I’ve long held that the most powerful force in the country right now are lobbyists. And the lobbyist’s lobbyists are the NRA’s lobbyists.

If Spocko won the lottery ...

People always ask the boring ol’ question, “What would do you do if you won the lottery or a genie granted you one wish.”(For the record if I won the lottery I’d start a Progressive think tank that attacks right wing think tanks. If it was a genie I’d like a working spaceship.)   But what would you do if you had NRA’s lobbyist power at your fingertips?  I know what I’d do. I’d hire them to work against the weapons manufacturers and the NRA’s leadership.

I ask this question because on Thursday at 12:00 Noon EDT my buddy Cliff Schecter and a great group of people are protesting the K-Street Lobbyists in DC who are paid by the weapons manufacturers and the NRA to subvert the will of the people.

WASHINGTON, DC –Riding a wave of public anger at the Senate’s failure to pass even minimal gun control legislation, a coalition of activists, advocates and campaign finance reformers will lead a march on Washington firearms lobbyists this Thursday, April 25 at NOON. The goal is to drag the lobbyists out of the shadows where they prefer to operate and expose exactly how the National Rifle Association subverts democracy.

The event will begin with a news conference in McPherson Square, where gun violence prevention leaders will lay out the web of influence controlled by the NRA and unveil a new anti-NRA artwork by Shepard Fairey, who produced the most memorable image of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

The protest will then move along the K Street corridor, symbolically holding up giant checks from the NRA made out to key lobbying firms and delivering crime-scene photos illustrating the devastating effects of gun violence to those firms’ offices.

(More here at The Political Carnival)

Now you’ve all heard the old saying, “Nobody is the villain in their own life narrative.” I’m sure that the people who convinced the senators to defy the desires of 90% of their constituents don’t think they are doing a bad thing. When I get the photos from the event I’ll put up pictures of the big checks made out to their firms. (“You are already a winner Mr. NRA Lobbyist!”)

Did you ever see the movie, Thank You for Smoking? It’s based on a very funny book written by the only funny conservative I know, Christopher Buckley.  It’s about a tobacco lobbyist and how he convinces himself that what he is doing is right, and how it pays his mortgage. He works with two other lobbyists. One for the gun lobby and another for the liquor industry. They call themselves the MOD squad for Merchants Of Death.

The other day I was telling my friend Cary Grant (not his real name) about how sad, but unsurprised, I was that the NRA lobbyists had ensured that the Senate couldn’t pass a bill to increase gun safety. He said, “Why don’t you become a lobbyist?”

That kind of blew me away. I’ve been fascinated with the power of lobbyists for awhile now and like to hear and read stories how it’s “really done.” Not the TV versions, but the behind the scenes stuff where someone sends you a check for 200 million dollars and says, “Block this bill” or “Get the votes for this bill to pass, don’t tell me how you do it, just do it!” and then the team sits down, plans the strategy and then starts setting up meetings for doling out money to politicians, belief tanks, writers, pollsters, golf trips and restaurants.

I’ll bet there are the Power Point presentations with statistics and 3D Graphics with great ideas for Op-Eds to write.  Do they still use hookers and blow these days? Do they come up with bumper sticker slogans? Catch phrases? (“When seconds count the police are only minutes away!” Is my current favorite.) I know they set up fake grass roots groups, I’m sure they have social media methods to amplify the words of true believers beyond their actual numbers.

They really are powerful, and if they are anything like the rich powerful people I know, they are pretty thin skinned and try hard not to be self reflective. So they will ignore the protest, won’t look at the giant checks with their names on it or the photos of the kid killed by guns.  Why? Because 1) these people aren’t paying them 2) they are depressing. 3) mortgage is due every month.

Nobody wants to see pictures of dead kids mangled by guns, that’s so pre-Boston marathon.  (BTW, I just watched the movie 9/11: The Falling Man and I wonder if seeing photos from Sandy Hook would have made a difference in the vote. I think showing them to the public wouldn’t have made a difference, but what if they were shown to the NRA lobbyists and our “representatives?”)

