As soon as Cheryl Todd heard about the DC Project at the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in January, 2016, she knew she needed to participate. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have anything else to do.
In addition to being a wife, mother and grandmother, she is involved in myriad businesses and volunteer positions. She and husband Danny own AZFirearms, “the biggest little gun shop in Arizona,” as well as Pot of Gold Estate Liquidations and Auctions. They also own and co-host Gun Freedom Radio, which broadcasts from 1:00 to 3:00 pm Mountain Time on Saturday afternoons. She serves on the Board of Directors of both the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association, and the Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce. In addition she writes a column for Women’s Outdoor News (WON) and is a prolific contributor on Twitter (@GunFreeRadio), Facebook and Instagram.
Being part of The DC Project: Revealing the Face of the American Gun Owner was simply something this Arizona dynamo had to do. She joined a small group of women in running a recognizance mission to Washington. DCP is composed of women from all over the country, some from cities, many from small towns and rural areas. They have varying experience negotiating things like The Metro and making appointments with their Congressfolk. The recon group became the hub of the project.
Cheryl is adamant about downplaying her role, “…none of us ladies wears any special title or holds any special position,” she insists. She further points to the enormous talent and dedication of the women who compose this truly grassroots organization. There are no monetary backers. Each delegate is responsible for her own transportation, lodging and meals. She must make arrangements for her visits to the offices of her representative and senators.
Cheryl acquiesced to the title of “shepherd,” being available to help group members find their way.
Cheryl was one of the eight women who spoke at the rally on the West Lawn of the Capitol Building during the first DCP. She is used to public speaking because of her weekly radio program, although she had never done that before she and Danny began broadcasting. She is a frequent speaker at the Gun Rights Policy Conference, too.
Joining this particular enterprise was important because her mission is to preserve and protect our Constitution and our rights as American citizens. She believes in and honors the words of President Ronald Reagan, which the Todds play at the beginning of every broadcast. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
Last year she posed on the lawn in Washington with her daughter, Cassie Todd-Jameson, who is another delegate from Arizona and Cassie’s now three-year-old daughter, Raelynn Jameson. They are the reason why she does what she does.
Our children and our grandchildren are why all of us who work to protect human rights do what we do. Our rights are in constant need of protection. This is a year that the right to keep and bear arms seems particularly vulnerable. Yet, there have been many years when that seemed to be the case. Still, each year seems more dire.
After months of serious debate both within the confines of Independence Hall where the Constitutional Convention was occurring and in the newspapers with competing authors offering opinions and answers to opposing opinions, the day came when we had the document that would be sent to each of the former colonies that were to be the first of the United States of America. When he emerged from the building, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government they had created. He replied, “A Republic, madam. If we can keep it.”
‘We the people’ is a term used so often as to lose its significance. However, it is, indeed, we the people by whom and for whom the Constitution of the United States of America were written. We are the first nation in history to be ruled by the citizens of the nation. We are not ruled by a king who derives his authority from his blood line. Nor are we ruled by a conqueror who has defeated us. We are no man’s subjects. We rule ourselves.”
For quite some time we have not been taught the awesomeness of that concept. Most of us were born into the freedoms we enjoy. Many have immigrated here to share those freedoms. But freedom is fragile. It is as Reagan stated. We can lose our freedoms in an extremely short period of time. We are losing them, now.
More than the rest of the population, almost all gunowners are aware of the possibility of losing our freedom. There are many voices clambering to take away our right to keep and bear arms. If not all the right, immediately, then tiny pieces of the right. Little chunks here and there. Bitty things we might not miss. Or, if they are missed, they are not missed by many because they are things that not many gun owners use. The Second Amendment is under attack more than any other amendment, although bits and pieces of the First and the Fourth and the Fifth have also disappeared.
Cheryl Todd is one person who is very aware of the need for constant vigilance. Going to Washington, letting legislators and their staffs get to know her, is an extremely important role. After spending years de-mystifying guns for her listeners and customers, she is now embarked on doing the same for those who make the laws under which our freedoms continue to flourish…or disappear. This is the face of one American gun owner who representatives and senators will not soon forget!
