If you are a gun owner, you’re prepared to use it. You will use firearms for recreation. You will use them for defense. You know, believe, and support gun rights. But to what extent? Most people probably can’t or won’t go into fully automatic mode like Valerie and Brian Wilson. This couple is “all in” for needy children, conceal carry rights, and the passage of Nevada AB 167.

Groups like the NRA and Gun Owners of America fight government infringement daily. Corporations hire expensive lobbyists to fight their political battles. Individuals being their own, “We the People”? Not so much.

Instead of William Wallace leading the charge on horseback against injustice and the empire, picture Brian and Valerie Wilson in their motor home. The couple and their two dogs left their Las Vegas home on January 31. They made an 8-plus hour drive to the capitol in Carson City. They dug in.

The Wilsons moved to the front line of legislation to fight for Nevada AB 167. This bill becoming law will allow conceal carry permit holders like them to become foster parents, and adopt children craving loving parents.

“We thought it was best to come up here and stay the entire legislative session,” Brian Wilson told Ares Armor. “Why travel back and forth? We said we’ll get involved, get to know everybody, and help to get things done.”

With flexibility from their Thumpertalk online business, the Wilsons can keep paying their mortgage. Ever since Nevada Assemblywoman, Michele Fiore introduced the Nevada AB 167 bill following her re-election in November, the Wilsons have been following in her footsteps. They elected themselves to voluntarily dive full-time into Nevada politics to get the law they want passed.

“The Assembly and Senate members see us every day,” says Brian Wilson. We’re making it impossible for them to ignore it. We want them to think ‘Wow, it’s crazy not to send an adopted child to families like these people. It makes no sense.’”

Valerie and Brian Wilson are using their faces to represent many others across Nevada who are victims of a bureaucratic system. “I’m the hard ass,” laughs Brian. My wife is so naturally sweet. Everyone just loves her. Really, we have made many friends here. We regularly go to dinner and events with different elected officials. I almost hate to admit it, we’ve become members of the legislative staff. Good or bad, we’re like in the club now.”

All this political boots on the ground grunt work is new to Brian. But it’s not stopping him. He is literally writing legislation language about guns, ammunition, safe storage, and more. He is actively negotiating terms and amendments. He is doing everything humanly possible for elected officials in order to win support. It’s working.

Most legislative bills have 3 or 4 legislators sign their name as sponsors of a proposed new law. The Wilsons already have 24 sponsors of Nevada AB 167. There are only 63 in the entire state.

“We’re talking guns and kids here,” admits Brian. “Looking on paper, it’s very easy to make a decision about what affects people’s lives. But when you put faces to it, they see we’re real people with a real problem they can fix. We’re showing them this is the kind of family and home kids aren’t getting a chance to enjoy because of the law the way it is now.”

Brian adds, “If this is a hard and depressing process for us, imagine what it is like for the kids in the system. The bureaucracy brings us back to our hearts, and this being about getting kids out of that system and into normal life.”

He recalls the first amendment proposed was not about the safety or children. It was about the state not being liable or sued. There were recent challenges over multiple locks on gun safes. The latest maneuvering was epic.

A state official was proposing a Class D felony for any conceal carry permit holder who makes a mistake under the new law. Brian says, “They told me it was the state’s lawyers who wanted these things. I picked up my phone and said, ‘Let’s call the State Attorney General right now.’ They backpedaled. When they heard that, then discovered we moved to Carson City for this legislation, their chins hit the table.”

The Wilsons know they have the votes to pass Nevada AB 167. The next hurdle is to get it through the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Brian knows the names by heart. “Joe Hardy serves as Chair. Ben Kieckhefer is Vice Chair. There’s Mark Lipparelli, Joyce Woodhouse, and Debbie Smith.”

Ares Armor proudly created and paid for an ad in the Reno Gazette Journal to run on Sunday and Wednesday before the hearing. We hope it helps to apply political pressure in support of the Wilsons at crunch time.

Michele Fiore will introduce Brian and Valerie at the Nevada Senate hearing. “I will actually be introducing the bill,” says Brian. “It is our responsibility to care for this bill and make sure it goes through. My wife and I will be the ones on the hot seat. We will say a prayer, go in, tell the truth, and speak from our hearts.”

Those are Bravehearts indeed.

Numbers don’t lie. Yet, they don’t always tell the whole truth. Anti-gun groups often scoff at U.S. Crime statistics. They don’t believe the rates of violent crimes such as road rage, rape, or a home invasion, justify owning guns for self-defense.

