11 DAYS LEFT—WHAT (MORE) CAN YOU DO?
With the November 2 election just around the corner, here are some activities in which pro-Second Amendment activists must be involved to assure victory for pro-gun candidates on Election Day. While we can`t expect every gun owner to do everything, we must work to ensure every gun owner does something!
YARD SIGNS: The key to placing yard signs is location, location, location. Put signs where large numbers of people will see them, but out of right of ways. Ask fellow firearm owners who have property that would make a good sign location to post a sign, and make sure the "natural resources of the pro-gun community" (gun shows, gun shops, shooting ranges, and gun and hunting clubs) have signs prominently displayed. Don`t put signs on private property without permission, and don`t tamper with the opposition`s signs! And, of course, make sure you have a pro-gun candidate`s sign in your yard or on your property!
LITERATURE DROPS: Literature drops are an extremely effective way for pro-freedom candidates to get their message out. Again, take advantage of the "natural resources" of the pro-gun community. Gun shows are the best venue to conduct a literature drop. Check with the show promoter to set up a literature table or share one with a fellow NRA member or pro-gun supporter. Or, better yet, hand out pro-gun candidates` literature to all attendees as they enter the show. If distributing literature in neighborhoods, never put materials in a mailbox! Remember, the goal of this activity isn`t to debate with anti-gun voters, but rather, to distribute as much material to as many potential voters as possible!
BUMPER STICKERS: Make sure every vehicle you own has a pro-gun candidate`s (and/or NRA) bumper sticker on it. Then, work to ensure the vehicles of your friends and fellow firearm owners are proudly displaying a sticker(s) as well! ILA Grassroots has limited quantities of candidate stickers for the following states: AK, CO, FL, IN, KY, ME, MN, MO, NE, NC, NH, NV, OH, SC, SD, VA, & WA, as well as "I`m the NRA and I Vote" bumper and lapel stickers. If you need additional stickers, please contact the Grassroots Division at (800) 392-VOTE (8683).
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Please submit at least one letter to the editor of your local newspaper in support of a pro-gun candidate between now and Election Day. Consult your paper`s deadlines, as some papers stop accepting political letters to the editor on a certain date prior to the election. You can find media contact information by visiting our homepage— www.NRAILA.org — and accessing the "Write The Media" link. Your goal in writing should be to ensure that pro-gun candidates are receiving positive media in these final days leading up to November 2.
GET OUT THE VOTE & ELECTION DAY ACTIVITIES: Now that we are in the final two weeks of the campaign season, candidates are focusing their efforts on Get Out The Vote projects, and laying the final groundwork for a barrage of Election Day activities. This requires assistance contacting voters by phone, walking precincts, volunteering to drive pro-gun voters to the polls, and putting up signs and handing out literature at polling locations on Election Day.
VOTE BUSH-CHENEY AND FOR ALL OTHER PRO-GUN CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE ON NOVEMBER 2: The ultimate act of volunteerism, of course, is casting your ballot on Election Day. Please be sure you vote on Tuesday, November 2, and urge your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners to do the same. Remember, too, that in many states you can vote early, prior to November 2. Exercising this option not only ensures that your vote will be "banked," but that you will have free time on Election Day to help with the aforementioned activities! NRA-ILA has a section of its website to assist you with early or absentee voting. To access this site, please go to www.NRAILA.org, and click on the "NRA-ILA HelpingAmericansVote" icon and select your state. Or, you can go directly to the site at http://NRA.HelpingAmericansVote.org. With this election tight as a tick, we can not take even a single pro-gun vote for granted! For candidate information, to assist you when voting, refer to your November NRA magazine, which contains NRA-PVF`s Candidate Endorsements, or visit www.NRAPVF.org and click "Elections."
