Defending Firearms Responsibility While Preserving Our Rights

The recent Wear Orange event hosted in Wilmington was billed as a community-driven initiative to promote gun safety. While any genuine effort to reduce accidental firearm injuries is commendable, it’s important to examine the underlying messaging and implications of such campaigns—especially when the focus subtly (or not so subtly) leans into advocating for more restrictive gun control.

As an organization that proudly supports the Second Amendment, Fortress Firearms Training believes that responsible gun ownership, not expanded legislation, is the key to community safety. Events like the Wear Orange event highlighting community efforts for gun safety awareness often miss the mark by promoting fear over facts, pushing narratives that do little to empower lawful citizens who choose to take their personal safety seriously.

The Real Roots of Gun Safety: Education and Training

While the event emphasized themes such as “ending gun violence” and “safer communities,” it noticeably lacked discussion around one of the most effective tools we have: comprehensive, real-world firearms education. Rather than supporting the rights of law-abiding citizens to train and carry responsibly, these events often contribute to public pressure campaigns advocating limitations on these rights.

Here’s the reality:

• Safety comes from knowledge. Teaching both adults and youth how to handle firearms with care, understand situational awareness, and maintain secure storage are all areas actively covered in firearms training courses like the ones we offer at Fortress Firearms Training in Fountain Inn, SC.
• Rights come with responsibility. We believe the Second Amendment is a fundamental right—but that right carries an obligation for safe and responsible use. That’s why training must go hand-in-hand with ownership.
• Gun ownership deters crime. Numerous studies and anecdotal evidence show that legally armed citizens have prevented or minimized violent crime. Events like the Wear Orange event highlighting community efforts for gun safety awareness do not sufficiently recognize the deterrent effect of an armed populace.

Pushing an Agenda Through Emotional Appeals

The Wear Orange initiative began as a tribute to teens like Hadiya Pendleton, a tragic victim of gun violence. While her death is sorrowful and deserves to be remembered, the campaign has grown into a broader political effort to increase federal and state control over gun rights.

This is evident in speakers and organizers during the Wilmington event advocating for so-called “common sense gun legislation.” Unfortunately, such language is often code for:

• Renewal or expansion of “assault weapons” bans
• Red flag laws that threaten due process rights
• Increased restrictions on concealed carry
• Raising the age to purchase firearms

These measures do little to affect criminal behavior. In fact, criminals—by definition—do not follow laws. So, who suffers under these regulations? The law-abiding American citizen, who seeks only to protect themselves, their families, and their freedoms.

The Politicization of Gun Safety

Gun safety should be a unifying concept. At Fortress Firearms Training, we emphasize safety in every lesson, emphasizing firearm function, storage, handling, and judgment. Unfortunately, when events like the Wear Orange event highlighting community efforts for gun safety awareness are co-opted by anti-gun groups or politicians, the conversation shifts from education to regulation.

True gun safety advocacy would include:

• Promoting certified firearms training in communities with high firearm ownership
• Encouraging legal carriers to practice regularly under professional supervision
• Working with local schools to provide children information about what to do if they encounter a firearm
• Offering secure storage education and access to affordable storage solutions

Simply wearing orange shirts and holding signs is symbolic, but not necessarily effective. If we truly care about our communities, we owe them more than symbolism—we owe them solutions backed by practice, education, and constitutional respect.

Why Fortress Firearms Training Takes a Stand

At Fortress Firearms Training, we believe in action. We are firearms instructors and patriots who understand that good training saves lives. When we hear about events like the Wear Orange event highlighting community efforts for gun safety awareness, we often ask, “Where are the voices supporting responsible gun ownership in these conversations?”

Our classes are designed to turn concerned citizens into competent defenders. We focus on:

• Concealed carry permit courses aligned with South Carolina law
• Basic and advanced handgun training
• Situational awareness & self-defense tactics
• Gun safety for the whole family—including youth safety awareness

Instead of vilifying tools like firearms, we encourage communities to embrace responsibility. That begins with accurate education, not fear-driven legislation that alienates the average American gun owner.

The Path Forward: Respecting Rights, Enhancing Safety

Gun control advocates often cloak their intentions with phrases like “we’re not trying to take your guns,” but every new restriction chips away at liberty. When events like the Wear Orange event highlighting community efforts for gun safety awareness serve primarily as platforms to push legislation rather than education, we should all take notice.

There is a way forward that doesn’t involve infringing on rights. That path includes:

• Community-led training programs in partnership with certified professionals
• Police and civilian collaborative workshops on self-defense and legal use of force
• Public messaging campaigns that tell the full story—including the benefits of firearm ownership
• Legislative efforts that protect citizens’ rights and punish criminals—not tool ownership

If safety is the goal—as it should be—then knowledge and preparation, not arbitrary laws, are the answer.

Join the Movement That Protects and Educates

Let’s reclaim the conversation around gun safety from those who seek to use it as a Trojan horse for disarming responsible citizens. At Fortress Firearms Training, we’re committed to building safer communities through training, not tyranny. If you or someone you know is ready to explore firearms ownership the right way, we welcome you to join us at fftcwp.org.

Gun safety isn’t about control—it’s about competence.