Because it's a realistic position, and because it allows us to exchange things we don't care about for things we do. I don't feel like dying on a hill for bump stocks. And in the same vein, I don't see the point of wasting money and activism on an item that we're going to lose anyway, that nobody gives much of a damn about anyway aside from the point that it's a gun law.
Politics is a zero-sum game with limited resources. Every dollar and minute you spend defending positions you can't hold is a dollar and a minute you don't have available to resist universal background checks.
Is there some reason you can't simply encourage others to volunteer politically without discouraging OTHER efforts?
Because I've been to them. Here's how it goes when it's successful:
--5000 people show up
--4950 of them are rational, law-abiding folks
--50 of them are foaming-at-the-mouth whackjobs and anti plants
--Guess which ones get a camera pointed at them?
When it's not successful, it's the same as when you drive to a gun show and see two lonely protesters.
Rallies feel nice, but that's about it. And yeah, I think they're damaging when people think that that counts as their contribution for the year.
There are people who can't or won't make the time to volunteer for political campaigns. Sad, but true.
If you have half a morning to show up for a rally, you have enough time to volunteer. That's all it takes to cover one to three neighborhoods' worth of doorknob packets.
And here's the thing: there's going to be half-nobody actually doing this. Literally half of them are going to be the candidates themselves. And even money says you can expect your state assemblymen to be at the HQ.
You know--those guys that vote on your state's gun laws.
Then someone comes along and tells them how politicians don't care or listen and a) we're already defeated or b) the anti's aren't making progress - and lulls them to sleep with apathy or discouragement.
One--when they're not being listened to, what good does lying do?
Two--in case you weren't paying attention, all the losses have been at the state level. FL and VT were both
huge gut-punches, and should be a hell of a wakeup call.
Side note, I thought it was pretty damn disgusting how the majority of 2A guys thought that disenfranchising 18-21 year-olds was no big deal, especially after (and rightly so) the world practically ended when they wanted to do the same to folks that got financial management assistance. Dudes--this is why you guys have such bad luck with non-traditional gun owners. Cuz everyone cries about millennials and blasts country music at NRAAM.
Precisely where we're weakest, and where we have the best chance to make the greatest impact with the smallest number of people. The RNC is cash-rich and volunteer-short. That's an opportunity to create dependency. Dependency means leverage. Leverage means we get what we want.
The NRA's done a great job at national organization and applying resources to specific situations, supporting state-level organizations in lawsuits against various infringements. NRA money to NYSRPA is literally the reason why I have three extra rounds in my carry pistol.
Where we suck out loud is grassroots organization. The antis are entrenched in the various Democratic committees because that's where loose stuff rolls. We don't have that strength because the NRA is too dependent on the RNC to do anything but support whatever candidates the local Republican committees pick (too often, a candidate weak on guns).
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We're not far apart. I think we both agree that we have to reach state legislators. Personally, I think that's
great. Those people are accessible, a lot easier than trying to press the flesh with a congressman.
Where we differ is how to do that, and why we're currently failing (which we are). I don't think that the school walk-outs and mass anti protests were all that "proactively" successful. That is to say, they didn't suddenly rouse a wave of anti-gun sentiment among the political class. I think that what they really did was expose how our political allies aren't really that committed to fighting for us.
