Is Effective RKBA Activism Possible?

[GardoneVT]

Between goobers all but pestering the ATF to NFA the Sig Brace, and folks wearing gas masks to state legislative chambers, I wonder if the collection of gun owners in America are capable of achieving further advances in gun rights without ruining the play?

It seems every time an opportunity for advancing our rights outside the courtroom happens, someone's there to botch it .Considering there's a lot of goobers out there, should we plan for a big PR backlash as the rest of America says "enough is enough" and goes full New York State?

[Tamara]

Effective RKBA activism has moved mountains over the past thirty years.

McDonald and Heller were nice, but they were icing on the cake for most people outside of a handful of jurisdictions; legislative activism has carried the day for most of the country and the real impact of the judicial decisions has yet to be felt in the majority of the nation.

Are you a dues-paying member of your state association?

[GardoneVT]

Effective RKBA activism has moved mountains over the past thirty years.

McDonald and Heller were nice, but they were icing on the cake for most people outside of a handful of jurisdictions; legislative activism has carried the day for most of the country and the real impact of the judicial decisions has yet to be felt in the majority of the nation.

Are you a dues-paying member of your state association?

Gun control isn't a popular campaign topic here in South Dakota.

While the behind the scenes judicial stuff is obviously beneficial, what I'm concerned about is these open carry jackwagons pulling a stunt that makes the Average Joe voter think "man, maybe those Brady kooks were on to something."

[Drang]

I just accused someone of being a gun cosplaying attention whore. Probably won't have any effect on him, but maybe it'll get someone else to think about how they look, instead of their feels.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Given almost the entire country is shall issue - I think the legislative process at the state level works. It falls in antigun venues and when morons cause a moral panic in other states.

The interesting question is whether we have reached the limit of expanding gun rights for the moment. Shall-issue in most states and no Federal AWB.

[Artemas]

Yes. It involves writing/meeting your local government as often as possible. Doing so in a POLITE and PROFESSIONAL manner. Joining and being an ACTIVE participant in appropriate lobbying groups can also help and give you experience on how the Government is actually run. Be articulate and have a better argument than "the 2nd says I can." The more anti-gun your area, the more support you will need (Unless you're in California or New York, in which case you might be SoL...)

Armed protests outside of state buildings is just going to scare the horses.

I had an opportunity to speak with my Senator a few years back on unrelated issues. What he said about people writing them was along the lines of: More people call about potholes on main street and puppy mills, than _____ issues. So where do you think our priorities are?

Senators and State reps are easier to talk with than most people think. Many have public breakfasts/lunches on specific topics and can often be found in county courthouses or their local offices.

[Jeep]

Effective RKBA activism has moved mountains over the past thirty years.

McDonald and Heller were nice, but they were icing on the cake for most people outside of a handful of jurisdictions; legislative activism has carried the day for most of the country and the real impact of the judicial decisions has yet to be felt in the majority of the nation.

Are you a dues-paying member of your state association?

Absolutely correct. This is where the action has been happening. Thirty years ago the Reps in my state were mostly a bit hostile to guns and the Dems pretty uniformly thought they were the tools of the devil. Now the Reps all support gun rights (no matter what their private thoughts--they'd lose a primary otherwise) and a noticeable fraction of the Dems (who control our state legislature) don't want to be on record as passing anti-gun legislation and some are actually gun friendly.

We still are having tough battles, but the center has shifted.

As for RKBA activism, I find the best activism is to take people shooting. People who have never touched a real gun tend to be afraid of them and want them banned. People who have shot are far more likely to at least take our arguments seriously even if they don't fully agree with them.

So take non-shooters (and especially young people and even more especially young women) shooting. If we all do that we can actually make a difference.

[joshs]

I had an opportunity to speak with my Senator a few years back on unrelated issues. What he said about people writing them was along the lines of: More people call about potholes on main street and puppy mills, than _____ issues. So where do you think our priorities are?