There are a number of ways in which you can get involved with these, and other, similar activities in your area:
1) As we have been noting, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has put together a sportsmen specific 72-Hour Deployment plan. This entails sportsmen and sportswomen from "non-target" states traveling to "target" states to organize sportsmen during the last 72 hours of the campaign. A 72-Hour Task Force Volunteer must be willing to participate in grassroots activities such as walking door to door, mailing literature, and phone banking. He or she must be willing to commit at least five to seven (or even more) days of his time to the 72-Hour Task Force Volunteer Program (though if you can only volunteer a couple/few days, you will be utilized). Each volunteer would need to commit to arriving in the assigned target state no later than the evening of Thursday, October 28, and stay through Election Day. Travel and hotel expenses would be covered. In addition, volunteers will receive a per diem for food. (The RNC will make your travel arrangements.) If you or someone you know can help with this endeavor, please contact Angela Hill at (202) 863-8600 or via e-mail at: [email protected]. WHEN CONTACTING ANGELA, PLEASE LET HER KNOW YOUR ARE AN NRA MEMBER AND SECOND AMENDMENT SUPPORTER!
2) Please contact your NRA-ILA Election Volunteer Coordinator (EVC), who is a local NRA member spearheading our pro-gun volunteer campaign efforts. To locate your EVC, please visit NRA`s websites (www.NRAILA.org or www.NRAPVF.org) or contact the ILA Grassroots Division at (800) 392-VOTE-8683.
3) Contact pro-gun candidates` local campaign offices directly. By visiting the "Elections" section of www.NRAPVF.org you`ll find that many of the pro-gun candidates have a hyperlink that you can click to go directly to their website to find their contact information.
Thank you for all you have done to date to protect our freedom, and all you will continue to do until the polls close on Tuesday, November 2!
A LOOK AT THE STATES
ALASKA
Once again, out-of-state animal "rights" extremists are seeking to force their will on Alaskans by seeking to ban the use of bear management techniques commonly used by the Department of Fish and Game. Funded largely by fanatical anti-hunting groups such as Greenpeace and PETA, this ballot measure would, in addition to restricting the methods used by hunters to attract bears, ban the intentional feeding of bears for the purpose of photography or viewing, and prohibit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game from live trapping and relocating problem bears. If found in violation of this proposed law, one could spend a year in jail and face a hefty $10,000 fine for each offense. It`s time to say "NO" to a radical agenda that would prevent Alaska`s professional game biologists from utilizing one of the most effective game management tools available. It`s time to say "NO" to extremists who seek to punish law-abiding Alaskans for protecting their children and pets from predatory bears, and it`s time to say "NO," once and for all, to out-of-state interests that would deny local control or public involvement on an issue of this importance. Please be sure to encourage your family, friends, and fellow sportsmen to VOTE "NO" ON BALLOT MEASURE 3 in the November 2 election.
ILLINOIS
On October 20, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D), State Senator John Cullerton (D), and State Representative Karen May (D) held a press conference in Chicago to launch their campaign to pass a ban on semi-automatic firearms in Illinois. Also in attendance was the anti-gun extremist organization the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence—a group that has called Members of Congress "arrogant and gutless" for allowing the failed federal ban to expire. Although a study of the recently expired federal ban found that the affected firearms were rarely used in crime, and even supporters of the federal ban admit that it was more symbolic than a tool for fighting crime, supporters of this proposed statewide ban have promised an all-out assault on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms during the Fall Veto Session in November. Cullerton stated that his plan is to "strengthen the law in the next General Assembly," which should cause anyone who owns any semi-automatic firearm to expect their guns to be on the banned list eventually. Governor Rod Blagojevich (D) did not attend Wednesday`s event to support the anti-gun cadre that was present, but the Chicago Tribune reports he has "vowed to back their efforts." It is critical that the pro-gun community in Illinois respond to this absurd call for a ban that has already been proven worthless. NRA members can help defeat the anti-gun efforts of Madigan, Cullerton, May, Blagojevich, et al., by contacting their State Representatives and Senators TODAY, and urging them to oppose any efforts to ban semi-automatic firearms during the Fall Veto Session. Ask them for a firm commitment to support law-abiding gun owners and a promise to oppose this Chicago-based campaign. The Senate can be reached by calling (217) 782-4517, and the House can be reached at (217) 782-8223. For additional contact information, please use the "Write Your Representatives" feature located at www.NRAILA.org.
