Effectively Targeting Your Grassroots Activism

In recent weeks, NRA-ILA has been inundated with phone calls and emails from passionate supporters voicing their appreciation for our stalwart defense of the Second Amendment and passing along many productive observations and recommendations.  Among them have been precisely the key points NRA has been making; namely that we need to steer Congress's efforts away from gun control and gun bans toward a more productive discussion on things like enhancing school security; improving our nation's mental health system; examining the consequences of a grotesque level of violence our children are exposed to by Hollywood and our pop culture, and enforcement of existing laws against criminals.

While we appreciate hearing from our supporters, to truly be productive you need to direct your outrage over attempts to restrict our Second Amendment rights and your support of commonsense and effective proposals, not to us, but DIRECTLY TO YOUR LAWMAKERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.!  Remember, your lawmakers work for you and they are the ones that will be VOTING on these measures!  Further, you need to be contacting your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners to educate them and to ensure they too are relaying their concerns to their lawmakers.

NRA-ILA has a number of ways to assist and to make you a more effective Second Amendment Activist:

GET THE FACTS.  NRA-ILA has a number of informative websites that will provide you with all the information you need to educate your lawmakers and your friends on important issues, particularly on semi-automatic firearms and magazine bans.  Be sure to visit www.gunbanfacts.com, your one-stop-shopping resource.  Additionally, we have produced a two-page flyer that you can print, copy and distribute at gun shops, gun & hunting clubs, gun shows and shooting ranges.  The flyer contains a summary of a number of gun-related bills, as well as a sample letter to your lawmakers.

GET ACTIVE.  To identify and contact your elected officials in Washington, D.C., use the "Write Your Reps" feature at www.NRAILA.org.

COUNTER THE ANTI-GUN MEDIA.  Too many Americans are misinformed due to a deliberate attempt by the so-called "mainstream media" to lie about the facts of this debate.  For contact information and tips on writing letters to the editor and contacting television and radio stations, utilize our "Guidelines for Communicating with the Media" tool.

SPREAD THE WORD. Every one of the above actions needs to be taken by you.  But don't stop there, forward this information to your family, friends and fellow firearm owners and work to ensure every one of them is taking action.  Our strength is in our numbers and our passion! NRA has already added 250,000 new members and that number will continue to increase!

Again, the best way you as an individual can influence the debate in Washington is to take these actions.  NRA alone can't win this battle for you, but working together, we can win it with you!