Many gun owners realize that the press and national media often print or say things that are detrimental to lawful gun owners. Sometimes these are based on misconceptions, sometimes on lies. Often a gun owner will hear or read such an item, and wish he had the ability to correct it. But he feels that he is not "good enough" as a writer. Well, I'm here to tell you that you ARE good enough. You can write effective rebuttals to the propaganda you hear. If all gun owners take the media to task each time they malign us, soon the propaganda will stop!
A) Always be polite. Many people have an image of all gun owners as crude rednecks. We do not want to add to this misperception. Obviously this also means that you should avoid crude language and threatening statements. Write as if you are talking to a friend.
B) If you know the name of the person to whom you are writing, use it:
Honorable Representative Michael McNulty,
Honorable Senator Charles Schumer,
Dear Ed Dague, (Channel 13 news)
Otherwise, use a general salutation:
Dear Editor,
General Manager, WNYT,
C) Refer to specific statements that you know are false. If the newspaper said "11 children are killed by guns every day," for example, then you might reply "When you said 11 children were killed by guns every day, you probably were not aware that the study from which that figure came counted gang members and drug dealers through age 20 as 'children.'"
D) Be sure to identify the exact story or item to which you are referring ("On the 11 P.M. news on February 28th while discussing a gun shot that hit a State Agency building you said...." or "A story published in the Times Union on February 28th titled 'Guns kill children' said...." or "Assembly Bill Number A99999 describes...."
E) Use specific facts and figures as much as possible. In the example above, you might add "For children aged 14 and under, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, the number of accidental deaths by firearm in 1997 was just 142. This is fewer than 1/2 per day, and far fewer than the number accidentally killed by drowning, in fires or by falls." Note the reference to the source of the fact.
You can find useful facts in many places on the internet. Use any search engine and enter "firearms facts" (including the quotes). You can also add specific items to the search to narrow it down. In our example, you might search for: "firearms facts" children accident* deaths (The asterisk attached to the word "accident" means to find all words starting with "accident," such as "accidents" and "accidental." This works with most search engines. The quotes around "firearms facts" mean to find these two words together, in order.) Note that such searches will also turn up web sites that are against lawful gun ownership, so be aware of what site you are viewing.
You can also check the NRA, GOA, SAF and other progun organizations' web pages.These are two of my favorites for this purpose:
http://www.gunowners.org/fs0101.htm
http://www.rkba.org/ (search the site using key words)
The government's web pages, particularly those of the Department of Justice and the FBI, are excellent sources of crime facts. For example, the DoJ's Sourcebook reveals that less than 10% of violent crimes in the United States are even "firearm related." This can be a great fact to bring out when a legislator or the media claims a particular gun law will "reduce violence."
Safety and health organizations often have useful facts on accidents.
NEVER make up facts. If you don't recall and can't find the figures, don't guess. Any single fault that can be found will negate your entire message. Leave the exaggerations to the anti-gunners. Approach the problem another way: "Anyone who reads a newspaper or watches TV news knows that most gun deaths are of and by criminals, not innocent children."
F) When you can, suggest alternatives. If the media says that preventing youths from owning guns will reduce accidents, tell them that the NRA Eddie Eagle educational program has been proven to reduce firearms accidents, but telling youths not to have sex has not reduced sexual diseases.
G) After writing your letter, be sure to end it with your complete name, address and phone number. This not only shows that you believe and stand behind your position, it is also required by newspapers in order for the letter to be published. Most papers will call you to verify that you sent the letter to them.
H) In order of influence: personal visits, handwritten (LEGIBLY!) letters, faxes, typewritten or printed letters, phone calls, email, duplicated letters (those written by GOA, for example, and sent in identical form by many GOA members.) This is the order generally accepted as to which items have the most influence on legislators. However, obviously ANY contact is infinitely better than no contact.
I) Don't forgot to let the media and lawmakers know when they do something right, also. As with raising children, compliments on doing the right thing are just as important as chastising them for doing the wrong thing.
Influencing public perception of lawful firearms ownership is obviously in our best interests. Try not to let false or misleading information go unchallenged. You CAN write letters and affect our future! Do it now. Do it often!
-Dan Z-
Copyright © 2001-2004 by Dan Z., Albany, NY. All rights reserved.
For permission on reproduction of this article, use the email link at http://www.manyfacets.com/dan/
