Keep your powder dry, because we could be in for a new wave of attacks on gun owners’ rights—based on misleading reports of “rising crime.”

In June, the FBI released the preliminary findings of its 2006 Uniform Crime Reports. For the second year in a row, the number of crimes reported by police was up. Since the U.S. population has also grown, that means we may be seeing the end of a long-term drop in the rates of violent crimes such as murder, robbery and aggravated assault.

Chances are, you’re well aware of the problem: Smaller and mid-sized cities, especially in the Midwest, seem to be the hardest hit, with increases there more than offsetting falling crime in other parts of the country.

Criminologists cite several factors as likely causes for the changing trend: an increase in the crime-prone juvenile population; increasing numbers of paroled prison inmates; and the emerging menace of criminal gangs, many with ties to large, violent criminal organizations headquartered in Mexico and Central America.

Meanwhile, exacerbating the problem has been the need to divert federal assistance for local law enforcement to anti-terrorism efforts within the Department of Homeland Security. Our nation’s police are being asked to do more with less.

There is a large measure of danger in all of this for the NRA and the cause of firearm freedom. As the 2008 elections approach, the NRA and all law-abiding gun owners are sure to become the target of unscrupulous politicians seeking easy answers to complex, social problems.

If these trends continue, we can expect our enemies on Capitol Hill and elsewhere to attack firearms and the freedom to own them, instead of attacking the criminals who misuse them.

We must be prepared for these misguided attacks. We must arm ourselves with the truth and be prepared to defend our rights at every level.

We know how to do that; we have done it for years. And we will continue to do so by mobilizing the grassroots, by supporting our friends in Congress and elsewhere, and by exposing those who exploit social crises for political gain as the insensitive, freedom-hating charlatans that they are. But we can, and should, do more.

NRA has a long, proud history of supporting our brothers and sisters in law enforcement. We should continue to support them now, in their own time of need.

NRA’s Law Enforcement Activities Division trains and supports almost 2,000 new police firearm instructors and conducts thousands of police shooting competitions every year. NRA provides a line-of-duty death benefit that has paid out almost $1.5 million over recent years to the families of fallen officers. NRA also provides scholarships for the children of NRA police officer-members through the Jeanne E. Bray Memorial Scholarship Fund. But we can do more.

In my first column as your president, I asked you to reach out to the military members within your community and encourage them to become a part of your club and our NRA family. I asked that you thank them for their service and let them know they are welcome within our ranks. I now ask that you do the same for our brothers and sisters who wear a badge and help keep us safe here at home.

Whether they are federal agents of the U.S. Border Patrol, Secret Service or FBI, state troopers, sheriff’s deputies, municipal officers or correctional officers, they are all in danger every day from violent felons of every type. Law enforcement officers need our support, and they need to understand that the law-abiding gun owner is their ally and their friend.

Reach out to our friends in law enforcement. Thank them for what they do. Tell them that you support them and invite them to join your club, use your ranges and become members of the NRA. The law enforcement community has always been a natural part of the NRA family.

I am not the first NRA president to have come from law enforcement, nor will I be the last. Many of NRA’s officers, directors and staffers are former law enforcement officers.

While there are hundreds of thous-ands of law enforcement officers within the ranks of the NRA, there are many more who should be and probably would be, if someone would simply ask them.

Please, if you know a law enforcement officer who believes in the individual’s Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the right of self-defense—and most do—ask them to join our family. Invite them to join the NRA. Do it today.