How can we make a change?

[kbr80]

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is an FFL in Texas. We were talking about delays and denials on the instant check deal. He told me that the ATF and FBI along with the instant check people themselves stated that you could be denied purchase of a firearm due to owing back taxes, child support, unpaid student loans etc.... (dont get me wrong, owing back taxes, child support and such is bad and I do not condone this behavior) Seems like our right to own a gun is truly not a right anymore. With so many restrictions, it is not a right.

So, how can we, peacefully, take back our right to own a firearm? I mean, we all grip, bitch and moan, but we do nothing to effect a change. Why is this? Writing congress members is not getting it done. What are some viable ideas on how to make a change?

 

[Mark Tyson]

Expose people to positive experiences with firearms. In other words: make friends with anti's or fence-sitters and take them shooting.

 

[coylh]

Teach children to shoot safely and respect firearms--they grow up to be the FBI and ATF agents who enforce the rules and the lawmakers who write them. This is in the long term of course. In the short term, bitch and moan.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Writing congress members is not getting it done.

Whenever I write to a congress critter, I remind it that I not only vote, but contribute time, money, and effort to candidates. Writing to them makes things happen at the local and state levels; to date, however, we haven't succeeded very well with federal congress critters.

Lots more shooters would help, to be sure.

 

[Denver]

Before I owned a firearm, I told an anti-gun neighbor that I didn't own a gun, but I sure the heck wouldn't put a sign in my window to advertise that fact. She agreed!

Helping people recognize a problem is the first step toward curing the problem, I have heard.

Another approach is one from one of the Grampa Jack series from JPFO:

Speaking to a man in front of his wife, I describe a scenario: Two knife-weilding thugs grab your wife and start dragging her away. You, unarmed, protest and the thugs point out that you are in no position to complain. I am nearby. I am armed. I respect your contempt for firearms. Would you like me to rescue your wife or not?

If each of us 80 million gun owners plant a seed of freedom in at least one new mind each day, what a wonderful place this world will be!

JPFO has some very good material for gently waking up our fellow citizens to the peril we are all in.

 

[Justin]

Raise artsy kids.

They go on to become reporters, writers, directors and actors.

 

[Balog]

Screw writing to your Congressional wank. Send 'em a copy of "Unintended Consequences" and then write and bug 'em til they read it.

 

[hammer4nc]

He told me that the ATF and FBI along with the instant check people themselves stated that you could be denied purchase of a firearm due to owing back taxes, child support, unpaid student loans etc...

I was under the impression that firearm purchase (and by extension, ownership) could legally be denied: if you were a convicted felon; (and thanks to Lautenberg), retroactively misdemeanor domestic violence; under a restraining order; plus all the other 4473 prohibitions, but unpaid taxes??? Please, THR members with FFL's, tell me this information isn't correct!!!

kbr80 is saying that, effectively, you cannot buy/own firearms if you have an outstanding monetary judgement against you.

Yes, many states withhold license renewals if you have a delinquent balance with the department of revenue. In North Carolina, for example, you cannot get your car smog-checked if you owe unpaid taxes.

If this turns out to be true, its a new and major shift in firearms enforcement that warrants a lot of discussion!!

 

[kbr80]

Yes, that is what my FFL friend told me, and i trust him. He states that he was told by the powers that be, atf, fbi, state of texas and such.

 

[Art Eatman]

The biggest problem gun owners face is our own apathy.

Example: Austin, Texas, has some 250,000 registered voters, if not more. (It's been a few years, and I've "lost" the exact number.) A couple of recent city elections were decided by--are you ready?--voter turnouts of 9% and 11%. That means that some 12 or 15 thousand voters made the decision about who was on the city council; who was mayor.

If the gun owners had just put up one of themselves as a candidate or several as candidates, AND then gone and voted, there once again could be the larger venue of gunshows at the city's auditorium--for instance. Heck, there's gotta be some 50,000 gun owners in that city!

Art