GOAL Response To AG Healey’s Actions - Rally Sat 7/23 @ 10:00 AM

[Boris]

It was nice to meet you at the rally Boris, but I gotta ask... why do you need GOAL to help you with this? I sent an email to every gun owner in my address book and called or texted those I am closest to. I wish more were able to attend but like Eddie Coyle pointed out, there was only two days notice. I sit in judgement of no one. Most people do what they can when it is important to them.

I also heard people bitching, saying that people wouldn't attend unless it was a Saturday and there was less traffic. Well let me tell you, traffic sucked, and I work on Saturdays and still took the day off. Traffic was so bad, I was sitting at a light on Kneeland and a detail Boston cop said right to me " They have traffic in this city totally ****ed up today !!" I handed him an ice cold water and said " Hope your shift ends soon"

My point is, why do I need GOAL to tell me what I should do ? I am a big boy. I really appreciate all those folks do which is why the first thing I did when I made it to the rally was walk up to the GOAL booth and made a cash donation.

Loved your sign by the way.

All these comments are not meant to hurt anyone, we just need to do better, much better. I know some people who don't even own guns who came.

Why do we need GOAL or NES? These are rallying points. We are not going to congregate at random at the same place at the same time. When the news broke, NES already had few hundred posts and this thread was 250'000 views. There is no other resource like it. If it's happening in MA (or retired bird said it) it's on NES It's a great forum to vet ideas, to organize etc.

If GOAL needs ideas, there are plenty to be found here and they don't need to implement them all, there are people willing to help if they can formulate what the idea is or may be just voice the problem. In some cases it's just coordinating other volunteers.

We should do a competition which club can bring most people as % to the rally. We need to do better next time. Let's do it.

 

[Boris]

Also, I worked with several all-volunteer non-profits, I know the challenges. Different people have different time commitments at different times, but collectively as gun owners we got representatives from all occupations and a lot talent here.

 

[exo]

Will GOAL support a protest around the other side of the building, where the legislators go in and out? I'm thinking about them having to pass through a channel lined with people booing and hissing them (for the ones that didn't sign that letter, for example).

What about protesting outside of Maura's office?

What about protesting outside of Maura's house?

The statehouse steps are symbolic, but at a minimum we need to be a nuisance to these people - and let it be known that we will not go away.

 

[NorthShore]

Also, I worked with several all-volunteer non-profits, I know the challenges. Different people have different time commitments at different times, but collectively as gun owners we got representatives from all occupations and a lot talent here.

I was just on GOAL's web site and didn't see anything about volunteering... maybe I missed it but thought I would ask. How do you volunteer at GOAL?

 

[Matt_SERE]

I was just on GOAL's web site and didn't see anything about volunteering... maybe I missed it but thought I would ask. How do you volunteer at GOAL?

I looked and did not find it earlier. Just start with an email or phone call.

Get in touch with us

GOAL Headquarters is centrally located in Northborough Massachusetts, just off of Rt. 20 and just north of Rt. 9.

We are typically in the office M - F from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, if you are planning a visit, please call ahead to make sure someone will be here.

Address: 361 W. Main St, Northborough MA. 01532

Telephone: 508-393-5333

Fax: 508-393-5222

Possibly one could go to the next meeting. I would give them a heads so they know. I am sure that a lot will happen between now and the next meeting.

Board of Directors Meeting
Open to all GOAL members in good standing. Join us!

When
Thu Aug 11, 2016 6:30pm – 8:30pm Eastern Time

Where
Gun Owners Action League, 361 West Main Street, Northborough, MA 01532, United States (map)

 

[EddieCoyle]

I was just on GOAL's web site and didn't see anything about volunteering... maybe I missed it but thought I would ask. How do you volunteer at GOAL?

If you want to volunteer at GOAL, just call them or email. Someone will put you to work.

GOAL emailed everyone on their list, and contacted every affiliated club.