Now to do some lobbying jobs you need a certain amount of moral and intellectual flexibility, especially if you don’t believe in what the client is pushing. But most people doing this are either believers or can rationalize the belief for the mortgage.

I’m not going to throw stones at anyone (or should I say throw bullets?) I have my price, it’s in Quatloos, but I have one.  If I was them instead of focusing on all the damage that weapons do, I’d focus on what I saw as all the good that they do. I’d never want to focus on the dead for three reasons. 1) They aren’t paying me.  2) they are depressing. 3) Mortgage. So I’d focus on positive things and abstract things. Don’t think of the 10′s of thousands of dead, think of the millions of non-dead. Don’t think of today’s headline dead:

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I’ve been listening to the fringes of talk radio for years. The people running the media companies that distribute these shows usually don’t listen. If they did they would be appalled. The hosts often say things that would never be allowed if that host worked in that company’s office.

What would get someone fired for sexual harassment or bigotry is classified, “entertainment” since supposedly off the air the hosts follow the corporate HR guidelines and their words or actions are different.

While listening to Armed American Radio, carried nationwide by Salem Communications Corporation, (NASDAQ: SALM) I heard the two hosts talk about ignoring signs about no guns in the studio. I got confirmation they did bring their guns into the studio and it sounded like they violated the corporation policy when doing so.  Salem is the top Christian broadcast radio company in the nation and the third ranked radio company overall, but no one from headquarters wanted to talk to me about the policies or consequences for violation so I wrote them one of my patented Spocko letters to ask about the apparent disconnect between their corporate stance on firearms and what their hosts are saying and doing on air.  Some of my questions were:

• How should a corporation act when the hosts both violate and mock a company’s policies about bringing firearms into the company’s office?
• Did your HR people give them permission to violate your policies?
• Have other employees been advised of guns in the office? Do other employees have any rights to safe working conditions?
• Have people who work in the same building as the radio studio been advised of firearms in the building?
• Do workers in surrounding offices have a right to know that some people either got a waiver to bring firearms into the building, or that there were/are no consequences for firearm violations?
• Does the building management have a no firearms clause in their lease? Have they been alerted that it is being violated? Are there any consequences for violation of the lease?
• Have the insurance companies who cover the liability of the corporation been alerted? Do they want to re-evaluate the premiums that the corporation is paying?

It’s been a week and HQ has not responded to my calls and letter, so I’m posting it here publicly. I’ll let you know if they respond.

Edward Astinger III, CEO
Salem Communications Corp

Dear Edward:

Do you know that two of your radio hosts bring loaded firearms into your studios? Please listen to the following clip of hosts Mark Walters and his producer/sidekick Sean Young aka “Seanto”  LINK.

They talk about ignoring signs saying “no food and drink in the studio” and ignoring signs that say “no guns.” To determine if they actually had guns in the studio, I contacted Mike Moran, the general manager at your Atlanta studio from which Walters was broadcasting on Sunday, January 25.

Moran spoke to Walters who confirmed that he had in fact brought firearms into the studio that day. Additionally, Walters admitted to the GM he had brought firearms into the studio(s) in the past. I haven’t yet confirmed if Young was also carrying that day, however I am copying John Peroyea, VP of Operations & GM for your Dallas/Ft. Worth station on this letter. He may be able to determine when and how often Young carried while in your Dallas studios.

Moran believes Salem has a strict policy that does not permit employees, independent contractors, customers and/or their guests to bring weapons onto your premises. Can you confirm this, and does the policy apply to your properties and leased studios nationwide? I attempted to get a copy of your firearms policies but neither Christopher Henderson, your VP of Legal and HR, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary nor Russel Shubin, Director of your National News and Public Affairs responded.

