More than 80,000 National Rifle Association members and firearms enthusiasts will arrive in Dallas at the end of the week for the organization's 147th annual meeting, and it's a good time to reflect on why the Second Amendment is important and what we can do as law-abiding citizens to protect it.

Not everyone in Dallas has welcomed NRA members ahead of this big event. Anti-gun politicians and anti-gun activists have made clear their belief that the way to stop criminals is to restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens, and many have blamed the men and women of the NRA for acts of deranged individuals. Sometimes, it feels like the mainstream media hates firearms.

I am proof that they are wrong. I am also proof that the NRA's familiar mantra is true: The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Last year, a mentally disturbed man entered a Baptist church in my hometown of Sutherland Springs and opened fire. I live across the street, and when my daughter told me there was a shooter and I heard the shots myself, I fell back on my years of NRA training, grabbed my AR-15, and ran across the street to engage the shooter. People say I saved lives that day. I hope that's true. I did what the Lord called me to do.

I never thought something like that would happen in my small town. My family has lived in Sutherland Springs for four generations. We are a peaceful, God-fearing, tight-knit community. Not only did I never think such a thing could happen in my town, I also never thought I would be the guy to try and stop it.

I grew up shooting, as did many of my family members and friends. In fact, shooting was a way our community came together. It's a family activity here. We are good people, and we know that it's our responsibility to keep our community safe and to look out for each other. I don't think Sutherland Springs is unique that way. Good people in towns across Texas are NRA members, and they take their Second Amendment rights seriously. They are moms and dads, police officers, firefighters, doctors, school teachers and plumbers. When it comes to firearms, these good people — including me and my family — practice safety and responsibility above all else. We are the National Rifle Association. We are not the bad guys.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick embraces hero Stephen Willeford, who shot and chased the gunman who attacked First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Senator Ted Cruz stands by at a memorial service at the Floresville High School football stadium in Floresville, Texas. Photographed on Wednesday, November 8, 2017. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

A lot of gun control groups out there talk about restricting gun rights, but criminals don't obey laws. Those restrictions only affect law-abiding gun owners like me. They do nothing to increase public safety.

There is no other organization in the world that promotes the safe and responsible use of firearms more than the NRA. The organization has more than 100,000 instructors across the country teaching affordable classes where law-abiding gun owners can learn how to shoot and care for their firearms in the safest possible way. The NRA offers programs such as Eddie Eagle, which teaches children what to do if they encounter a firearm: stop, don't touch, run away, tell an adult. The NRA hosts competitions across the country that promote and reward marksmanship and safety. The NRA is, first and foremost, a firearms safety organization.

I have been saddened to see politicians demonize the men and women of this organization lately. It's an organization that taught me a great deal and of which I've been a proud member most of my life.

I personally want to welcome the visitors expected for the NRA's Annual Meeting. This is a time for all of us to come together to celebrate our nation's freedom. People will be coming from every state, city and town in the United States. They will come with one anthem: we are the NRA.

Stephen Willeford is a plumber in Sutherland Springs, Texas, who pursued a terrorist last year and halted his shooting spree. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

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