GOAL has 4 full time employees. Unfortunately, last week they were down to 2 (nobody was expecting this shitstorm). I was there for a little while Wednesday answering phones. Some of the other BoD members came in and did the same. You can imagine that every phone in the place was ringing off the hook constantly, and it was all anyone could do to even keep up with them.

Mike S is out west on vacation, and he took time out to help with emails and social media. The 2 people that were there (Jim and Jon) did call in volunteers, and anybody that asked if they could help was put to work. Keep in mind that somebody also has to coordinate the volunteers.

Like others have said, we cannot possible contact every gun owner in MA, but we can contact our members and the affiliated clubs. We hope that you don't need to be told to tell other people (although I think that was part of the message).

EDIT: Before you start blaming GOAL for not knowing about this, the ****ing legislators didn't even know about Healey's plans, and they are very pissed off about it. The AG's office played this very close to the vest.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Boris, I appreciate you telling us what we did wrong after the fact. That sort of input is always welcome and helpful. I will be sure to take you up on your offer to help next time.

I completely disagree with you though. I think Jim and Jon should be congratulated for the Herculean effort needed to put this thing together on such a compressed time schedule.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I completely disagree with you though. I think Jim and Jon should be congratulated for the Herculean effort needed to put this thing together on such a compressed time schedule.

Well said.

A great effort at responding to a sneak attack on both gun rights and the democratic process.

I am reminded of the Chery Jacques comment (relative to gay rights) "I'll take a win on this any way I can get it". Well, that's the rule the public servants play by when they consider an issue too important to be influenced by public feedback. (similar to the way passage of the SAFE ace in NY bypassed all hearings and public feedback)

 

[jasons]

Boris, I appreciate you telling us what we did wrong after the fact. That sort of input is always welcome and helpful. I will be sure to take you up on your offer to help next time.

I completely disagree with you though. I think Jim and Jon should be congratulated for the Herculean effort needed to put this thing together on such a compressed time schedule.

They really did. Getting 4-5000 people to show up with what, two days of notice? That's pretty awesome all things considered.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Quick question. I saw an article on FB from GOAL. One part of it said that GOAL strongly suggests not bringing your AR to gun ranges. Why?

I talked to Jim Wallace today. Here is clarification on what he said to the Herald:

What I basically said was that our phones were blowing up with questions about complying with the new law.

One of the many questions was, "Is it OK to bring my semi-autos to the range?"

Our response has been. "We simply don’t know because the AG has already declared you to be a felon."

It is not a stretch that an unfriendly chief or DA could easily use that against you. Lets say you get pulled over on the way for something minor and you have a newly declared "illegal" gun in the car, we simply don’t know what could happen.

For example, the chief in a gun-unfriendly town like Lowell might say, "Give up your license or we will prosecute you for illegal possession of an assault weapon."

Or worse, if the violation (or whatever you want to call it) got to an eager DA, they could now hold a ten-year felony over your head. That is how insidious this thing is, we simply don’t know.

 

[M1911]

Thanks for the clarification from Jim. His comments make complete sense.

 

[bigblue]

I wanted to thank the people handing out water at the rally: MUCH appreciated. I brought a Gatorade but damn, standing in that 94 degree sun for three hours was brutal without hydration.

I wish there were rainbow Gadson flags at the event. We really need to show that this is not a "middle aged, middle class white guy" issue or worse, a "redneck gun loving hillbilly" issue. This affects all of us past the immediate firearm issue: If she can do this then she really can write her own laws about anything.

Reinterpret the alcohol regulations, ban smoking from public sidewalks, limit cars to 65 mph from the mfg, the list goes on and on. It really does.

I know that we (mostly) think this is a stunt to get her into the Clinton WH but this is the legit tip of the tyrannical iceberg.

 

[jasons]

I talked to Jim Wallace today. Here is clarification on what he said to the Herald:

He's 100% right.

 

[rivet_42]

I wish there were rainbow Gadson flags at the event.

I will see what I can do to hunt one up and bring one next time.

 

[bigblue]

Screw the next rally, hang it in front of your ****ing house.

