Apathy and Gun Owners

[MSAreGreat]

I worked the Sat. pm shift of the VCDL ( Virginia Citizens Defense League) table and the Chantilly gund show and it never ceases to amaze me how apathetic gun owners are as group. Trying to give out literature and sign up new members is worse than pulling teeth. People make such statements as "can't be bothered" "nothing to worry about Trump is in the WH." No wonder the other side can make such in roads.

 

[K31]

Yup. When they pass gun confiscation laws the same people will say "VCDL didn't do enough!", "NRA didn't do enough!". They can't give $20 for a firearms rights organization but they have $400 for a new scope.

 

[MSAreGreat]

Yup. When they pass gun confiscation laws the same people will say "VCDL didn't do enough!", "NRA didn't do enough!". They can't give $20 for a firearms rights organization but they have $400 for a new scope.

THank you for the response and well said. I see many people spend $20 on the snack bar at the Chantilly expo center. The soda machine is right behind us and people buy multiple sodas at 2.5$ each. Sad commentary.

 

[Biggfoot44]

In a way , VCDL is a victim of their own success . Y'all have it so good, they don't feel a sense of urgency .

 

[DivingDriver]

Ah, but us at MSI.... We are scrapers. Shamed more than one person or two to throw some cash in the till to help out. Hang tough gentlemen and ladies it ain't over till the fat lady sings!

 

[slsc98]

I worked . . . and it never ceases to amaze me how apathetic gun owners are as group. . . . worse than pulling teeth. People make such statements . . . No wonder the other side can make such in roads.

You have admirable fortitude ... I admit, I let it get to me working first against gun grabbing Gov.s Schaeffer followed by Glendenning (‘scuse me a moment while I turn my head and spit, twice!) and then for Ellen Sauerbrey in her admirable run for MD Governor.

We as a group many times really are our own worst enemy(ies).

Thank you for your work!

 

[Biggfoot44]

I remember the fight against Joe Tydings ( but I was young ).

 

[MSAreGreat]

Before Trump was elected I was signing up 8 to 10 members per show. As soon as he won my sign up went from 1 to 0. If the WH changes parties in the next election i am certain many new people will join but then it will be too late.

 

[Allen65]

Before Trump was elected I was signing up 8 to 10 members per show. As soon as he won my sign up went from 1 to 0. If the WH changes parties in the next election i am certain many new people will join but then it will be too late.

That same thing is going on with the Democrats but they're elsewhere in the cycle; they're fired up because they see their core interests under immediate threat from the current administration.

 

[Mightydog]

Could be like I get from the NRA, each year the telephone solicitations that I block on my phone, then they call back with a new number and so on and so on and so on. I join something that I believe in I don’t need updates on fundraising. I think that’s a part of people signing on to something new, they don’t want the hassle of putting out their information but don’t think twice on tweeting. I donate to 2A causes when I can but I really hate to be “reminded” to. Feel your pain.

 

[Atrox88]

Yup. When they pass gun confiscation laws the same people will say "VCDL didn't do enough!", "NRA didn't do enough!". They can't give $20 for a firearms rights organization but they have $400 for a new scope.

Touché!

 

[rambling_one]

Really, how hard is it to toss unwanted solicitations in the garbage? If really put out, stuff them in the pre-paid envelope and return to sender.

 

[teratos]

Really, how hard is it to toss unwanted solicitations in the garbage? If really put out, stuff them in the pre-paid envelope and return to sender.

I love pre-paid envelopes. I put other junk mail in them and send it off.

 

[OnTarget]

Yup. When they pass gun confiscation laws the same people will say "VCDL didn't do enough!", "NRA didn't do enough!". They can't give $20 for a firearms rights organization but they have $400 for a new scope.

Well said! I'm here in WV, and I wish people were more concerned about gun issues. Complacency.
You can be sure the other side is not slack in their committment to take 'em away.

 

[j_h_smith]

All you need to mention are Red Flag Laws and Bump Stock Bans.

