Three men entered a Houston, Texas, plumbing business and attempted to rob the owner. Proprietor Andrea McNabb was in a back office when the attempted robbery took place. When confronted by the men, McNabb drew a gun and shot two of the miscreants. All three men ran from the store. One suspect was arrested after stealing the owner's car and driving himself to the hospital for medical assistance. A second man suffering a gunshot wound to the leg was picked up within two blocks of the crime scene. The third suspect was not located. (Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX, 12/03/03)

Four men broke into an Indianapolis, Ind., home and confronted the homeowner who fired at the intruders with a shotgun. One of the suspects was shot, and his accomplices took him to a local hospital where he later died. The remaining three men were arrested and charged with burglary and felony murder, according to Indianapolis Police Department spokesman Lt. Paul Ciesielski. (The Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN, 01/29/04)

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Corey Fuller was confronted at his Tallahassee, Fla., home by an armed man about 2:30 a.m. when he and a houseguest went outside to retrieve something from his car. The gunman chased after Fuller who ran back into his home to get his revolver. After an exchange of gunfire the assailant fled and no one was injured. Fuller is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of his assailant. (St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg, FL, 01/22/04)

A Somerville, Mass.; resident had just stepped out of his shower when he heard unusual sounds at the back of his house. When a man broke through his back door, the homeowner retrieved a handgun, confronted the intruder and shot him in the shoulder. The wounded burglar ran from the house, but police were able to track him by following a trail of blood to a nearby rail station. The suspect was treated at a local hospital for the gunshot wound, and police were expected to charge him with breaking and entering. (Boston Herald, Boston, MA, 01/23/04)

Oran Stark, an 81-year-old used car dealer, owes his well-being and that of 83-year-old Violet Wells to a 1903 Springfield rifle he hasn't fired in over 40 years. Stark leases the dealership from Wells and both were on the premises when a man, later identified as Benny Breathitt, threatened him with a knife. Breathitt tied up Stark and searched him for money. The robber asked Stark, "Is that all you have?" He then turned his interest to Wells who was in the business office. Wells screamed for help as the knife-wielding thug threw her against a wall and then pushed her to the floor and tied her up. Stark then managed to free himself and pull out the old rifle. When Breathitt saw the gun, he didn't wait to see if it was loaded. "He burst into a high run," Stark said. Breathitt was arrested a few blocks from the dealership and charged with two counts of aggravated robbery. (Brown wood Bulletin, Brownwood, TX, 01/16/04)

Kersten Von Seebach met his match when he attempted to break into an Erwin, Tenn., home. The 56- year-old homeowner heard the commotion when Seebach broke through her porch door and then tried to force his way through her front door. At that point the woman grabbed her cordless phone and a pistol and went out the back door. The angry homeowner confronted the would-be burglar in front of her house, fired a shot in his direction and called the police. She told them to hurry as she had shot at him once and would do it again if she had to. It took authorities only six minutes to arrive at the scene where they arrested Seebach and charged him with aggravated burglary and unlawful possession of a weapon. (Johnson City Press, Johnson City, TN, 01/28/04)

Butch Thomas dialed 9-1-1 when he looked outside and saw two strange men enter his mother's nearby house. Once he knew police were on the way, Thomas grabbed his shotgun and drove his own car into his mother's driveway to block the intruders' vehicle. Then he went in to confront the men. Thomas ordered the two at gunpoint into the backyard, where he made them lie down, and then tied their hands behind their backs. The duo was arrested and charged with burglary. Corporal Mike Parsons of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department commented, "It's rare when we get a call that a burglary is in progress and the suspects are still there when we arrive. To have them tied up and waiting ... was really something." (The Jackson Star News, Jackson, TN, 01/22/04)

In 1776, the American people threw off the oppressive yoke of King George III. and created the most free society the world had ever seen.

But today, another King George-a Hungarian-born billionaire named George Soros-who rules a shadow empire by funding a global agenda that includes borderless civil disarmament-has made Americans less free than at almost any time in our nation's history.

It was Soros' millions and his international "Open, Society Institute" that bought and paid for massive lobbying and media spin efforts leading to the enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA). As you know, that law bans broadcast political speech by NRA and others during pre-election blackout periods.

And it was Soros' millions that primed the unfathomable five-to-four Supreme Court opinion in December 2003 that upheld the speech ban which reduced criticism of government by assembled Americans from an untouchable individual right to the status of a "privilege" bestowed by Congress.

BCRA "permits" NRA to fund pre-election ads through our political action committee, but only under Draconian reporting restrictions and with funding solicitations limited to member donations. But Congress allowing grassroots non-proms to exercise free speech through PACs is like Congress saying we can own and use bolt-action rifles and shotguns, but not semi-automatics.

When Congress enacted BCRA, the standard media sound bite to describe the "reform" was summed up in three words "banning soft money." Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Dodd defined it as "Money that threatens to drown out the voice of the average voter of average means; money that creates the appearance that a wealthy few have a disproportionate say over public policy ... ."

But George Soros-and a handful of billionaires and multi-millionaires recruited to his cause-believe they are immune from the "soft" money restrictions of BCRA.

Soros told National Public Radio he was morally different, saying, "I am not motivated by self-interest but by what I believe to be the public interest."

Having funded the destruction of the First Amendment for groups like NRA, Soros now believes he can inject perhaps as much as $100 million into influencing the outcome of the 2004 elections. That's chump change for Soros, who is counted as among the world's richest men.

Acting in his self-styled "public interest," he intends to buy control of the electoral process with the goal of throwing President George W. Bush out of the White House and creating a Congress dominated by radicals who call themselves "progressives." If that happens, we will see our individual freedom-including the Second Amendment destroyed in a heartbeat.

Soros told the Washington Post, "I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is," and said he would spend his entire fortune if he could be guaranteed President Bush would be defeated for reelection.

At last count, Soros and his billionaire friends have shoveled as much as $30 million into organizations that claim to be exempt from the campaign finance laws that apply to the rest of us-laws that Soros bought and paid for

The conduits for all of this "soft money" are entities called "527s"-a Federal Tax Code designation, which operatives claim exempts them from the provisions of BCRA.

Among the most dangerous of "527" entities funded by Soros' millions is something called MoveOn.org Voter Fund which is undertaking a massive attack-ad broadcast campaign to activate radical voters to turn President Bush out of office and elect an anti-gun Congress.

And there are other groups like Americans Coming Together (ACT)-also heavily funded by Soros-run with the singular purpose of registering and turning out activist-left voters in massive numbers with the purpose of defeating Bush and "electing progressive candidates at every level of government."

The voters to which these "527s" are appealing can be summed up as the ''Michael Moore audience." If they come out to vote in the 17 battleground states that have been targeted by ACT, there can be no doubt they will vote to defeat pro-Second Amendment candidates. By the nature of the voters the Soros money will bring out, our pro-gun majority in the Senate is especially in jeopardy.

All of this Soros effort is not just aimed at removing President Bush from power; it is designed "to take America back" as if the country and our lives will be owned by the radical left. With his track record-from funding the Million Mom March to bankrolling the most malicious lawsuits against the firearm industry-we know what George Soros' version of the Second Amendment is-the one that allows only the National Guard to be armed. If Soros buys all he wants in the 2004 elections, that could be the law of the land.

As NRA members, we don't have Soros' billions, but we do have millions of members and millions more friends and families who stand with us. In this coming election, no matter what, we must get people registered; we must vote. If we aren't motivated, King George Soros will prevail, and the dream of the Founding Fathers will be lost.