 

[dragonballzz]

I will see what I can do to hunt one up and bring one next time.

Bring multiple. I will help with funds if needed.

 

[fencer]

I know that we (mostly) think this is a stunt to get her into the Clinton WH but this is the legit tip of the tyrannical iceberg.

Yep, and we all know what happens when someone says... " Just the tip "

 

[Heathen]

Have protests at Healy and Bakers' houses been scheduled yet?

 

[oilspill]

I wonder if setting up local "chapters" of GOAL might help going forward. Each with it's own "chapter president" who would organize monthly dinners where local and state information could be discussed(maybe local shops can donate something towards a raffle or something, and maybe a guest speaker can be arranged - like a board member of Comm2A for instance). The "president" could get info out to people who don't receive or don't read emails or social media, maybe spend a few hours on a Saturday in a couple local gun shops/clubs handing out info about GOAL/Comm2A updates and action plans etc.

When is the legislature back in session after the 31st? It'd be nice to be there on their last day and the first day back - in full force.

 

[fshalor]

Then the cop pulls your transfer report from the eopss database, sees that you bought an illegal assault weapon back in 1999, and bingo instant PC. "Step out of the vehicle please."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This. Even if you sold it in 2001. And it has been bought and sold ten times since then.

Sent from my LG-K371 using Tapatalk

 

[s4mt3k]

Full disclosure: I was unable to attend on Sat.

These days I don't post on here much but since the AG nasty trick, I've read so many personal attacks, strongly worded differences of opinion, and just in general random disagreements, I felt I had to say this:

I was talking to my wife about it and was saying how we used to say, behave, don't act out, show up in business casual wear, skip the multi-cam vest with the molle pouches, don't stick out, don't give the media fodder... Truth is, **** that mentality. All we ever do is try to work within the boundaries that the liberal society has put in place for us. Imagine if we told the LGBT community to put on business casual for their protests, or the blacks to put on their Sunday best to fight for their equality, so on and so forth.

Enough with attacking each other, enough with trying to school each other on what "should" be done. Truthfully, there's just about nothing that we can do these days that can do any more harm than has already been done to us. We do nothing but bend over, beg for our goddamn rights, and act beat down and quiet.

To you, pissed off, passionate gun owner, I tell you, do whatever the **** you want to do. Cause chaos, cause ruckus, be loud, be annoying. You want to have your own rally do it, you want to attend another rally do it, you want to write an article do it, you want to commit a crime, do it. The one thing I pray we don't do, is attack each other. Stop thinking you and only you know what's best. We're all equal. We're all pissed off. We're a minority. We need to stand with each other on this.

 

[todd c]

Full disclosure: I was unable to attend on Sat.

These days I don't post on here much but since the AG nasty trick, I've read so many personal attacks, strongly worded differences of opinion, and just in general random disagreements, I felt I had to say this:

I was talking to my wife about it and was saying how we used to say, behave, don't act out, show up in business casual wear, skip the multi-cam vest with the molle pouches, don't stick out, don't give the media fodder... Truth is, **** that mentality. All we ever do is try to work within the boundaries that the liberal society has put in place for us. Imagine if we told the LGBT community to put on business casual for their protests, or the blacks to put on their Sunday best to fight for their equality, so on and so forth.

Enough with attacking each other, enough with trying to school each other on what "should" be done. Truthfully, there's just about nothing that we can do these days that can do any more harm than has already been done to us. We do nothing but bend over, beg for our goddamn rights, and act beat down and quiet.

To you, pissed off, passionate gun owner, I tell you, do whatever the **** you want to do. Cause chaos, cause ruckus, be loud, be annoying. You want to have your own rally do it, you want to attend another rally do it, you want to write an article do it, you want to commit a crime, do it. The one thing I pray we don't do, is attack each other. Stop thinking you and only you know what's best. We're all equal. We're all pissed off. We're a minority. We need to stand with each other on this.

This x1000.

