Ideas for Mitigating the Anti-Gun Attempts!

[Len-2A Training]

I'm firmly convinced that now that the Dems control MA and the US Legislature, we need ideas to mitigate the attempts by the Anti-gun crowd to further stomp on our rights.

PLEASE reserve this thread for that purpose ONLY. Banter and arguments will be deleted without warning (put them in another thread). IDEAS ONLY HERE!

 

[Len-2A Training]

EDUCATION!

- Invite an elected official to go shooting with you, low key, without the media. So that they can learn what it's about. Use active targets (steel, plastic bottles filled with water) as well as paper.

- Invite an elected official to take a tour of a gun show with you, so that they can see that NICS is done on every sale, every vendor has an FFL, that terrorists and thugs aren't attending and buying guns for illegal activity. Again, low key, no media.

I've done the first one with our current DA when he was a State Rep. I'm giving serious consideration to offer both to our current State Rep and Senator (both anti-gun, but voted for both GOAL bills recently).

If they have this info up front, they are likely to seriously question attempts to make gun shows extinct, ban certain guns, etc. Ignorance is what makes some vote against us, as they don't understand that a lot of the bills are nothing but red herrings.

 

[hminsky]

Offer to take your friends and neighbors shooting. Trap shooting is fun.

Note: avoid crowded or public ranges, where you have no control over what idiot might show up in the next lane.

 

[daceman63]

Offer to take your friends and neighbors shooting. Trap shooting is fun.

Note: avoid crowded or public ranges, where you have no control over what idiot might show up in the next lane.

Agreed....maybe we can ask our clubs to have an open house. Maybe organize a goup of volunteer members to at each of our clubs on a specific day maybe in the fall or the spring to man the ranges and donate some ammo and firearms to use.....kick in for an advertisement in the globe and then in local papers...and list all the clubs having an open house.

Maybe, with the help of goal, develop a statewide "Legal" Firearms Safety Day or a Firearms Safety Day like the smoke out...or something to that affect. All clubs would participate that wanted to.....

This could get the word out and potentially generate some membership for those clubs that participate.

 

[win308]

I always try to bring neighbours and friends to do skeet and rifle shooting using smaller calibers shotguns and rifles. Maybe gun clubs should organize more open houses. After all shooting is an Olympic activity and there is no reason not to expose kids to the sport.

But please, when you bring friends keep the big rifles and magnum loads at home. They make too much noise and scare everybody.

 

[daceman63]

I took a friend to try trap. He actually did better than me. I was al ittle embarrased and took some ribbing for it too. I like introducing people to the shooting sports.

 

[FPrice]

1. Introduce new people to the shooting sports. As several other people have mentioned find ways to draw new people in to the sport and teach them how to shoot safely.

2. Have some basic talking points ready to address the more comon fallacies about firearms (they are dangerous, you are more likely to shoot yourself, etc.). Train yourself to talk rationally, intelligently, and calmly (but still somewhat forcefully) about these subjects - not just blindly yelling "IT'S MY RIGHT!". Explain why it's your right.

3. Talk to your local officials. Let them know your views, again in an intelligent manner. Support those local candidates that share these views. Get them elected and (hopefully) prepped for higher offices.

4. Support your local, state, national organizations that work for our rights.

 

[matt1956]

Would contacting the NRA help? Or is GOAL already on that?

 

[daceman63]

because there are so many users on here and from all over the northeast as well as elsewhere maybe we should develop a committee to jot down all these great ideas and set up an agenda for discussion.

We should all keep in mind that Mass isn't the only state with an issue here so getting the word out in as many states as we can would serve greatly to promote our cause. From what I've read here Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey are quite restrictive as well...

So those of you in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine your ideas are also welcome as your gun rights are more protected we can take a lesson from you to help us.

 

[Chuck]

Invite an elected official to go shooting with you

When I wrote my State Senator Pam Resor asking for her support of the target arms bill, she says she supports "sport shooting" -- hey, its a start. A few at Riverside got similar letters. How about we plan a "Take Your Rep To The Range" day?

-= Chuck

 

[dwarven1]

Here's an idea that I've been kicking around lately. In NJ, before Thanksgiving, my town held a Turkey Shoot - the town PD used confiscated .38 revolvers and "luck" targets at 25 feet. Basically, it was open to the public.

