Forwarded message:
General News
I went to the MCSM meeting last night and it was great to see a number of Maryland pro-gun groups represented and cooperating. The host, Bob Culver of Maryland Citizens for a Safer Maryland ( http://www.mcsm.org ), Phil Lee representing Maryland Citizens for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms ( htttp://www.mckrba.org ), Sandy Abrams of the NRA board, and VP of the Licensed Gun Dealers Assoc. of Maryland, and Ed Patrick of Maryland Citizens Defense League ( http://www.mcdl.org ) and I for Maryland Shall Issue were all pretty much on the same page -- there's opportunity in this election if we work for it, and tremendous potential for trouble if we don't.
Also present was Jeff Knox of the national group Firearms Coalition ( http://www.firearmscoalition.org/ ) -- he's the son of longtime activist Neal Knox and is carrying on his father's work. I had a nice long chat with him after the meeting. His advice was simple -- everyone of us needs to pick out ONE candidate in our District that we can support (or if there are none, then one that is particularly bad) and motivate all our friends and acquaintances to be sure and vote FOR (or against) that ONE candidate. By keeping it focused on one we have the best chance of being successful, and once they're at the polls and voting they are likely to vote for the rest of our good candidates too.
Dave Kopel was on the Ron Smith WBAL (1090 AM) radio show this afternoon talking about protecting schools by having armed teachers and citizens and talking about the value of concealed carry in general. A couple years ago Ron Smith and other radio hosts in Maryland would typically dismiss any talk of concealed carry in Maryland by saying "it'll never happen in our lifetime." The tone has completely changed. Now when they speak of concealed carry it is in the vein of "it works, it makes sense, we need it." Ron Smith asked Dave Kopel if he would be willing to come to Maryland to testify in favor of CCW in front of the legislature. Dave Kopel said he would. He's written a number of books on CCW and would be a tremendous asset. Shall Issue CCW in Maryland is inevitable. We just need to encourage it to be sooner rather than later.
Speaking of school violence, the Gun Owners of America has a link to send emails to get them invited to the summit on school violence. Click here to painlessly send a couple emails in support:
http://capwiz.com/gunowners/utr/2/?a=9085046&i=48596221&c=
Press release of MSI General Election endorsements are up on the web now:
http://www.marylandshallissue.org/curact.html
ACTION NEEDED
Commit to doing something NOW. This week. Time is running out. We can make a difference in this election, but only if we act. Simply voting right ourselves may or may not be enough. We need each one of us, to make the effort to contact and convince others who also are concerned about our gun rights. Below are some ideas. You don't have to do all of them. If everyone of us just does a little it will make an unbelievable difference. Do something now. It's up to you.
Letters to the Editor - Member Jeff Baumgardner got his letter to the editor printed the other day
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_lte.htm?storyid=52899
Writing a letter to the editor of your local paper can be a tremendous help.
Register to Vote - If you are not yet registered to vote, do it now! Registration closes next Tuesday, October 17th.
http://www.elections.state.md.us/voter_registration/application.html
Absentee ballots - both parties are encouraging folks to vote by absentee ballot because it is on paper and less subject to manipulation or vote fraud. Anyone who is registered can vote by absentee ballot. You can download the ballot request form here: http://www.elections.state.md.us/voting/absentee.html
TrueVoteMD - has a petition for paper ballots and other actions to improve the validity of the election process:
http://www.truevotemd.org/
Visit your local gun shop and let them know where we stand.
Visit your local gun club and speak to their membership. Email me and I'll send you .pdf files of our Endorsements and of our analysis of where we stand and which are the critical races.
Contact and help the best candidate in your District - get a yard sign and/or bumper sticker, ask the campaign what you can do.
Contact and help one or more of the Key candidates for pro-self-defense.
If you can do more than just one of the above that's great, but if every one on this list could just do one of those things we could move mountains.
Thanks to:
Anthony, Bob, Bobby, Brad, Brian, Charles, Christian, Cynthia, Dan, Dave, Don, Ed, Henry, James, Jeff, Jeff, John, John, John, Kevin, Kyrie, Mary, Michael, Pete, Peter, Phil, Rick, RP, Scott, Tony and Vince for memberships and donations totaling $1485.
There are less than 4 weeks left to make a difference that will last 4 years or more. You don't have to do it all. If each of us does a little we will make a huge difference.
- Henry Heymering, President
Maryland Shall Issue, Inc.
P.O. Box 314
Libertytown, MD 21762
240-446-6782
http://www.marylandshallissue.org
[email protected]