 

[M125X]

I know people talked about Goal and getting out the message... What about NES? Today there are 40976 registered members. How about an email blast out to them when a big rally is happened? I talked to someone at the rally, asked if they were on NES, and they replied, yeah but I haven't been on in awhile. Another friend said if I didn't text/call him he never would have known about it. Just figured NES could be another tool in our arsenal to get the message out beyond those who log-in daily. Maybe bring back some older members while we are at it too!

 

[The5thDentist]

Full disclosure: I was unable to attend on Sat.

These days I don't post on here much but since the AG nasty trick, I've read so many personal attacks, strongly worded differences of opinion, and just in general random disagreements, I felt I had to say this:

I was talking to my wife about it and was saying how we used to say, behave, don't act out, show up in business casual wear, skip the multi-cam vest with the molle pouches, don't stick out, don't give the media fodder... Truth is, **** that mentality. All we ever do is try to work within the boundaries that the liberal society has put in place for us. Imagine if we told the LGBT community to put on business casual for their protests, or the blacks to put on their Sunday best to fight for their equality, so on and so forth.

Enough with attacking each other, enough with trying to school each other on what "should" be done. Truthfully, there's just about nothing that we can do these days that can do any more harm than has already been done to us. We do nothing but bend over, beg for our goddamn rights, and act beat down and quiet.

To you, pissed off, passionate gun owner, I tell you, do whatever the **** you want to do. Cause chaos, cause ruckus, be loud, be annoying. You want to have your own rally do it, you want to attend another rally do it, you want to write an article do it, you want to commit a crime, do it. The one thing I pray we don't do, is attack each other. Stop thinking you and only you know what's best. We're all equal. We're all pissed off. We're a minority. We need to stand with each other on this.

NO ENEMIES ON THE RIGHT!!!!

 

[bigblue]

GOAL Response To AG Healey’s Actions - Rally Sat 7/23 @ 10:00 AM

This is all hands on deck folks. If you don't think this is a dress rehearsal for a national plan then you are deluded.

Ever heard of Obamacare?

 

[Bob P]

I know people talked about Goal and getting out the message... What about NES? Today there are 40976 registered members. How about an email blast out to them when a big rally is happened? I talked to someone at the rally, asked if they were on NES, and they replied, yeah but I haven't been on in awhile. Another friend said if I didn't text/call him he never would have known about it. Just figured NES could be another tool in our arsenal to get the message out beyond those who log-in daily. Maybe bring back some older members while we are at it too!

It was the feature article...

 

[MarkT]

It was the feature article...

I don't want to speak for m125x but I believe his point is that not everybody on NES visit the site regularly. And that perhaps an email blast to all members would have been an effective way to increase the rally size. Which is an excellent point.

 

[ruebarb]

I don't want to speak for m125x but I believe his point is that not everybody on NES visit the site regularly. And that perhaps an email blast to all members would have been an effective way to increase the rally size. Which is an excellent point.

No one was prepared for this, Goal, Com2a, Gun clubs, NES, you & Me. There is alot was can critique, but for such a short time to respond, I applaud the efforts of 7/23/16. The next event should be better organized, notifications made, citizens informed and the NRA Better Be There.

 

[MarkT]

No one was prepared for this, Goal, Com2a, Gun clubs, NES, you & Me. There is alot was can critique, but for such a short time to respond, I applaud the efforts of 7/23/16. The next event should be better organized, notifications made, citizens informed and the NRA Better Be There.

Oh, I agree completely and don't think there is any blame to pass around. I'm just thinking ahead for the next big issue. It is always beneficial to do an after action on things that went well and things that didn't. All things considered, I think that the rally turnout was good. And we were completely blindsided.

Healey's timing was perfect. She did it during the middle of the week where all the coverage was focused on the Republican convention, local conservative radio hosts (such as Howie Carr) we're out of town covering the convention, and near the end of the legislative session.

 

[M125X]

I'm certainly not blaming anyone! I think we all did a great job given the amount of time. I know it was the first article. But like stated above, I think email is more effective for all the people who don't regularly visit the site or even if they tend to visit only once a week...