I'm not sure how true this is in general. A lot of officials use the amount of contacts they receive on an issue as a way to gauge how a vote will affect their reelection chances.


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[JRB]

I just accused someone of being a gun cosplaying attention whore. Probably won't have any effect on him, but maybe it'll get someone else to think about how they look, instead of their feels.

Chances are good that you were right to do so. My biggest peeve is seeing poorly adjusted slings (especially single points) and AR's with selectors on 'semi' while wandering around in public with a mag in.
I haven't personally encountered that sort of derp in person just yet, and I hope I don't, but it would be very difficult for me to not confront them about it.


(snip)

As for RKBA activism, I find the best activism is to take people shooting. People who have never touched a real gun tend to be afraid of them and want them banned. People who have shot are far more likely to at least take our arguments seriously even if they don't fully agree with them.

So take non-shooters (and especially young people and even more especially young women) shooting. If we all do that we can actually make a difference.

Wholeheartedly agreed. Diffusing the misconceptions and fear is the #1 most effective way to change minds.

[Tamara]

Given almost the entire country is shall issue - I think the legislative process at the state level works. It falls in antigun venues and when morons cause a moral panic in other states.

The interesting question is whether we have reached the limit of expanding gun rights for the moment. Shall-issue in most states and no Federal AWB.

Peak gun rights? It might be close, but I don't think we're there yet. NFA reform is in the air. Our state has a legitimate shot at a Constitutional Carry law this year, too. (Hoosiers, contact House Speaker Brian Bosma and tell him to get HB 1143, HB 1144, and HB 1244 out of the Public Policy Committee with a quickness.)

[Alpha Sierra]

I'm going to agree with Tamara on both counts.

Activism at the state level by state level organizations has been extremely effective in Ohio. In 2004 we has no concealed carry and some truly screwed up laws regarding local AWBs, firearm transport, etc etc.

Today we have state pre-emption, concealed carry that is as good as most in the nation, suppressors allowed for hunting, pistol caliber CF rifles allowed for deer hunting, castle doctrine, we accept every else's license without the need for reciprocity agreements, and many other improvements that I forget.

I also agree that we are not even close to being done. Here in OH we still need to declutter many of our firearm discharge laws to make sure that no one defending himself can be jammed up with those. We need to take our deadly force use laws from an arcane collection of court rulings to a codified set of laws like Florida's. We need to remove the duty to retreat. And we need to turn self defense from an affirmative defense that must be proven by the defendant to an absolute defense that must be disproven by the prosecution.

[Tamara]

Today we have ... we accept every else's license without the need for reciprocity agreements...

Thank you, Buckeyes! I've been driving from Indy to K-town and back via Louisville instead of Cincy for years because of that. I-74, here I come! :)

[Artemas]

I'm not sure how true this is in general. A lot of officials use the amount of contacts they receive on an issue as a way to gauge how a vote will affect their reelection chances.
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This is true. Some of the purpose of writing/speaking to them (preferably with lots of friends) on topics is to impress upon them how they might keep their jobs. However dialogue is also important, it's sometime bigger then 45 vote yes and 42 vote no.

A made up example would be: Majority votes for open carry, but there is concern that the mad maxers(see other RKBA thread) would scare off the $5,000,000 a season tourists revenues that our town/state needs. You need to be able to explain that those people are a small group who will move on to something else to bitch about, and that the streets will in fact NOT "run red with blood". Or that by allowing CC/OC, gun shops could cater to a new customer base thus generate more local revenues/taxes.

(When I say vote, I mean open to a vote)

[Alpha Sierra]

Thank you, Buckeyes! I've been driving from Indy to K-town and back via Louisville instead of Cincy for years because of that. I-74, here I come! :)

Make sure you check with Buckeye Firearms for the exact date the law goes into effect. Laws here go into effect 90 days after they are signed by the Governor AND are filed by the Sec of State. By the accounts I've read, sometime in mid to late March is go time.