Letter to Legislators?

[lewprinting]

I would like to keep sending letters or emails to my legislators to let them that I want my second amendment rights as well as my right to carry to be protected. However I don't know that I am informed on the specifics of the bills and laws well enough to come up with good letters.

Does anyone know where I can get a good, well worded form type letter that I can send to my representatives?

Thanks in advance.

[dmg1969]

Hi lewprinting. What I try to do is write my own e-mail which is precise and to the point on the issue. Sometimes it is hard to read the bills and understand what the meat and potatoes of it is.

Just a thought for Dan and the others who run PAFOA. Is there a way we can break each bill down into layman's terms. It could be put into a post titled something like "H.B. 266 - breakdown" or H.B. 266 - layman's terms". That way, members can decifer what is a threat to our RTKBA and fire off e-mails or letters quickly and easily.

I'd be willing to help out as time permits.

Dave G.

[Emptymag]

I have to admit, reading those bills can be a challenge.

Perhaps the reason for the confusing language is to keep us unejumicated commoners in the dark until it's too late for us to protest?

As much as I try, there are many of these bills that I just can't understand - even when posted by well meaning pafoa members. I'm fairly certain that many gun owners don't bother reading those posts for the same reason.

As for the letter writing, I have seen several well written form letters posted here and the time it took to write them is appreciated by many!
At the same time, a brief letter outlining your concerns can be just as effective.

lewprinting,
If you typed up a letter and asked for a critique/suggestions, I'm sure that sum of da bettr lettr riters heer wood help u clean it up if needed.
Don't be afraid to ask! (Don't ask me though, I have to run everything past my wife/proofreader to correct my mistakes!)

[BUCKMARK]

http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm


GOA has a complete list of your reps and they break down each bill as it comes down the pike. GOA updates you on current bills, and often has pre-written letters already on their site.

Many times all you need to do is sign their pre-written letter, and hit SUBMIT. They will send it off to everyone that needs to read it.

They also have complete contact info for you including phone numbers.

[GRoPA]

Here is an e-mail I received from GOA it has a letter to send to your rep at the end.


Far-reaching Gun Ban Would Cripple The Second Amendment
-- McCarthy's bill to outlaw millions of guns

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Democrats are back in power and their anti-gun wing is trying to
make up for lost time as far as gun control legislation is concerned.
There are a number of bills that have been introduced already, but
GOA will be there to meet every challenge.

Right now, we need your help in beating back a reintroduction of the
so-called "assault weapons ban," the infamous bill that
outlawed many
types of firearms based primarily on cosmetics, misinformation and
scare tactics.

The bill is HR 1022, and last month it was introduced by the Queen of
Gun Control, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). Its 30 cosponsors
comprise a list of the usual anti-gun suspects -- so we need to make
sure that no pro-gun congressmen are duped into signing their names
onto this anti-gun piece of trash.

McCarthy entitled her bill the Assault Weapons Ban and Law
Enforcement Protection Act of 2007, knowing these firearms aren't
"assault weapons" and knowing the bill she is reintroducing does
nothing to prevent violent crime -- since the guns in question have
seldom been used in crime.

McCarthy's bill would reinstate all of the now defunct provisions
related to semi-automatic firearms and large capacity magazines. The
manufacture and/or importation of many firearms would be prohibited.
This would be paired with a strong ban on the possession or transfer
of detachable magazines having moderate or larger capacities.

Truth be told, HR 1022 is the old ban on steroids. Fourteen more
guns are listed by name than in the '94 ban, and only one
"dangerous"
feature, such as a pistol grip, is needed to make a "nice"
gun into a
"bad" gun. The old ban required two "dangerous"
features, such as a
pistol grip and a folding stock. This distinction effectively
expands the scope of the bill to ban a far broader variety of
firearms.

Since the U.S. Department of Justice has already documented that the
previous "assault weapons" ban did absolutely nothing to stop
violent
crime, it is clear that HR 1022 is simply a direct attack on the 2nd
Amendment rights of gun owners.

More than 10 years ago, the anti-gun lobby and their friends in the
media began waging a campaign to frighten people and convince them
that the so-called "assault weapons" are rapid fire machine guns
when, in reality, they are merely semi-automatic firearms that look
different than traditional hunting rifles.

This bill is designed to cripple the firearms industry while
infringing on the rights of all gun owners. It is proof positive
that the rabid, anti-gun members of Congress really don't care about
stopping crime or saving lives -- they just want to take our guns
away.

What are the odds of this bill getting through the Congress? Who
knows? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just gave Rep. Jefferson a seat on
the Homeland Security Panel. Jefferson was the guy who had $90,000
dollars of bribe money stuffed into his freezer.

If the liberals now in control of the Democrat Party feel they are
strong enough to get away with that kind of outrage, they may feel
they can get away with passing a gun ban that does nothing but punish
law-abiding gun owners.

We must take seriously every anti-gun bill introduced in this
Congress. But, at the same time, this bill is an opportunity to beat
up those members of Congress who hate guns and will stop at nothing
to eliminate our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

If we can give them a good thrashing on HR 1022, we may be able to
discourage them from bringing forth more bills like this. And that
is why we need your help in beating down HR 1022 quickly, and making
sure that none of the good guys get suckered into supporting this.

ACTION: Please use the pre-written letter below to direct your
comments to your Congressman. And circulate this alert to your
pro-gun friends and family.

You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Representative a
pre-written e-mail message. And, you can call your Representative
toll-free at 1-877-762-8762.

---- Pre-written letter to your Representative ----

Dear Representative:

I'm sure you are aware that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) has
reintroduced, in the form of HR 1022, the Clinton semi-auto gun ban
that sunset a couple of years ago. The Justice Department reported
that the ban's impact on gun violence was small at best, and too
small to be statistically valid.

By contrast, states adopting concealed carry laws had significant
decreases in violent crime while states and cities maintaining strict
gun control laws continued to have the nation's highest rates of
violent crime.

I agree with Gun Owners of America that the only people affected by
the so-called "assault weapons ban" of 1994 were law-abiding gun
owners, manufacturers and importers. Clearly, this bill is nothing
less than an infringement on the rights of gun owners. And we won't
stand for it.

The supporters of HR 1022 will be identified as anti-gun Congressmen
and, hopefully, targeted for defeat at the next election. As your
constituent, I urge you to oppose this or any other gun grabbing bill
in the 110th Congress.

Sincerely,


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