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Educating the Politician, AKA Taming the Shrew |
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Written by Terry Jeffries
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Friday, 01 June 2007 |
I’ve spent way more time on the Ohioans For Concealed Carry website, especially the popular Discussion Forums that they provide, than anyone in their right mind can possibly justify, and am constantly inspired by the collective wisdom of our posters. I find comfort in the relative safety provided by the forums, and feel free to post my own opinion once in a while, but in doing so, also realize that I’m usually just preaching to the choir.
While it is safe and comfortable to simply preach to the choir, if we expect things to change, we have to step outside that zone of comfort and safety and express our views and opinions to those with the power to do so. Prior to HB12, HB347, and several other successful bills passing into law, how many people outside our grassroots community actually thought we’d be where we are today? We got there because we were inspired here, and ventured outside our comfort zones and into the political arena with the same passion we shared among ourselves.
In a moment of inspiration, I penned two letters to my senator to help remind him that he’s not in office because he’s Sherrod Brown, but because he’s not Mike DeWine. While Democrats and Republicans won’t always find common ground, Americans should.
The first letter I sent him was regarding anti-gun provisions hidden in the controversial
immigration amnesty bill that is before Congress:
Dear Senator:
Why does the Congress seem bent on pushing gun control every chance it
gets? First, there was the McCarthy-Dingell bill in the House (HR 297)
that would greatly expand the Brady Law. We don't need more gun control
as a response to Virginia Tech shootings. We need to repeal the gun free
zones that turn people into mandatory victims!
Now, the Senate wants to sneak gun control past us in the form of an
immigration bill. The Senate immigration package is a horrid piece of
legislation in such a wide variety of respects.
But, in addition to everything else, section 205 could, in the hands of an
anti-gun administration, PUT EVERY MAJOR GUN SHOP OUT OF BUSINESS.
All it would take is for the shop to commit two felony paperwork
violations -- and an anti-gun administration willing to find that this was
a "primary purpose."
Similarly, a family driving to church or to the movies -- with a gun in
the glove compartment -- could be a "criminal gang" if it passed two
schools, and an anti-gun administration determined that protecting his
family was one of the father's "primary purposes."
Again, I urge you to OPPOSE the immigration package as long as this
anti-gun language remains in the bill.
After receiving a very ambiguous and verified 'form letter' response, I decided to follow up with what's below:
Senator Brown:
Evil will always exist in this world, disarming the law-abiding only supports crime. It's time to scrap the canned responses and get to the root of the problem; politicians like yourself supporting gun control as crime control. This has never worked in the past, and will not work in the future. We now have several thousand useless laws on the books that are not working to decrease crime; it's time to educate yourself and every other politician who panders to the criminal by punishing those who defend themselves.
There are many organizations that will provide firearm education free of charge to public figures like yourself. There are countless studies (peer reviewed of course) that expose gun control for the lie it is. If you need help in finding any of these, feel free to contact me for assistance, but for our country's sake get help fast.
In closing, you may wish to read up on the Bill of Rights a bit. The Second Amendment does not grant me the right to keep and bear arms, it only affirms that it exists and states that it will not be infringed. We were all born with that right, and it is not yours or anyone else's to give away.
Respectfully,
Terry Jeffries
I encourage everyone to write their elected representatives and to remember that for evil to prevail only requires us to remain silent. If needed, help can be obtained here among friends. |
