NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland–On March 6th, Breitbart News had the opportunity to talk to Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) about the way gun control was defeated in 2013 and what needs to happen in order to win the battle against gun control again in 2014.

Our first question regarded 2013: “When you look at last year, how do you think we were able to defeat gun control? What to you ultimately believe was the key?”

Kelly responded:

We got on it early, and we got on it often, and we went with the NRA, and we got the public to understand what was going on. That was crucial, because if you were to talk to the people that want to take our guns away they always say, ‘No, no, no, you misunderstand what we’re trying to do. We just want to protect people.’ And we said, ‘No, we know exactly what you want to do. You want to take our guns from us. You want to take away the ability that we have to protect ourselves.’

And what we have to understand in 2014 is that the gun control proponents are never going away. This is a world movement that would reduce us down to a level where we lose sovereignty of our own gun policy, of our trade policy when it comes to arms.

Breitbart News also asked: “So what should gun owners and freedom-loving Americans do?”

Kelly said in response:

You’ve got to keep talking to people. You have to constantly be ringing that bell, ‘They’re coming for your guns, they’re coming for your guns.’ Because as soon as we back off, we lose. And if we let them convince us that they really don’t want to take our guns away, then we lose.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.