Depending on where and how you live, the odds of becoming a violent crime victim may vary greatly. However, anywhere at any time, bad things happen to good people. You never want to be left unarmed and unprotected when your life’s number is called by criminals. Brian and Valerie Wilson experienced this truth.

Americans don’t need a good reason to exercise Second Amendment rights. Still, an attempted home invasion led the Wilsons to become gun owners. Now, the couple is leading change for Nevada permit holders. Ares Armor has been helping the Wilson’s in trying to get Assembly Bill 167 passed.

#AB167 is now in the hands of the Nevada Senate. AB 167 should be law. Good, honest gun carrying citizens shouldn’t have to choose between 2^nd Amendment rights and becoming foster parents to Nevada children who crave parents. The Wilsons are being denied this opportunity because they carry guns.

Life taught their family a lesson. They won’t be victims again.

No Knock Knock. No Idea Who’s There.

This was no joke. Brian and Valerie Wilson were teens in the early 1990s. The couple was living in their first shared home. The second floor apartment was in a complex in the nice suburban neighborhood of Orchard Park, New York. Their place was a short field goal away from the home stadium where the Buffalo Bills play football.

One evening, Brian and Valerie were home watching TV. Suddenly, a stranger desperately wanted in. Suddenly, the Wilsons were fearing for their lives. The enemy was pounding on their door, banging into it…a human bulldozer fueled by bad intentions.

“The person wasn’t yelling,” Brian Wilson told Ares Armor. “We don’t know who he was. All I was trying to do was keep the door from caving in.”

“Brian told me to call 9-1-1,” adds Valerie. “I was stuck on a land line phone. It was so scary. Nothing like this ever happened to either of us before. What do you do? You call 9-1-1 and pray!”

“Pushing back with all my weight and all of my might, and thanks to the steel door and steel frame, somehow it held,” says Brian. “I don’t know how much time went by but it felt like an eternity. We only knew it was over when our neighbor told us there was no more threat. The person ran off.”

The Wilsons recall it was 15-20 minutes before the police came. By that time, the terror was over. Valerie still remembers the feeling. She says, “Until you are in that type of scary situation, you never appreciate how helpless you really are.”

“We were both told the same thing our whole lives. When there is danger, call 9-1-1,” adds Brian. “It’s only when you’re faced with finding out no one is coming to save you that your opinion changes very quickly. You suddenly realize who is ultimately responsible for your safety. That’s when I realized calling for help is not going to protect my wife. I never owned or even fired a gun before that night.”

Residing in the anti-gun state of New York, a person had about a year wait until they could possibly get a gun permit. Brian recalled cronyism was also required. Luckily, his relative went to school with a judge, and Brian eventually got his first gun permit. It was 1993.

Betting on Las Vegas

Valerie and Brian Wilson moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, soon after the incident. They hoped to better their lives in what was the nation’s fastest growing economy. For more than 20 years, Nevada has been their home. The couple has bettered their lives. Now, they’d love to share all they have with children who would surely love it even more.

Brian has had a conceal and carry permit since they’ve been in Nevada. Santa Claus got Valerie a gun her first Christmas there. She waited a few years before she too got her permit. “We were always together, attached at the hip,” she laughs. “Eventually I wanted to carry on my own. Now I don’t leave home without it. When you carry it’s like making sure you have your wallet and keys, and your door is locked. Having a CCW, is like a part of your wardrobe. It becomes part of you.”

Everyday Gambling in Nevada

Even if you don’t like guns, a look into the Wilson’s past shows why they carry. It helps them feel peace and strength in the present. Senators voting on AB 167 should know Nevada is in the top three most violent states every year (visitors are a real factor). Valerie says, “It’s like the line from the movie Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ CCWs don’t escalate a bad situation. We feel safer to walk away. Most people who don’t carry, don’t understand this.”

The Wilsons hope the Nevada Senate members voting on AB 167 will understand. Brian said, “We want to stay in Nevada. We want to care for Nevada children. If we have to move because AB 167 doesn’t pass, there are other states with needy children who would love to have us. But we won’t give up our guns over a bad law. The safety of my family always comes first. Always.”

Sounds like a couple who will protect children, doesn’t it? Please Nevada Senate, pass AB 167.

Ares Armor is still supporting Brian and Valerie Wilson. The CCW Permit holders are now one step closer in their fight for Nevada Gun Rights Gold. Assembly Bill 167, known as #AB167, was just passed by the Nevada Assembly. It’s now in the hands (and hearts) of the Nevada Senate. A vote is expected before early June.

