The Gun Owners of America ("GOA") produced and distributed this bumper sticker in response to the deaths of Chinese pro-democracy activists at Tiananmen Square in June 1989. By referencing the notion that restrictive gun laws led to the inability of Chinese protestors to defend themselves from a tyrannical government, this item tied into a still-active conservative ideology of firearm rights that l inked gun ownership to the preservation of democratic government.
A commercial artist and mid-level California Republican operative named H.L. "Bill" Richardson founded the GOA in 1975. In addition to trying to sway popular opinion with lectures, opinion pieces in periodicals, and items such as this bumper sticker, the GOA operated (and still operates) as a lobbying group and legal defense fund in support of liberal gun ownership rights. Through an associated political action committee, it also supports political candidates it feels are in favor of its goals.