National Rifle Association-Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Chris Cox added a different angle in defending the Second Amendment when he broached the subject of what upcoming criminal justice reforms would do to inflame the outcry against the right to bear arms.

During his speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on Tuesday, Cox took aim at the criminal justice reforms pushed by Democrats and Republicans alike that would seek to reduce prison sentencing for some classes of convicted criminals. Cox asked the RNC attendees to imagine what would happen if one of these released inmates fell back into a life of crime.

“Imagine a young mother at home with her baby when a violent predator kicks the door in. He’s a three-time loser who was released from prison early because some politician wanted to show their compassion.”

“Imagine a young mother at home with her baby when a violent predator kicks the door in. He’s a three-time loser who was released from prison early because some politician wanted to show their compassion,” Cox said. “So the question is, should she be able to defend herself with a firearm in her own home? Of course.”

Cox also emphasized the importance of private citizens having the right and means to protect themselves by taking over control of their circumstances as much as they are able to in a dangerous and uncertain world.

“We live in dangerous times. We’re worried, and we have reason to be, because our government has failed to keep us safe. You have to be able to protect yourself and your family, and that’s what the Second Amendment is all about,” Cox said.

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The problem is, however, that U.S. citizens — like the young mother in Cox’s hypothetical example — will likely be in increasing danger of losing their Second Amendment rights as the anti-gun outrage sweeping across the nation continues to target the existence of the guns themselves. And if the criminal justice reform legislation passes into law and criminals are released sooner and in higher numbers, gun crimes will most likely continue to escalate and cause problems for the country’s law-abiding citizens.

A Gallup poll released in April showed that Americans are more concerned about violent crime than they have been in 15 years. Roughly 53 percent of respondents in 2015 said they worry “a great deal” about crime, which is up from the 39 percent who said the same thing in 2014.

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And with these concerns rising throughout the United States, the criminal justice reforms championed by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, many Democrats, and some Republicans — such as House Speaker Paul Ryan — offer a cause for further concern.

“While visiting concern on prisoners is an important and valuable act, we must understand a core responsibility of the government is safety of the public.”

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In response to revisions made to the criminal sentencing bill in April, Sen. Jeff Sessions issued a statement condemning it, saying that its passage “would release thousands of violent felons and endanger millions of Americans whose safety is increasingly threatened by rising crime rates.”

“While visiting concern on prisoners is an important and valuable act, we must understand a core responsibility of the government is safety of the public. The wise approach is to slow down and evaluate the trends before accelerating prison population decline,” Sessions said in his statement.

Session went on to note that since 2011, the federal prison inmate population has decreased by over 20,000, which roughly equals a 9 percent decrease. In addition, the population is set to decrease by over 10,000 more this year.

“The Sentencing Commission recently ordered the release of 46,276 federal drug trafficking felons from federal prison, including those who carried semi-automatic weapons, participated in international heroin smuggling rings, and have violent criminal histories,” Sessions added. “And just last year, the Obama administration released 90,000 criminal illegal aliens from custody.”

As these statistics have been changing, homicides in the United States’ 50 largest cities rose nearly 17 percent in 2015 alone, which was the largest increase seen since 1960.

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“Federal drug and sentencing laws have already been considerably relaxed. Congress must examine the potential far-reaching consequences of what has occurred before going any further,” Sessions concluded. “It is counter-intuitive to further weaken penalties for drug traffickers, especially heroin traffickers, and to enable the release of several thousand more incarcerated drug and gun felons, particularly at this time.”

These concerns are even more pertinent when it comes to law-abiding gun owners who watch as their constitutional right to self-defense is being maligned by a politically correct populace that blames guns for every act of violence committed in the country. For every police shooting and act of terrorism the country as seen in the last few years, there are always those politicians and citizens who cry “gun control.”

“If you care about the safety of police officers, then you can’t set aside the gun issue and pretend that’s irrelevant. Police have a really difficult time in communities where they know guns are everywhere,” Obama said during a NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland, after five Dallas police officers were shot and killed earlier this month. “I want to start moving on constructive actions that are actually going to make a difference, because that is what all Americans want.”

“We fight for the rights of all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, because the right to protect your life is the most precious right you have.”

As violence and crime continue to escalate through the country, the right to bear arms and engage in self-defense is, as Cox reminded his audience, in more danger than ever before. Calling the NRA the “largest and oldest civil rights organization in America,” Cox emphasized how important the Second Amendment issue is to this upcoming presidential election.

“We fight for the rights of all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation, because the right to protect your life is the most precious right you have,” Cox said. “Friends, the 5 million men and women of the NRA will fight without apology for your right to protect your life. But we’re on the cusp of losing this great American freedom and with it, this great nation. The only way we save it is by electing Donald Trump the next president of the United States.”