(Lansing, Michigan) With just a year until the 2020 presidential election, gun owners are showing an increasing willingness to double down on the heartache they’ve endured with three years of a supposed pro-gun president.

In 2016 gun owners, struggling with fear of a seemingly inevitable Clinton presidency, gun owners across the country backed Trump. He, along with National Rifle Association (NRA), assured gun owners that the 8-year assault on our second amendment would be over. Little did we know that not only would this be false, but he would enact more gun control legislation in his first three years than Obama had done over his eight.

That would seem to be the nail in the coffin for his chances with gun owners; however, this has proven not to be the case. Trump has now begun to back down from his support of universal background checks, Red Flag Laws, Stop and Frisk. Forgetting the bump-stock ban, the Gun community is ready to get back on board and believe Trump. One self-proclaimed gun nut told us, “you have to understand this is chess, not checkers, this is strategy like Wesley Snipes Art of War. Trump is five steps ahead of everyone else, and while he may hurt me, it was my fault for back talking, he works hard to provide for us.”

Researching the case more thoroughly, we found that Trump, before becoming elected, also supported gun control and the assault weapon ban. So would this change the way gun owners felt? We went to a local range to ask if this affected their decision many called us “liberal snowflakes,” for merely asking but, a few were willing to speak with us. “Well, what am I supposed to do, huh?” asked Kevin, “vote for Biden, who said he would take my guns? Do I vote third party knowing they won’t win? Where do I go if I leave him, I don’t want to take my babies to no shelter, he’s a good man.”

Tyler, another frequenter of the Top Gun Range, told us, “My mom and dad were stuck in a similar problem they voted for George Bush Sr, then George passed the import ban and supported the Brady Bill. When it came time for W’s election, they didn’t know what to do and voted for a Bush again. I guess growing up in that environment; I thought that was a normal relationship. I’ve just never seen what a good healthy presidency looks like.”

Still finding this all troubling, we seemed to be at an impasse. We agree that we wouldn’t want Hillary either. Also agree it is unlikely a third-party candidate could win in this election that according to all accounts, will be the most important election of our time. But the question remains, should you stay with a candidate that you thought you loved even though they turned out to be someone else? Should you stay with them for fear of the unknown? Francine Hughes of Dansville, an expert on the subject, told us,” I sought advice from numerous people, one said to me that if you make a hard bed, you still have to lay in it. Well, that didn’t make much sense to me; just because we have a two-party system with horrible candidates doesn’t mean we have to stick with it. Its time for gun owners to burn that bed and move on.”

We conclude this article with no real hope, there are no simple plans or grand ideas, but we do know that special person is out there who loves us for who we are as gun owners. A candidate is out there that isn’t looking just to court us, screw us, and then leave for another younger voting block. Maybe all this isn’t about a candidate at all; perhaps all this is about an inward journey. One where we realize self-ownership is the answer, and we don’t need a candidate to make us whole. We don’t need permission to be ourselves, and we don’t need the man telling us what we can or cannot do with our third hole.

If you or a gun owner you know are thinking about voting for Trump, we urge you to reach out for help, either locally or online, at thehotline.org.