Now... what if those of us who are Freemasons or Elks, or Lions, or members of the VFW partnered with the local range to have a Turkey Shoot - doesn't have to be before Thanksgiving, we could do it for Christmas or just on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Heck the clubs themselves could just do it as a fundraiser. But doing it with the Masons, Elks, etc, takes away the "curse" of it being offered by a gun club.

Use members' .38 revolvers with light target loads and give some basic instruction before each person hits the range, make sure you have adequate ear & eye protection, including child's sizes and this might turn folks' ideas around.

 

[win308]

When I wrote my State Senator Pam Resor asking for her support of the target arms bill, she says she supports "sport shooting" -- hey, its a start. A few at Riverside got similar letters. How about we plan a "Take Your Rep To The Range" day?

-= Chuck

+1

 

[win308]

Here's an idea that I've been kicking around lately. In NJ, before Thanksgiving, my town held a Turkey Shoot - the town PD used confiscated .38 revolvers and "luck" targets at 25 feet. Basically, it was open to the public.

Now... what if those of us who are Freemasons or Elks, or Lions, or members of the VFW partnered with the local range to have a Turkey Shoot - doesn't have to be before Thanksgiving, we could do it for Christmas or just on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Heck the clubs themselves could just do it as a fundraiser. But doing it with the Masons, Elks, etc, takes away the "curse" of it being offered by a gun club.

Use members' .38 revolvers with light target loads and give some basic instruction before each person hits the range, make sure you have adequate ear & eye protection, including child's sizes and this might turn folks' ideas around.

Many towns around have 'Newcomers club', 'League of women voters', etc. Maybe we could advertise through them. It would be great if we could set up a class taught by someone with good credibility, like a State Trooper, Police Chief, etc.

 

[dwarven1]

Many towns around have 'Newcomers club', 'League of women voters', etc. Maybe we could advertise through them. It would be great if we could set up a class taught by someone with good credibility, like a State Trooper, Police Chief, etc.

I wasn't even thinking of a class, just a "hey, come out and try to win a turkey" day. We can have some instructors or just experienced shooters on the line to make sure no one's going to shoot themselves.

 

[Coyote33]

1. Bring your neighbor or relative, or friend, or LEGISLATOR (state or local, but "all politics is local") to your town hall or city hall and show them the gun laws poster.

Reference:
You really need to see the "poster, ... in large letters so as to be easily read". This is supposed to be printed yearly, but I don't think it has since 2004 or so. I think people should ask their legislator to find out why this isn't done. Having the latest laws is important. It also puts it in the forefront of peoples' minds.

I guess that falls under "education", right?





2. As far as the turkey shoot, I say do it for a soup kitchen or charity. Have everyone put in some money ($5?) for an entry fee, and have the winner get a turkey, and the remainder of the money go towards the charity. Some Worcester charities are Abby's House, the Mustard Seed, the Massachusetts Veterans Inc.Shelter! , Wachusett Food Pantry , Worcester County Food Bank , and Rachel's Table covers a lot of them.

Oh, also regarding the turkey shoot:
Old-Fashioned Turkey Shoot - And You're All Invited!




In the vein of "All Politics Is Local!", how about everyone take the incrementalism to the NEXT level, and get themselves on their town boards and committees or at least get active locally? Get laws passed LOCALLY protecting ranges, shooting rights, etc. Work with the local police departments to try to turn an old dump into a public (and police) range. Work on fixing broken local hunting bans. Work on starting a rifle team in your local high schools. There is so much which could be done.

 

[daceman63]

Here's an idea that I've been kicking around lately. In NJ, before Thanksgiving, my town held a Turkey Shoot - the town PD used confiscated .38 revolvers and "luck" targets at 25 feet. Basically, it was open to the public.

Now... what if those of us who are Freemasons or Elks, or Lions, or members of the VFW partnered with the local range to have a Turkey Shoot - doesn't have to be before Thanksgiving, we could do it for Christmas or just on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Heck the clubs themselves could just do it as a fundraiser. But doing it with the Masons, Elks, etc, takes away the "curse" of it being offered by a gun club.

Use members' .38 revolvers with light target loads and give some basic instruction before each person hits the range, make sure you have adequate ear & eye protection, including child's sizes and this might turn folks' ideas around.

we used to do turkey shoots in the military and the winner won a bottle of wild turkey.....the $5.00 donation for the homeless is a great idea too....

