By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Dianne Muller
When Dianna Muller, founder of the D.C. Project and former Oklahoma City Police Officer was given the last-minute opportunity to speak during the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Phoenix, she used the few minutes at the microphone to preview remarks she was to give to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee a few days later.
It was a home-run speech to the suddenly boisterous audience of Second Amendment activists.
The D.C. Project brings one woman from each of the 50 states for a day of lobbying and networking on Capitol Hill. This mid-summer event is uses to show elected officials that the “Moms Demand Action” gun control group hardly represents all women.
Muller, who spent 22 years in law enforcement, not only was a hit with the GRPC audience, she subsequently delivered a riveting performance on Capitol Hill, telling the Judiciary Committee if a ban on so-called “assault weapons” is passed by Congress, “I will not comply.”
Muller had five minutes before the Judiciary, and she made the most of it.
Declaring, “I am an ordinary American, one who has had different life experiences that bring me here today as (an opponent) of any additional gun control laws, including the so-called ‘assault weapons ban’,” Muller detailed her background in law enforcement, and what led to the establishment of the D.C. Project.
Now a competitive shooter, Muller said the Project is an educational effort.
“These laws and policies are taking away a woman’s right to choose,” she stated. “Gun rights are women’s rights.”
She was honored to appear at the conference, and before the House Committee a few days later, “to be a voice for the millions of women who share my ideology (and) my beliefs that are not represented in the mainstream media and are squelched on social media.”
Muller then asked rhetorically, “Why does anybody need an AR-15?”
She explained the reason by discussing shoes.
“I wouldn’t run a marathon in 3-inch heels,” she said, “and I wouldn’t go to a ball in sneakers.”
The AR-15 is like a flat, comfortable shoe, she explained, “that gets called on for many occasions.”
“It’s my go-to for home defense and vehicle gun,” Muller stated.
As a competitor, she has turned a hobby into a living. Her husband hunts with an AR-15, and she described the AR-15 as the most popular rifle in the country today because it is versatile and may be customized.
“Freedom doesn’t ask ‘why the need?’,” she continued. “To quote William Pitt the Younger, ‘Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.”
She recalled more than two decades in law enforcement and how it was frustrating to “enforce the laws that you created” and then see judges and prosecutors go for minimal sentencing of criminals.
“I find it ironic,” Muller observed, “in today’s effort of criminal justice reform, that you are taking steps to be lenient on the people who have actually committed crimes against laws you created, while at the same time you are proposing more laws that turn law-abiding, ordinary citizens into criminals.
“How about holding people accountable for the laws that are already on the books,” she added, “before we pass any further legislation that would be only burdensome to the law-abiding? If these laws were the answer, Chicago, Baltimore, L.A. and even this city would be the safest cities in America.”
Muller maintained that “ordinary citizens are safer when the have the tools to defend themselves and their families.”
“This includes the AR-15,” she said. “As a woman, I am likely smaller and less equipped for violence than an attacker, and if outnumbered by people who want to do me harm, my firearm is a great equalizer.”
Muller said the firearms community “is leading the way in meaningful safety measures.”
“We, too, want to address the violence,” she said. “We are the most safety conscious group.”
She implored lawmakers to “work with us instead of demonizing us.”
“Instead of calling me a domestic terrorist for being an NRA member,” Muller said, “look at me as an expert in my field. I am not the enemy. Law-abiding gun owners are not the enemy.”
She encouraged members of the committee to support safety programs created by firearms organizations and activists.
“If you really want to make a difference in gun-related deaths,” she challenged, “get behind these programs and fund them because we believe one life unjustifiably taken is too many.”
She closed by telling the Judiciary panel, “Let’s put firearms education back in schools and start protecting our kids like we protect the people in this building. Education over legislation.”