 

[OnTarget]

Before Trump was elected I was signing up 8 to 10 members per show. As soon as he won my sign up went from 1 to 0. If the WH changes parties in the next election i am certain many new people will join but then it will be too late.

Yep, when you are on top, the other side works twice as hard to defeat you.

 

[Mr. Ed]

We're fighting an uphill battle on several fronts. Back when we mustered thousands of 2A supporters and overwhelmed the GA, we thought we had a chance to avoid being raped. Nope. Pointing out logical and legal flaws in their proposed laws had no effect in preventing their adoption.

For several years since then we've mustered dozens of folks out on the bricks in Annapolis (and elsewhere) with extremely well crafted signs and a couple of very articulate spokesmen to represent our case. And yet we measure our success not with positive legislation, but in slightly reducing the further erosion of our rights.

We (2A supporters who actually have done something) whether it's write letters, make phone calls, testify, hit the bricks, and even get arrested while standing up for our point of view are significantly outnumbered by not just the folks who don't care one way or the other, but also the ones who see us as dangerous for some pathologically Freudian reason. We are fighting a huge opposition with massive funding and media support. Time, and future Supreme Court rulings may be our only salvation.

Some of us are disheartened while others still bravely lead the charge. Some hint at some sort of future confrontation. Others move away.

Looking at the photo of the governor signing the red flag bill, surrounded by sycophants and acolytes with the MDA gals in front, all posing with smiles for the camera, points out an interesting contrast between our side and theirs.

They offer warm, fuzzy unicorns and rainbows, and create lots of smiles. They make legislators feel good. As a result it's safer and more comfortable for our legislators to pass more restrictive 2A legislation, even when they know (or suspect) that it's unconstitutional and may be overturned in the long run. In the short run they're seen as heroes and loved by the majority of their base, and we're still seen as the enemy.

On the other hand, it seems as though our confrontational methods create the opposite effect as we try to shame our opponents into our way of thinking, which is to honor the Constitution. Although I'm not clever enough to know the answer, I sometimes wonder if we haven't pissed off some folks who might have supported us (or at least not fought against us) in some small way. Not that it would make any real difference.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting that we've done anything counter-productive. Just wondering...

 

[j_h_smith]

The problem as I see it, you can't shame the shameless.

 

[rascal]

Could be like I get from the NRA, each year the telephone solicitations that I block on my phone, then they call back with a new number and so on and so on and so on. I join something that I believe in I don’t need updates on fundraising. I think that’s a part of people signing on to something new, they don’t want the hassle of putting out their information but don’t think twice on tweeting. I donate to 2A causes when I can but I really hate to be “reminded” to. Feel your pain.

Friend,
that is the way all legit issue advocacy broad membership groups are, they do have to call and mail to fundraise.
The "groups" on the other side of thj issue are nothing like NRa. They are funded by billionaires who are using them to channel money, at least $100 million per cycle into politics.
Essentially Everyone, Moms, and the other 40 anti Second Amendment groups are political money laundering ops -- they already have a mass of money and use the organisations to move it into the political advocacy
and campaigns.

NRA is the opposite. it has people, but it needs some money to counter the enemy's tactics

 

[rascal]

I worked the Sat. pm shift of the VCDL ( Virginia Citizens Defense League) table and the Chantilly gund show and it never ceases to amaze me how apathetic gun owners are as group. Trying to give out literature and sign up new members is worse than pulling teeth. People make such statements as "can't be bothered" "nothing to worry about Trump is in the WH." No wonder the other side can make such in roads.

I'm in DC and i belong to an major outdoor club with range in Virginia. I am amazed at how many people there do not know how close the Dems are to fully taking the state. A huge amount will be spent there (and in every purple state) this coming 2020 cycle to control redistricting after the 2020 census.
If the Dem get a tiny majority in in Va statehouse in 2020, buy 2022 they will have a huge majority due to redistricting and will have gun laws like Maryland overnight. There are no places in the US where bloomberg has spent more per capita and he owns a LOT of politicians there.