The reason I want to know your policies on firearms is because many of your company’s hosts and our nation are engaging in a national discussion on public safety. Specifically we are looking at the causes of, and solutions for, violent gun deaths. As a leader in the Christian and conservative communities, your corporate policies on this issue and how you respond to people violating your own policies regarding firearms is important.

Moran told me that Walters assured him that he won’t bring his firearms to the studio again, however, I wonder about the reliability of someone who has flagrantly disregarded your rules in the past and who ends every show with, “Carry on, carry off, carry everywhere. NEVER leave your cave without your club.”  Can Walters be trusted to put the safety of others and compliance with your policies ahead of his own “carry everywhere” brand?

I’m not sure why your staff didn’t respond to my questions or why your policies aren’t published on your website. Perhaps you consider it a private internal matter, however, considering you are the co-creator of the petition site Support Second Amendment  which you and your SRN hosts plan to present to congress, I think the public has a right to know your views on firearms in your own offices and studios.

I know you can’t oversee all your employees or contractors who rent out your studios, that’s why you set up policies. I look forward to hearing back from you or your staff.

Sincerely,
Spocko

Cross posted at Spocko’s Brain

I hear people talking about how hard it will be to get this new public safety bill passed. The media pick this up and include it in all their stories, as if the playing field didn’t change after Newtown. They are being told that the NRA post Newtown has the same power as pre-Newton.

Malarkey. 

I’m an activist, not a politician, so I understand the logic of the right wing rhetoric. They want everyone, especially the media, to believe that a minority of people will defeat this bill. They are pushing the idea that popular support will fade away like in the past. Some people who follow politics cynically agree with this. This makes the NRA smile.

The NRA leadership want you discouraged and thinking, “What’s the point? There are millions of guns out there. The NRA is too powerful. They will rally their troops and call their bought off representatives. I’m not going to win.  I should just give up,”

Malarkey.

It doesn’t have to be that way. We need public safety enthusiasts to act. And Biden, the consummate politician, knows this.

Yesterday Joe Biden was talking about gun violence in America. He talked about a lot of things but he said something that reflected his view of reality in DC.

“Elected officials respond to intensity. If number ten on your list of things you want your congressman to do is something about gun safety, that’s not going to get you very far, if there is a smaller group that its number one on their list to make sure nothing is done, guess who they hear from? So make your voices heard.”

I started thinking, what can increase our actions and the intensity of them? Yes, we have short attention spans, but studies of memory like described in the book, The Seven Sins of Memory, talk about setting up reminders based on location or context.  Let’s use how our brain works to help us:

Every time you hear about a story about one or more people getting killed by a gun that’s your reminder to make a call or send an email to support public safety bills.

The sad, sick news is that if you started this plan this after Newton,  as of today you would have had almost 1224 reminders to do something. (link to a great ongoing interactive list from @gundeaths and Slate that keeps track of gun deaths in the US.)

And by the way, don’t just focus on the federal and state level. Here’s today’s hot tip. Contact your local school board. They need to hear that you DON’T want to arm teachers, administrators, janitors and custodians.

Right now the gun enthusiasts are pushing school boards to do this. If the only people they hear from are them, they might think there is consensus. You no longer can rely on your school board members thinking. “Arming teachers it a terrible idea.”  Pathetically, some school boards pick up the crazy and incorrect NRA rhetoric on guns.  Check out this story from Ohio.

State school-board president defends Hitler post on Facebook

State Board of Education President Debe Terhar said she was not comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler when she posted a photograph of the Nazi leader on her Facebook page with a message critical of the administration’s new gun-control efforts.

When I listen to right wing gun podcasts and radio, I hear about their methods to beat back sensible laws. I hear them talking about how they will lobby school boards to send their teachers to gun training classes (two whole days of training! Woot! You are practically an FBI sharpshooter after two days!) I hear them ratcheting up the fear and downplaying the death of innocents.

So going forward here’s what I’d like you to do:

1) Read about a gun death. 2) Find out who your local school board, state or federal representative is 3) Call or email your thoughts to them. 4) Repeat as necessary.

