities most capable of giving such criticism loud voice .... The freedom to associate with others for the dissemination of ideas ... by pooling financial resources for expressive purposes-is part of the freedom of speech."

In delivering its crushing blow to free speech, the Court majority, in an irrational and contorted decision, took even further steps by inviting Congress to come back for a bigger bite of the First Amendment.

"We are under no illusion that (the law) will be the last congressional statement on the matter .... What problems arise, and how Congress will respond, are concerns for another day." In fact, on the day following the decision, U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) said they were pressing to pass more and bigger powers for Federal regulation of political speech.

Columnist Cal Thomas, in analyzing the grave harm this decision has done to the First Amendment, wrote, "Like legislation designed to control guns rather than the people who use guns illegally, money cannot corrupt politicians. Politicians corrupt themselves."

And lest anybody miss the point that all of this is designed to create super protection for incumbents, Feingold said the ruling makes way for public financing of campaigns and requirements that television stations offer free airtime. Let me translate: Greedy politicians are now demanding that taxpayers - you and I - fund their attacks on our beliefs while denying us the means to fight back.

As for free airtime for politicians, there is a word for that: theft. The politicians could just as well empower themselves to take free phones, free rental cars, free air travel and free print advertising.

What could be more corrupt? Free airtime for politicians who have made it a crime for NRA to use member-donated funds to buy the time if we refer in any way to them.

But these craven politicians who have taken our rights already get free airtime-from international conglomerate media like Disney, Time- Warner, General Electric and Viacom-who as corporations with vast broadcast holdings, including the major networks-are specifically exempt from any spending limits of these corrupt "reforms." The record proves those same huge corporations that own the networks have consistently held back the truth from the American people about what has been taken from them, or they have flat out lied about it.

But with the court decision-with the clear words of Justice Kennedy and Justice Scalia-the American people are waking up to the truth - that this law is about their rights. If they belong to unions, or environmental groups or any organization with a stake in government, their First Amendment rights have been gutted. Their ability to assemble-to pool their voices for whatever the cause- has been deeply harmed-but not irreparably harmed. And that's where we come in.

We are 4 million strong and growing-pollsters consistently tell us that 100 million Americans seek and heed NRA's views before they vote. And we must do everything we can to reach these voters, one by one, with this clear message about their loss of First Amendment rights.

As Americans learn what Congress and the majority on the Court have taken from them, their anger will increase. I know. Since the decision came down, I have made non-stop media appearances, and people are listening, and they are telling me how angry they are. These are not only NRA members-many are not even firearm owners-but they are people who fear what has been done to their freedom.

Before we can build the coalition to change this tyrannical law and take back the First Amendment, we must adapt. For now, we can only fight under the rules left to us. That means we will use every resource at our disposal to send a message that will direct viewers and listeners to other sources-like the Internet, where free speech has not yet been taken from the people.

And we will be using our Political Action Committee, the NRA-Political Victory Fund, to hit directly at the politicians who are working to destroy the Bill of Rights. But to do this, we will need the direct help of you, the members of NEA, your friends and families. To use the NRA-PVF to make our voices heard will take what politicians know and fear can breach their safe haven: money. The truth is money empowers by giving you a voice.

To speak for Freedom, members should send contributions to:

NRA-Political Victory Fund 11250Waples Mill Road Fairfax, VA 22030-9400

If every NRA member gives $20 to the NRA-Political Victory Fund, we can begin to change the face of a Congress that has covered itself with Teflon. That means changing the makeup of the U.S. Senate where radicals like New York Senator Charles Schumer have declared a jihad against judicial nominees who support the strict meaning of the Bill of Rights. With at least three U.S. Supreme Court vacancies expected in the near future, this is the opportunity to take back our rights and reshape American liberty into the vision given us by the Founding Fathers.