The Essential "Thanks for Ending the AWB" Contact List & Sample Letter Thread!

[NY Patriot]

Just when you thought you could take a breather from writing your elected reps., here I am again to poke at you with a stick & badger you into sending off a few more faxes, letters, and E-mails!

See, as important as it was to twist the arms of the politicians & the NRA BEFORE the ban's expiration, it is equally as important to thank and reward them AFTER the ban is dead. They responded favorably to our needs & concerns, and now it is time to give them their due!

Why bother you may ask? Well... not only is it a polite & classy thing to do, but it also shows the powers that be that there is an up side to taking our future correspondence seriously. As sweet as this victory is, rest assured that there will be other gun control battles to fight. We want to cement a positive impression of gun owners into the minds & memories of the people & organizations that can help us in the future.

To this end, it is time to reward a bunch of fine folks with some positive, optimistic, & forward looking "thank you" letters, and if your budget will allow, to send out some $$$ to drive the point home that we don't just complain... we compensate!!!

As always, I'll start the ball rolling by posting some sample letters to Republican lawmakers, the Republican National Committee, and the NRA. Feel free to use them as you see fit...

Dear Senator / Congressman / President,

I am writing this note to thank you for allowing the so-called “Assault Weapons†ban of 1994 to expire without renewal or replacement. It is a fine day for liberty when such a restrictive and unconstitutional “law†is allowed to wither on the vine, & die the proverbial death it so richly deserves. America’s law abiding gun owners have regained a large measure of freedom through your actions, and your foresight & wisdom will be fondly remembered, especially on Election Day.

I am also writing to inform you that because your actions have allowed the “Assault Weapons†ban to expire, I am going to send a cash donation to the general election fund of the Republican National Committee. It is my sincerest hope that my contribution helps in the election of as many fine Republican candidates as possible.

Thank you once again for responding to the concerns of America’s freedom loving gun owners. May the expiration of the failed social experiment known as the “Assault Weapons†ban herald in an era of renewed respect for our God given, and constitutionally acknowledged right to bear arms.

Best regards,

NYPatriot

Mr. Ed Gillespie
Republican National Committee Chairman
310 First St. SE
Washington, DC 20003


Dear Chairman Gillespie,

I am writing this note to thank the Republican Party for allowing the so-called “Assault Weapons†ban of 1994 to expire without renewal or replacement. It is a fine day for liberty when such a restrictive and unconstitutional “law†is allowed to wither on the vine, & die the proverbial death it so richly deserves. America’s law abiding gun owners have regained a large measure of freedom through the actions of the Republican Party. The foresight & wisdom of Republican lawmakers will be fondly remembered, especially on Election Day.

Included in this correspondence is a cash donation to the general election fund of the Republican National Committee. It is my sincerest hope that my contribution helps in the election of as many fine Republican candidates as possible.

Thank you once again for responding to the concerns of this nation’s freedom loving gun owners. May the expiration of the failed social experiment known as the “Assault Weapons†ban herald in an era of renewed respect for our God given, and constitutionally acknowledged right to bear arms.

Best regards,

NYPatriot

NRA President Kayne B. Robinson
The National Rifle Association
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030


Dear Mr. Robinson,

As we celebrate the expiration of the so called “Assault Weapons†ban, I want to let you know that America’s gun owners realize that the NRA utilized it’s vast resources to defeat all efforts to reauthorize this unconstitutional ban, and for this we are extremely grateful.

I recognize that compromise is a hallmark of the NRA’s negotiating style, but in this case, it was refreshing to see that the NRA deemed compromise neither desirable nor possible. The “Assault Weapons†ban was clearly an infringement of our God given, and Constitutionally acknowledged right to bear arms, and as such, it needed to be cast upon the ash heap of history. I am glad that the NRA understood this fact, and I am very proud to be a member of this fine organization.

Thus, included with this correspondence is a cash donation to help ensure that the NRA is up to the challenge of fighting future battles to protect and restore our birthright as free Americans. Long live the National Rifle Association & may freedom ring!

Best regards,

NYPatriot
NRA Member # XXXXXXXX

As for WHO needs to hear from you, well that's easy...

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: (202) 456-1111
Fax: (202) 456-2461

Ed Gillespie
Republican National Committee Chairman
310 First St SE
Washington, DC 20003
Fax: (202) 863-8820


Congressman Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the House of Representatives
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2976
Fax: (202) 225-0697

Congressman Tom DeLay
House Majority Leader
242 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5951
Fax: (202) 225-5241

Senator Bill Frist
Senate Majority Leader
461 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3344
Fax: (202) 228-1264

Senator Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Whip
361-A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2541
Fax: (202) 224-2499

Locate & Contact YOUR Pro Gun Representative Here

And...

NRA President Kayne B. Robinson
The National Rifle Association
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030


The price of freedom is eternal vigilance...

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Its nice that the AWB has died.

However, I am not willing to thank the Republicans for this, nor will I send them any more of my money after the series of other bad laws they have passed during the last four years.

Letting the AWB die doesn't make up for McCain-Feingold and Medicare Reform. If we could get rid of those two bills, I would gladly take the AWB back.