Be intense. Be a public safety enthusiast. Be an intense public safety enthusiast. Things can get better if you act.

LLAP,

Spocko

Today there was a very calm discussion on guns on KQED’s Forum radio show.

It was exactly what the NRA wanted; a discussion a month after the last big shooting so that the conversational focus can move away from the emotional pain of 20 dead kids.  It was all very rational. And that pissed me off.

During the conversation Hammond threw in the perfunctory line, “our hearts and minds go out to the victims of that horrible shooting.” How many times have you heard that line right before they switch to talking about the needs of a small group of entitled, self-indulgent jerks who think their desire to go “pew pew pew” with real army weapons outweighs everyone else’s rights?

Here is the link to the question, his response, the perfunctory line and then the pivot away from the tragedy to his figures on gun deaths in New Hampshire.

I’ve been listening to lots of gun enthusiasts’ podcasts lately. They are desperate to show how this shooting has nothing to do with their obstruction of sane gun laws and gun hawking.  If they didn’t personally put the semi-automatic into the person’s hand and said, “Go shoot ‘em.”  they think they are fine.  The reality is that they have spent years developing policies, blocking laws or creating laws that ensure these shootings happen on a regular basis. Their work ranges from laws blocking research on gun violence at the CDC to outlawing the use of computers to keep track of weapons.

My friend Anat Shenker-Osorio had mentioned a book, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman about how when we switch to numbers and statistics during a conversation it actually removes the blood from our brain’s emotional center. In some cases this is a good thing. Especially if you know you will lose an emotional argument and you know that you can cheat on your “intellectual” argument.   In this case it helps the Gun Owners of America’s spokesperson because it enables him to transition from talking about dead kids to talking about abstract data. The listeners and others are then busy working to counter the abstract data. They are thinking, is what he is saying right or wrong?  What is the source?  What is my comeback?”  Julie Leftwich, legal director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, did a fine job of countering him and refrained from calling him a bald face liar.  Then, while we spend our time refuting them, the  NRA and GOA move focus away from dead bodies sacrificed on the altar of their extremist members who can’t be denied their fun.

Soon we will move into the policy discussions revolving around Biden’s recommendations. I want everyone to remember how we felt one month ago. My friend Cliff Schecter, who does work for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, says that things are different this time. I believe him. Cliff is usually right. Things will change. But let’s be prepared for the planned push back.

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National Rifle Association gearing up for a fight - CNN

“We are mobilizing for a fight,” NRA President David Keene told CNN. “We will engage our members.”

The association is planning to send mailings to its members urging them to contact members of Congress with their opposition to new gun laws. “Let them know you feel strongly,” is how Keene summarized the group’s message to member.

Kids of Australia: 'It sure is hot, but we're not shot!'

So my question to you my friends in the public safety movement is, “What are you going to do to beat them?”

The NRA went into yesterday’s meeting with Vice-President Biden knowing they weren’t going to agree to any suggestions or make any concessions.  How do I know? They had their statement written to send out before the meeting even started.  Although I don’t have a time stamped copy, I’ve worked with organizations who put out statements. It takes days, sometimes weeks to get one put together.  They are working hard to get the discussion back on their terms and on their turf. The NRA says, “Come on America, stop focusing on dead kids! Think of yourself!” I’m going to bet 200 Quatloos that there wasn’t a press release version that said, “It was a very productive meeting, we are looking forward to co-authoring bills that will save lives and reduced gun deaths and gun violence.”

Keen and the NRA leadership are going into this in the same way that the right wing has been going into governing meetings for years.  They start as hardline as can be, even to the point of suggesting that they are the true victims. No crumbs given, no hint of compromise, because it makes their base angry.  The key is to activate their base on something scary (even something that will not be done, something they will be willing to die, or even kill for.) What are they really saying to their base?

“They are going to take all of your guns! They are going to limit your rights! If you let them do that you are weak. Will you let that, that… woman, Feinstein, take your gun? She is taking your mancard! What do we do when someone tries to take what is ours? We don’t just defend, we attack.”

