Editor’s note: This guest column is by Sarah Hauptman of PHLster Holsters, a longtime Minnesota Second Amendment advocate. With Jon Hauptman, she created The Guns Guide to Liberals, the communication framework behind our Grassroots Action Toolkit guide. It first appeared as a post to friends after the 2026 election, and we’re sharing it with her permission.
To my Minnesota Second Amendment friends especially, but everyone right now: I get that a lot of you are feeling defeated and angry. I feel it, too. It’s heavy. Maybe this is a little too soon, and people need more time to process before continuing the fight. But here’s an unpleasant truth about elections, which I will say even though it’s going to hurt some feelings.
The work you need to do tomorrow to protect your civil rights is exactly the same as the work you needed to do yesterday.
If you think a political party or an election protects your rights, you’re sorely mistaken. You are the only one who can do that. And it’s work. It’s drudgery. It’s hard. You do it even when you’re outnumbered, and you feel like giving up. You call, you write, you make the drive, you take the day off, you have the difficult conversation with the legislator who opposes everything you stand for. You do it because the alternative amounts to surrender.
While the Second Amendment is a bulwark against tyranny, you still need to work at the legislative process and the ballot box, or you’ll be defeated long before you get to the cartridge box. That’s true whether you win or lose, whether it’s a single election or a string of them.
All last session I watched donations dwindle and seats empty at committee hearings. Where was everyone? People thought they were safe, so they neglected the groundwork. They didn’t show up, so they lost their voice and became invisible. Now they’re learning that the illusion of safety they felt when their party was in charge was just a mirage.
Personally, I have very little patience for keyboard complaining, and especially not overly-online nihilism. Your rights were never safe, not with Republicans or Democrats in power.
So sure, lick your wounds, take some time to recoup. But then roll up your sleeves and get to work. I want to see everyone who’s angry in the comments sections showing up at the hearings, and packing our single-focus 2A groups with every dollar you can spare. Join. Volunteer. Get out there and take agency and do something to help. Otherwise it’s just whining. The constant doom and gloom just gets in the way of the people who still have the energy to care.
We may lose ground this session. Or the next. But there is no universe where giving up leads to better outcomes than continuing the fight. Remember that we’re in it for the long game, not this single moment in time.
Yes, you lost an election. Now it’s up to you to decide whether that makes you a loser or a fighter. If your Second Amendment rights mean anything to you, then act like it, and don’t be afraid to roll up your sleeves and try.
For those who were there beside me when times were sunny, thank you. And for those who have yet to show up, I’ll see you at the Capitol. We go out for coneys afterward.
Ready to show up?
The 2027 session opens January 12. Our guide, Get in the fight, walks you through every step: alerts, calls, testimony, hearings, and the Second Amendment Day of Action. See what to expect in 2027.