Political party platforms are at once everything and nothing – they hold significant meaning for those who care and are unknown to 99 percent of the general population. If a political party is a business, a party platform is its mission statement. If a political party is a product, a party platform is its brand.
Under freedom of association, every political party has a right to its brand. It has a right to assume a brand, message that brand and, within its own ranks, press for alignment to the brand. It makes no sense for a political party that believes deeply in the Second Amendment to brand itself any other way nor does it make sense for that political party to welcome members who feel differently about gun ownership.