Note how they move from the issue at hand to:

“This is about you.  You need to act. You are under attack. You don’t want to be a victim, you want to be the victor. You need to be in control. Don’t listen to them talking about how your gun wouldn’t make a difference. YOU know you could have saved the day if you were there in Sandy Hook. Don’t you want to have that chance to save lives? Think about how bad you would feel if that woman takes away your guns and you couldn’t protect yourself or family. She uses guns to protect herself! Hypocrite! If she was really brave she wouldn’t let her security guards carry.”

It has been documented that the lack of empathy is a trait of hardcore conservatives. The NRA wants to move the debate away from situations where normal people show empathy. (And by the way, hardcore conservatives do show empathy, but primarily for members of their own family, tribe.) They are going to ask their enthusiasts to show up at debates, write letters and comment on this issue from the position of focusing on their own lifestyle and needs rather than those of someone else in another place.

Now my question to you  is, “What would it take for you to have this same level of activism?” Is it because you don’t care enough or you have come to accept that we just have to live with this level of death by way of guns? Is it because you have accepted the frames of the people who are having this discussion? Do you even use their terms? “Pro-gun, anti-gun? “Gun rights?”

Now I’ve been cautioned not to evoke the individual names of the dead children in getting people to act. So I won’t. But I also know that reluctance to return the focus on humans and their decisions and consequences fits perfectly into the status quo the NRA extremists want. Don’t talk about the dead and the specific reasons for their death. Move the focus elsewhere.  Talk about being under siege, throw around  numbers, statistics, slogans, choice to focus on only one part of the constitution. There was an example of this just this week.

How the NRA Activist Base Attempts to Skew the Reality of a Majority Read the rest of this entry →

Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-5) is the chair of a congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. Last night he started holding three town hall meetings in Northern California on reducing and preventing gun violence. From his Facebook page:

 I will be holding a series of town hall meetings on reducing and preventing gun violence.
On Tuesday at 7 p.m. we will be at Napa City Hall in the Council Chambers at 955 School Street. (done)

On Wednesday at 7 p.m. we will be at Vallejo City Hall at 555 Santa Clara Street.
And on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. we will be at the Board of Supervisors meeting room in Santa Rosa at 575 Administration Drive. I want to hear from you. Please join us if you can.

Illustration by Peter Stevens, via Flickr Creative Commons Attribution license

If you live in these areas I encourage you to attend. I’d love to hear about it. If you are pro-public safety and want to talk, please go and get your body and voice on the record. I can guarantee you that the people at Cal Guns are going to turn out the bodies, their noble talking points and their subtle intimidation comments. Since they don’t have control of all their members they will also have extremists speak. These are the ones I’d really like to hear from, since they represent the leadership of the NRA.

I don’t really like “Town Hall” style meetings. Politicians like to hold them to give the illusion of listening. Usually their minds are made up in advance by looking at the polling data or which “very serious people” have set up meetings to discuss the issue with them.

They also will note calls, emails, tweets (@RepThompson), and Facebook posts (FB page). You get more points if you are in their district, but being a rich rich donor helps.  Yes, politicians are “listening” but they mostly listen to people who are important to them, those who can deliver votes or money. For years the NRA produced both. But that’s changing.  If the politicians start hearing from dedicated, ferocious public-safety enthusiasts they will notice.

I personally don’t like the Town Hall format. Partly because too often progressives don’t know how to use it effectively in the media (hint, don’t wait for the media’s coverage–make your own. Don’t go for high profile events where the media will be there with their standard frame, “He shouted She shouted the Truth lies somewhere in the middle.”)

One of the things I learned by taking on and successfully defunding right wing media is that even if you could “win the conversation” if there is no leverage that leads to actual change, you won’t reach your ultimate goal. Especially when they constantly lie, change the subject, change the definition of words,  move the goalposts and yell to “win.”

