4570Rick
Member
We will keep doing what we can. We who live in CA, and are concerned with preserving our rights and the rights of gun owners everywhere, will do what we can in this fight. We will write to our elected critters, call them, e-mail them, walk precincts and work the phone banks for the good ones, carry petitions and collect signatures to remove the bad ones and so on and so on and so on. Some will be more active than others like Jim March for example. Someone said “I want to grow up to be like him.†I couldn’t agree more. Some will not be so active, instead allowing their insecurities or lack of experience to dictate their level of involvement. It is not easy to walk into a Congress critters office for the first time…to sit and talk intelligently with confidence and poise about a subject as volatile as a 2nd Amendment issue to be sure.
There are those among us who assume, as indicated by the subtle lack of respect or lack of personal knowledge about the members of the various gun boards, that we simply sit around and grouse, whine, snivel, and complain amongst ourselves about the rights we fear loosing while doing nothing substantive to allay these fears. Rest assured that you don’t know the first thing about that which you speak. From the thousands and thousands of threads I have read here and on the myriad other gun forums, I have gleaned a great deal of information, information that can be of tremendous use when talking to the various critters in public office. BTW, I use the term critter on these forums, not as a way to show them disrespect, but to remind myself that they are no better than I, no more or less important, that when I talk to them, they are not the Great and Powerful Oz any more than I am the Cowardly Lion.
These boards have an ever increasing number of “newbie’s†who are looking for like minded gun owners to share experiences and maybe new ideas as to how they and we can fight the media driven apparent tide of anti-gun sentiment across this great country. I personally would not chide the use of these boards as not accomplishing anything productive. Instead, I would encourage their continued involvement posting and reading and, when they are ready, their physical and or financial involvement in furthering our 2nd Amendment cause. Lord knows you can pump a lot of money into the cause. As to the idea of “tempering†our views, I see nothing to gain by this save for the continuation of the incremental loss of our rights through compromise. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.†indicates an absolute, uncompromising birthright to firearms ownership. The Second Amendment does not say “The claim of the people, dispensable at the whim of government, incrementally or in total, to keep and bear arms may or may not be infringed.â€
My work for the 2nd Amendment is still ongoing, however I no longer am able to give the physical or financial resources I once did. I walked precincts, knocked on doors, and collected signatures in the successful David Roberti and Doris Allen recalls as well as on many campaigns to get pro gun candidates elected to office. I have worked phone banks for several state legislators. I’ve worked into the wee hours preparing political mailers for gun rights supporters. I have had sit down audiences with no less than six Congressmen including Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. I got to this level of involvement not by having my activities criticized, but through encouragement by those who were more involved than I.
So I wont criticize anyone from California or anywhere else for their involvement on these boards. Instead let me just say how much fun I’ve had tilting at windmills so to speak. I would encourage anyone who has thought about going to your legislator’s community office, to speak on behalf of your 2nd Amendment rights to, just do it. Find an activist group and get involved. Start a local pro gun organization. Or just keep the e-mail and faxes pilling up in the office of your elected critters, but do stay involved.
My two cents worth.
There are those among us who assume, as indicated by the subtle lack of respect or lack of personal knowledge about the members of the various gun boards, that we simply sit around and grouse, whine, snivel, and complain amongst ourselves about the rights we fear loosing while doing nothing substantive to allay these fears. Rest assured that you don’t know the first thing about that which you speak. From the thousands and thousands of threads I have read here and on the myriad other gun forums, I have gleaned a great deal of information, information that can be of tremendous use when talking to the various critters in public office. BTW, I use the term critter on these forums, not as a way to show them disrespect, but to remind myself that they are no better than I, no more or less important, that when I talk to them, they are not the Great and Powerful Oz any more than I am the Cowardly Lion.
These boards have an ever increasing number of “newbie’s†who are looking for like minded gun owners to share experiences and maybe new ideas as to how they and we can fight the media driven apparent tide of anti-gun sentiment across this great country. I personally would not chide the use of these boards as not accomplishing anything productive. Instead, I would encourage their continued involvement posting and reading and, when they are ready, their physical and or financial involvement in furthering our 2nd Amendment cause. Lord knows you can pump a lot of money into the cause. As to the idea of “tempering†our views, I see nothing to gain by this save for the continuation of the incremental loss of our rights through compromise. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.†indicates an absolute, uncompromising birthright to firearms ownership. The Second Amendment does not say “The claim of the people, dispensable at the whim of government, incrementally or in total, to keep and bear arms may or may not be infringed.â€
My work for the 2nd Amendment is still ongoing, however I no longer am able to give the physical or financial resources I once did. I walked precincts, knocked on doors, and collected signatures in the successful David Roberti and Doris Allen recalls as well as on many campaigns to get pro gun candidates elected to office. I have worked phone banks for several state legislators. I’ve worked into the wee hours preparing political mailers for gun rights supporters. I have had sit down audiences with no less than six Congressmen including Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. I got to this level of involvement not by having my activities criticized, but through encouragement by those who were more involved than I.
So I wont criticize anyone from California or anywhere else for their involvement on these boards. Instead let me just say how much fun I’ve had tilting at windmills so to speak. I would encourage anyone who has thought about going to your legislator’s community office, to speak on behalf of your 2nd Amendment rights to, just do it. Find an activist group and get involved. Start a local pro gun organization. Or just keep the e-mail and faxes pilling up in the office of your elected critters, but do stay involved.
My two cents worth.
The small town I live in has tripled its population in the last 10 years, as has most of Sufferin' California. 
I think the entire rest of the country is moving to CA as fast as they can, no matter how bad they talk about it. 