LOUISIANA
Attention Sportsmen! Absentee and early voting has begun. If you plan on being out of town or hunting on Election Day, you can vote early in-person at your local Registrar of Voters office through 4:30 p.m., on Tuesday, October 26. It is especially important for hunters to be aware of this date so they can VOTE "YES"ON Proposition #1, the NRA-backed Right to Hunt, Fish & Trap Constitutional Amendment on the General Election ballot!
MAINE
National animal "rights" groups, led by the Humane Society of the United States, have organized and funded a ballot initiative for the November 2 election that would ban the three traditional methods of bear hunting—baiting, hunting with dogs, and trapping. These groups routinely use ballot measures to curtail hunting throughout the country and have been successful in several states, including banning all trapping in nearby Massachusetts. Please be sure to encourage your family, friends, and fellow sportsmen to VOTE "NO" ON QUESTION 2 on this initiative in the November 2 election.
NEW MEXICO
If you plan on being out of town or hunting on Election Day, early voting runs through Saturday, October 30. If you`ve not yet received it, please be on the lookout for NRA-PVF`s 2004 Candidate Endorsements in the next issue of your NRA magazines or visit www.NRAPVF.org for information on candidates in your area. For information on early voting locations, please visit: http://www.sos.state.nm.us/Election/EV2004Gen.htm
OREGON
By this time, mail ballots have been sent to voters. Ballots must be returned to your local elections office by 8:00 p.m., on November 2, and postmarks do not count! If you`ve not yet received it, please be on the lookout for NRA-PVF`s 2004 Candidate Endorsements in the next issue of your NRA magazines or visit www.NRAPVF.org for information on candidates in your area.
PENNSYLVANIA
David T. Hardy, coauthor of "Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man," will give a presentation on his book at 7:00 p.m., on Thursday, October 28. He will be speaking at Parkard Labs Main Auditorium on the Lehigh University Campus in Bethlehem, PA. Moore himself will speak at Lehigh University the following day. For more information please contact: Melissa McCarthy, Harper Collins Press, (212) 207-7729.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Attention NRA Members: Please join your NRA leadership, special guest Senator Lindsey Graham (R), and country music superstar Lee Greenwood, for a FREE "Vote Freedom First" Rally in support of Jim DeMint (R) for U.S. Senate, and for President George W. Bush (R). The rally will be held on Friday, October 29, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center & Visitor`s Bureau, 1101 Lincoln St., Columbia, SC 29201. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. Please show your support for NRA-PVF endorsed candidates and the Second Amendment by attending this rally! For more information, please call the Grassroots Division at (800) 392-8683.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Attention NRA Members: Please join your NRA leadership and country music superstar Lee Greenwood, for a FREE "Vote Freedom First" Rally in support of John Thune (R) for U.S. Senate, and for President George W. Bush (R). The rally will be held on Saturday, October 30, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center, Ballroom A, 1211 N. West Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD 57104. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Please show your support for NRA-PVF endorsed candidates and the Second Amendment by attending this rally! For more information, please call the Grassroots Division at (800) 392-8683.
TEXAS
If you plan on being out of town or hunting on Election Day, please remember that early voting runs through Friday, October 29. If you`ve not yet received it, please be on the lookout for NRA-PVF`s 2004 Candidate Endorsements in the next issue of your NRA magazines or visit www.NRAPVF.org for information on candidates in your area. For information on early voting locations, please visit http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/index.shtml.
WISCONSIN
Attention NRA Members: Please join your NRA leadership and country music superstar Lee Greenwood, for a FREE "Vote Freedom First" Rally in support of Tim Michels (R) for U.S. Senate, and for President George W. Bush (R). The rally will be held on Saturday, October 30, at the KI Convention Center, Ballroom A, 333 Main Street, Green Bay, WI 54301. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m. Please show your support for NRA-PVF endorsed candidates and the Second Amendment by attending this rally! For more information, please call the Grassroots Division at (800) 392-8683.
Paid for by NRA Political Victory Fund www.NRAPVF.org and not authorized by any candidate or candidate`s committee.