 

[FPrice]

Can I send a copy of one of these letters to my Senators, Sen Ted "I'll Drive" Kennedy and Sen John "Do You Know Who I Am?" Kerry?

 

[NY Patriot]

Thanks for the float guys!

 

[Daniel964]

Thanks

for the sample letters and addresses.

 

[alan]

On Tuesday, I phoned the D.C. offices of my U.S. Senators and Congressional Representative.

As you said, though in slightly different terms, we are ready and willing to criticize our "elected things", when appropriate. We should be equally willing to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT, when that is appropriate.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Its nice that the AWB has died.

However, I am not willing to thank the Republicans for this,

No offense, but if you complain when they do wrong and do nothing when they do right, you're going to become irrelevant in no time at all.

 

[alan]

Don Gwinn:

Whomever it might be that you are quoting should think on the following. Should it be that your rep. is a Democrat, who opposed AW Ban Renewal, consider a word of appreciation to them, it can't hurt.

Your closing observation, "No offense, but if you complain when they do wrong and do nothing when they do right, you're going to become irrelevant in no time at all", is I think, very much to the point.

 

[E36M3]

Just sent to the masses:

My faith in politicians has been restored with the expiration of the assault weapons ban. Many of us were fooled into believing that the assault weapons ban addressed fully automatic military style weapons. These were outlawed in 1934. This very flawed piece of legislation banned firearms based mostly on cosmetic features with no relevance to function.
The assault weapons ban was introduced in 1994 by politicians who are more concerned with politics than with fact and logic. On behalf of all law-abiding gun owners I thank all Democrats and Republicans who moved forward on this with common sense and moral courage.
Unfortunately, though, some unethical politicians and candidates continue to cater to the perceived ignorance of the masses. They use gun-control in an attempt at scaring people into voting a certain way. Hopefully the following discussion will clear up their confusion:
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." "Militia" refers to "all able bodied men". "People" as it also appears everywhere else in the Constitution refers to "us". And "shall not be infringed" means "shall not be infringed".
Modern day gun-control began with the rash of assassinations and inner city riots of the 1960's. Clearly, these incidents had absoluitely nothing to do with the law-abiding gun owner, but politicians jumped on it to pretend that they're actually doing something about these tremendous problems.
Continued efforts to undermine the 2nd Amendment threaten the core concept of liberty. The right to keep and bear arms isn't about guns - it's about our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Our Founding Fathers suggested that we were all born with certain inalienable rights and that the 2nd Amendment is their ultimate safeguard. The Constitution doesn't give us these rights. We already have them. The Constitution just ensures that our federal government can't take them away.
I'm of the firm belief that people are inherently good. That given the choice between between good and evil, most will choose good. Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to good people in a free society. It gets much worse, though, as freedoms disappear.
Gun-control laws ignore intent in that they are aimed at those who haven't actually done anything morally wrong. Such laws proclaim the moral content of one's actions to be irrelevant. This sends a message that character isn't all that important, that understanding the difference between right and wrong doesn't matter and that it's more important to follow orders than to act responsibly and ethically.
The fact is that our freedom is not dependent on how criminals behave. Friearms contain no independent power to cause results apart from our decisions, character and purpose. As a matter of fact, 10 out of 10 criminals favor gun-control.
Gun-control laws are only honored by law-abiding citizens. These laws feed the black market and have a direct effect on a rise in crime. Also, law-abiding citizens tend to remain so even after they're armed.
It's my opinion that a raped and strangled woman isn't necessarily morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun in her hand and a dead rapist at her feet and that gun-control is nothing more than the false hope promised by an impossible utopia.
America was founded on the principles of personal responsibility, accountability and self reliance and hasn't remained free because of delusional activists. Giving up the right to arms is a mistake that a free people get to make only once.

 

[alan]

E36M3:

If I may, the late and unlamented Assault Weapons Ban, so-called, revolved about COSMETIC FEATURES, found on certain SEMI-AUTOMATIC RIFLES. This much was plain to anyone who viewed the law, including those Democrats as well as Republicans who voted for it in 1994.

Not only did these elected things violate their oath of office, they clearly showed that the react to cheap emotionalism and pure hype, totally devoid of any contact with fact. As for the fact that the ban was allowed to sun-set, I submit that this result is based on one thing, and one thing only FEAR. The fear I refer to is the fear of not being returned to the elective offices that they hold, as happened to a number of congress critters, in the first elections that followed passage of this legislation.

Can anyone remember the last time The Overland Stage was held up at "the point of a bayonet", or has there ever been a "drive by bayoneting"? As for "flash supressors", they don't work at all in daylight, and re their effectiveness in low light or night situations, a lot depends on the nature of the ammunition fired, and it's propellant.

