I'm curious. Lots and lots of threads here, and quite a good bit of chest beating, but I find when it comes down to it, a very, very small number of THR (and other gun) folks are involved in the political process, or in formal gun rights activism in some way.
Well, someone finally, in part, echoing my thoughts.
Although, donating money, writing one's reps, and dueling in the letters to the editor pages are nice next steps, it ain't enough. And no, voting for the Libertarian party isn't going to help either. They'll never be enough protest votes to make a difference.
What THR members need to do is form their own local groups -- and get as many people on board as possible. Several years ago, to jump start a local group in my area, using our state's major gun organization, we sent a blind mailing (letter and postage paid by us) to members of the state org in our area. (That was in the pre-internet days.)
The advantages of having your own local group are several. For example, with a spokes-person it can be very easy to get your group quoted in local newspapers on gun issues and candidate endorsements. Especially at the state level and even congressional level you might have a drop-in the bucket influence as to the kind of reps that get elected.
It's a thankless, difficult task, but it's that kind of activity that I think could go a long way towards increasing our numbers and influence. I can only daydream that these kinds of groups would sprout and use the Internet to network and share ideas.
I'm so sick of people blaming the NRA for this or that transgression, when the average gunowner is a major slacker, and yes, those who join the NRA or EVEN their state org are primarily slackers as well. If you really become an activist you'll find that out for yourself. And no, just donating money to a gun org (althought it's better than nothing) or bitching on this gun board doesn't make you an activist.
(And yes, I do know there are THR members who are activists. Sadly, they are truly remarkable exceptions.)