 

[SKS Ray]

I really wish I was handy with video filming and editing. Composing a video tape of say an NES shoot for example with clips of range officers, safety steps taken, short interviews explaining the firearms we own, especially the collector's pieces such as semi auto and bolt action milsurps, and especially competition AR types would show that there are a good number of people who lawfully use these firearms for sport purposes and also show the joys we have of shooting and collecting them. The AR style rifle has such a bad reputation of being an assault rifle/black rifle that I'll bet the anti gunners have no idea how much they're used in high power competition. I don't own one nor do I shoot high power matches, but I'd hate to see a piece of the sport go that I know a lot of you are into and I fear thats one thing they'll target for ban.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Armed Revolt!!!! - Oh wait, that post was deleted. Sorry.

Actually, we should start a campaign of our own. I keep hearing that we as gun owners are lazy and will not do anything to save our own beliefs. I say we do something to change that thought. When the state legislator starts to vote on something that will effect us, we as members need to mobilize. Every member on this forum needs to contact at least three people who are gun owners and tell them their support is needed. I'm sure everyone can come up with with at least that amount. We make a sticky post so that everyone can list how many people they were able to contact. When voting time in Boston comes, we get the people we've contacted and head to Bostong to a central meeting place. The common right below Beacon Hill will work nicely. We then march "peacefully" to Beacon Hill and show that we as gun owners have an opinion and we will not be silenced.

We'll need to get Goal with us on this and the local NRA reps. They vote the way they vote because they know we won't do anything. We need to change that view. This isn't as far fetched as some of you are thinking. How many active members are there on this forum. 500? 1000? If everyone comes with three people, we have some good numbers.

 

[Joe G]

Here's an idea that I've been kicking around lately. In NJ, before Thanksgiving, my town held a Turkey Shoot - the town PD used confiscated .38 revolvers and "luck" targets at 25 feet. Basically, it was open to the public.
<snip>
Use members' .38 revolvers with light target loads and give some basic instruction before each person hits the range, make sure you have adequate ear & eye protection, including child's sizes and this might turn folks' ideas around.

When I was in grade school the skeet club had a Thanksgiving turkey shoot. Each of us got a 2x2 cardboard square with a corner-to-corner "X" marking the center. We put the squares up against the sand berm and shot a #9 shell at it. Whoever got a pellet closest to the center took home a turkey.

How's that for random!

 

[jhrosier]

It would have to be done by some one or group who understands the legislative process in detail, counter EVERY antigun/anti hunting bill with a progun/prohunting bill.
A relentless flurry of such bills would show that there are plenty of folks on this side.
for starters:
Remove components from the definition of ammunition.
CCW reciprosity.
"SHALL ISSUE" LTCs
Lifetime LTCs
Firearms safety courses in the public schools.
Reduce the punative LTC application fees.
Remove the ban on home based dealers licences.
There has got to be hundreds of improvements that could be made by repealing the laws that do nothing to deter criminals and waste valuable law enforecement resources.

 

[Lynne]

It would have to be done by some one or group who understands the legislative process in detail, counter EVERY antigun/anti hunting bill with a progun/prohunting bill.
A relentless flurry of such bills would show that there are plenty of folks on this side.
for starters:
Remove components from the definition of ammunition.
CCW reciprosity.
"SHALL ISSUE" LTCs
Lifetime LTCs
Firearms safety courses in the public schools.
Reduce the punative LTC application fees.
Remove the ban on home based dealers licences.
There has got to be hundreds of improvements that could be made by repealing the laws that do nothing to deter criminals and waste valuable law enforecement resources.

GOAL has dearheart - if not all, then most of them. Problem is the bills go to the black hole on the Hill known as "Study". That's pretty much the death knell for most, not all, but most bills. They get resubmitted every year that they die, however....

 

[Len-2A Training]

The quantity of pro-gun bills won't impress anyone on the Hill. I know, I've been there testifying, talked with legislators before and after. Lynne is right.

HOWEVER, we should still file bills that make sense and I've just been asked for some info (from an official channel) that "could" make our lives better. Watch for a post elsewhere.

 

[matt]

How about inviting media outlets to cover shooting events? Lets face it, the media drives alot of public policy. Can we get them on our side?

Maybe try to invite a local reporter to go shooting with you, or to a match, and get him/her to write an article.

BTW: great thread Len! i hope we collectively follow through on some of these ideas

 

[dwarven1]

How about inviting media outlets to cover shooting events? Lets face it, the media drives alot of public policy. Can we get them on our side?

If we do this, we need to have a briefing BEFORE they get there to try and make sure that noone makes the kind of "from my cold, dead fingers" comments that the media LOVES to make the lead of any kind of story.