As to the "fully automatic military style weapons" you mentioned, talk of "style", I submit, plays into the hands of our anti-gun friends, for re firearms, it's meaningless, though dripping with emotion, which is the stock and trade of the anti-gunners. Try machine guns, or selective fire weapons. By the way, the 1934 legislation, actually The National Firearms Act of 1934, didn't "ban" anything. What it did do was tax the transfer of certain firearms, amongst which are automatic weapons. It also required a lengthy registration process, prior to purchase. Some have described this legislation as "welfare for government employees", (Treasury Agents), who with the repeal of Prohibition, lost a large part of their Reason d'etre, reason for existance. One could hardly conceive of a reduction in the government workforce, at least not in those years, and quite possibly not these days either.

Some states have banned the possession of automatic weapons by private citizens. Pennsylvania is NOT one such, unless Pennsylvania law has changed quite recently. Of course, the politicans will do just about anything they can to divert the attention of the public from their legislative and policy failures, and their ongoing passage of gun control legislation, combined with the push for more, is a prime example of such a diversion.

 

[E36M3]

Thank you, Sir. I'm just trying to keep it simple. Most have a very limited attention span and asking them to really think things through is asking too much, I'm afraid. I'm always learning as well so (a sincere) thanks again. I'd very much welcome posting another version with the corrections. Short version:

My faith in politicians has been restored with the expiration of the assault weapons ban. Many of us were fooled into believing that the assault weapons ban addressed fully automatice military style weapons. These were outlawed in 1934. This very flawed piece of legislation banned firearms based mostly on cosmetic features with no relevance to function.
The assault weapons ban was introduced in 1994 by politicians who are more concerned with politics than with fact and logic. On behalf of all law-abiding gun owners I thank all Democrats and Republicans who moved forward on this with common sense and moral courage. Now the focus on fighting crime can be intensified in the right direction - on those who actually commit crimes.

 

[alan]

E36M3:

You closed your post with the following: I take Constitutional Rights seriously and personally.

You should, and if more did, we might have fewer depridatins on the same constitutional rights that we took seriously.

 

[The_Antibubba]

Decisions

I'd like some input. My Senators are Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, and I'm trying to decide which one would be more appreciative of such a letter. On the one hand, I know it would probably get quite a reaction from Feinstein; but Boxer is probably so used to playing "second fiddle" that she might welcome any mail right now.

What do you guys think?

 

[alan]

The_Antibubba:

Given that I've no idea at all concerning what your letter might say, it's hard to say, however please note the following, which you likely are aware of anyhow.

1. It's most unlikely that either of the addressees will ever actually see anything you write, other than perhaps a campaign contribution check, and they likely woldn't even see one of those.

2. I very much suspect that the best you could hope for would be that there was some sort of a tally sheet maintained, and that your opinion, assuming that any of the clerks or staffers actually read letters, would be in some manner, entered into such a tally.

3. Feinstein and Boxer are both died in the wool anti-gunners and that isn't going to change. What I suppose could change would be the names of California's U.S Senators, but that has to be done via the ballot box, and the Republicans seem to be adverse regarding running a viable candidate in opposition to the re-election of either one. Then, there are the voting patterns of the electorate to contend with. I lived in Californioa for a couple of years in the late 1960's and early 1970. Things seem to have really changed since then, and while change might indicate movement, it is not necessairly movement in the direction of improvement. P.O. Ackley, it is claimed, made that observation.

4. Best of luck respectiong your letter writing anyway.

 

[Highpower1]

Great post. I had already sent a letter out to Give'um Hell Zell and will put another one in the mail today

 

[E36M3]

Mine (the long version) just got approved for print in a fairly large (regional) paper complete with picture and short bio. My wife's gonna be so pissed.

 

[alan]

E36M3:

When and if it appears, could you possibly post it? Make interesting reading, that is the actually printed version. As to wives being "pissed off", some people just cannot take a joke.

Of course, when they choose to take up with Gun Culture types, didn't they understand what they might be letting themselves in for?

 

[E36M3]

Will do, Sir. It'll probably be sometime this week, maybe next. I posted not to brag, but to maybe encourage others to do the same. It's clear to me that each of us needs to do something even if it's just showing up at the polls on Election Day. We can't rely on the NRA, elected officials, etc., as they've all got lots of other things going on. And we probably need to be prepared to run for various political offices if things really start getting out of control. Sorry to have just preached to the choir. I won't let it happen again.

 

[sawhitt]

Done. I added my Congressman, Ron Lewis and my Senators, Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning to the list.

 

[SkyDaver]

I've sent a letter to Sen. Elizabeth Dole, thanking her (in my own words)

I did ask that she reconsider her stated position of 'strongly supporting the enforcement of existing gun laws', since not all existing gun laws are good laws.

Specifically, the Liberal Magazine and Black Gun Ban was a bad law, so strong enforcement of a bad law would be a bad thing.

Finally, in the sample letter to the NRA, there is a typo. The contraction "it's" is used, which means "it is", when the possesive "its", should be used.

 

[GLOCKME]

My Senators are Stabmenow and Lenin...

They deserve nothing as they have gave nothing!!

MA has a lot in common with MI and their senators..They are all Liberals that do not think about anyone but their own agendas..

I feel sad as I never voted for these guys,metropolitan MI did...

Now my Reps are outstanding and they deserve cudos..Especially Pete Hoekstra..