The new Nevada Gun Rights law will allow the Wilsons and others with concealed-weapons permits, as well as gun-carrying law enforcement officers, to be eligible foster parents. Plus, they will still have the right to carry loaded weapons on their person, or in their home, or a car.

The 26-15 vote included all 25 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill. One Democratic Assemblyman, James Ohrenschall, of Las Vegas, voted his conscience with the majority.

“It happened exactly as we expected,” Brian Wilson told Ares Armor. “It was a full party line vote except for Assemblyman Ohrenschall. He’s a good guy. He’s established, knows what he’s doing, and can vote what he believes.”

The Wilson’s request to become foster parents was denied by the Nevada Department of Child and Family Services because they are concealed weapon permit holders. Their attempts to get a variance from the state regulation were also shot down.

Rather than lay down their weapons (or quietly break the law as they were advised), the Las Vegas couple is working tirelessly to right the Nevada Gun Rights law.

Republican Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, of Las Vegas, is betting big on the Wilson’s rights. She is leading the fight in the Nevada Legislature.

Brian Wilson is relieved by the Nevada Assembly passing of #AB167. However, he and his wife, Valerie, are certainly not celebrating. The Las Vegas couple has been wearing their hearts on their sleeves for more than a year and half on this issue.

“Lots of people have been saying congratulations to us,” said Brian. “People are paying attention and know the bill passed. We think the added awareness is a good thing.”

As the bill now reaches the Nevada Senate, a key change has taken place. It goes from the Judiciary Committee to a Health and Human Services Committee matter. Brian admits, “I don’t know how they are going to react. We’re kind of starting all over. If we can get out of the committee to the floor, I think we can get it passed.”

The big danger with this important Nevada Gun Rights bill is that it gets watered down. Attempts last year in the Nevada Interim Legislative Commission only included law enforcement, leaving out CCWs.

We urge the Nevada Senate to see good, caring people like Brian and Valerie Wilson as law-abiding citizens. They are safety conscious people, not negligent or dangerous.

Just because people exercise their Second Amendment Rights to bear arms, doesn’t mean they aren’t the right arms to embrace foster children. All these kids want is someone to genuinely love and care for them. Brian and Valerie want to love children. They don’t want or need a monthly check to do it.

Nevada gun rights shouldn’t get in the way. This would be a crying shame to leave love-starved, innocent children in the state bureaucracy system. They deserve better. They deserve love. It’s an easy solution.

Guns aside, any Nevada foster children would be a whole lot happier and a whole lot safer with Brian and Valerie Wilson than they would in a system already shot full of holes.

March 15, 2015

Mr. Brian and Mrs. Valerie Wilson
Las Vegas, Nevada

Dear Valerie and Brian,

Thank you for coming forward publicly and sharing your story. It moved me. It also moved the people in our company. Thus, we also shared your story to all our loyal customers on the Ares Armor website.

Maybe it’s me. But I just don’t understand how a law-abiding, firearm-carrying couple with Constitutional Rights do not have the legal right to be foster parents or adopt a child. This doesn’t seem fair to you or a child who wants, needs, and deserves to be loved.

What I can understand is how the attempted invasion of your home changed your outlook on life. Yours happened when you lived in New York. My family’s was in a similar unconstitutional “gun-free zone” in Chicago, Illinois. You never forget it, do you?

For us, it was 2:30 a.m. My family was sleeping. I was home working at that hour. Two thugs smashed the window of my 2-year old daughter’s bedroom. Within seconds, I grabbed her and rushed her and my 6-month old son into their mother’s arms in our bedroom.

After quickly leading my family into a designated safe area in our home, I ran back to confront the two perpetrators. The only legal self-defense weapon I had was my martial arts training. Luckily in this case, applying my skills as a black belt was enough (if you catch my drift).

How is it, today’s America doesn’t fully value good human beings like yourselves, who believe in their Constitutional Rights to bear arms in order to protect themselves?

Valerie and Brian, I respect you for “sticking to your guns” so to speak. Thank you for fighting for positive change across America, and specifically in Nevada with trying to change the law with Assembly Bill 167.

You got through the attempted invasion of your home. I pray and believe you will get through this challenge. You deserve to keep your right to bear arms, AND get the right and the opportunity to welcome deserving children into your loving arms.

Please let me know if we, at Ares Armor, can be of assistance to you.

With gratitude and admiration,

Bryce Stirlen, CEO

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