 

[Garys]

Be careful dealing with the media. As all too many people have found out, they are agenda driven. That agenda usually tilts to the left. All too many people have told their side of a story only to find that in the editing process, the story came out the exact opposite of what they intended.

The best idea is to get as many voters as possible to the range. Get them hooked on the shooting sports and they will be our allies.

Beware politicians who tell you they are all for guns for sporting purposes. It's the first step in the wedge driving process to separate "good" gun owners from "bad" gun owners.

None of which should discourage anyone from trying some of the great ideas that have been presented here.

Gary

 

[bpm990d]

Be careful dealing with the media. As all too many people have found out, they are agenda driven. That agenda usually tilts to the left. All too many people have told their side of a story only to find that in the editing process, the story came out the exact opposite of what they intended.

Hmmm. This sounds familiar.

Go back at least 18 years ago. Picture youth at gun club doing smallbore shooting indoors under supervision. Pictures of club logo and super short interview chosen to make people look like jerks, then jump cut to police officer commando type with UZI and watermelons being destroyed. Total hatchet job. The club/coach was told that they wanted to do a story on youth training. Not sure what Uzi and watermelons had to do with that.

Other personal experience with this was CBS sending the CBS Sports Van to Camp Perry to do a hatchet job on the national matches and the then DCM. They told people it would be athletic coverage of the event. Surprise they didn't interview any of the winners! Another vicious hatchet job.

You need to be very careful with the people you let onto your club property and video your activities. It is much better and more effective to do cable access type stuff with a video you produce IMO.

B

 

[FPrice]

Here is a photo summary of one man's ideas:

Photo courtesy of Oleg Volk, Moderator at www.TheHighRoad.org .

 

[Executive]

This would have to be done carefully but could be effective. Make it known that lawful firearm owners support laws against illegal guns. A distinction must be made between law abiding legal firearm owners and criminals who commit crimes with illegal guns. I have no problem with punishing a scumbag who uses an illegal gun, illegally obtained, through illegal channels. I do have a problem being categorized with the above mentioned scumbag as a gun owner. Would it help to mention this to my state representatives and ask that existing laws be enforced rather than punishing the good guys?

Chris

 

[FPrice]

Would it help to mention this to my state representatives and ask that existing laws be enforced rather than punishing the good guys?

Careful what you ask for and how you ask. For example, how about an otherwise honest citizen who does not have an LTC-ALP/No Restrictions but carries a concealed firearm for protection? In other words, a victimless crime? Or the same person with any license who has a post-ban large capacity feeding device?

We should seek to punish actual criminal activity, not "forbidden practises" done in an otherwise non-criminal situation.

 

[matt]

If we do this, we need to have a briefing BEFORE they get there to try and make sure that noone makes the kind of "from my cold, dead fingers" comments that the media LOVES to make the lead of any kind of story.

So true!!

Be careful dealing with the media. As all too many people have found out, they are agenda driven. That agenda usually tilts to the left. All too many people have told their side of a story only to find that in the editing process, the story came out the exact opposite of what they intended.

This is reasonable concern.

As Dwarven1 states, there would need to be some structure to the event that precludes nut bags from preaching/spewing ("...FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS!!").

So the question is, can we affect less institutionalized papers like your local news paper. I wouldn't suggest trying for the Boston Globe, Worcester Telegram and Gazzette.

My local paper has one reporter. If I wrote an article for them about an event and provided some pictures, they'd print it. No question's asked. Do you have newspapers like that in your town? I bet many of you do. So WE can be the "reporters" in many cases. No, it won't be something Deval or Martha reads when thier drinking thier morning coffee, but VOTERS will read it.

There was a Fox News TV report a while back about Cowboy Action Shooting that involved some NES members. I never saw the clip. Was it positively reported? As I recall from the comments on here it was.

Also, there are some pro gun reporters. Remember a while back there was a reporter from the Worcester area that did a very pro story about going to a rental range in Worcester and trying out a few guns. Many of us invited him to go shooting with us. He responded very warmly to this. (I think he may have been a friend/aquantance of Darius).

Maybe one of NRA Basic Pistol instructors could invite a known quantity (like the reporter above) to attend a NRA basic pistol class for free and give him a certificate. Make him one of us!

So, I think it is possible with proper planning and selecting the right reporter/paper/news outlet combination to get a good report.

One thing to remember is that we don't need to pick any one method. All of these ideas are good and pursuing multiple strategies will produce more awareness.

Matt