The TV media coverage only looks at the extremes at Town Hall events, so unless the other side does something stupid (bring their guns?) or your side does something clever (like the Silent Student Protest after the pepper spraying in Davis) the media always does the same story  Here is my prediction:

Segment opens on long shot of pro and anti signs. Zoom in or people in costume or with props. One or two clever signs. Let people get an idea of number of bodies per side. Cut to someone dressed in camouflage saying something contrary, “I’m a vet and I say ban AR-15s and semi-automatics!” Cut to woman saying her hand gun saved her life. Cut to Thompson listening during meeting. Cut to head of “Gun Rights” group for 7 second quote. Cut to someone from Brady Campaign group for 7 second quote. Include a educator or mental health professional talking. End with Live stand up after the meeting is over to explain, “This hotly contested issue will be continued tomorrow in blank. Reporting live from Orange County I’m Gustavo Almadovar.“

Does this mean you shouldn’t attend? No. If we can’t control the message we can at least not let their extremists flood the venue.  Because this is exactly the kind of thing where the NRA gets their extreme members organized to attend. It is one of the many communications strategies they use. But it’s not their most powerful.  The powerful stuff is hidden.

You have probably noticed that the NRA stays quiet after a major shooting, but they didn’t stop talking in the background in states to expand laws that help more guns get sold or weaken laws that prevent guns from getting sold.  They won’t stop on the work they can control. They can’t totally control the media,  but they do a pretty good job.

Did you notice that the media respected the NRA’s wishes to not speak following a major shooting? It’s like he’s Al Capone in The Untouchables the way the media keep respecting weapons lobbyist Wayne LaPierre’s feelings.  A “press conference” with no questions?  LaPierre’s policies and actions helped facilitate a mass shooting, why should he be spared the uncomfortable hot seat right after the shooting? Why does he get time to collect his thoughts and write his speech? The mothers and fathers of the dead didn’t. Besides, isn’t that why they pay him so well?  I know that journalists feel that it wasn’t fair to ambush him with questions until he was ready. But it’s not fair that the people ambushed at a mass shooting can’t ask questions either.

I’ve already told you what kind of media coverage I expect to come out of the Town Halls. If there are some real extremists there will the media downplay them? I doubt it, this time it’s different. Based on my experience the guns everywhere people will make threatening comments, comments showing their selfishness and lack of empathy and brag about the steps they will take if anyone tried to confiscate their guns. They will talk about killing people, usually the black clad government agents who are coming to take their legal hunting shotgun or rifle. If they do talk to the press and it makes the news nobody will challenge them on these comments.  ”Really? Your desires for ‘target practice’ with an AR-15 or other semi-automatize weapon outweigh the health and safety of others? Really?” They will say they are joking if asked seriously, but they aren’t.

They do not care about your children’s safety, they do not care about other’s safety in public,  if they did they would be trying to help rather than making threats.  These are the kind of people that I hope Mike Thompson and his task force vice chairs meet tonight and over the next few weeks.

Sales of AR-style rifles, ammo spike up

–Walla Walla Washington Union-Bulletin

Right now the NRA is primarily a marketing and sales organization. Sure they do other things like offer gun safety training programs and threaten politicians to push some laws and crush others. But I believe a lot of their power comes from the development and training of their members in communication skills and providing them with the right words, phrases and concepts to achieve their current goal: guns everywhere.

If you have become pro-public safety, like I have, you’ll want to figure out ways to convince others of your views and then develop ways to reach your goals. Also, when you see the NRA for what it really is, how they make the public less safe, and can work on ways to increase public safety.

The NRA has a $300 million budget, a large portion of that goes to “education and communications.”  And they are good. Very good. Tobacco industry good.  In a recent LA Times Op-Ed there is a story from a former NRA trainer about the psychological and linguistic techniques used on NRA members.

Ever since reading,  the brilliant and funny book by Christopher Buckley, “Thank you for Smoking.”  I’ve been impressed with the tobacco industry’s communications strategies.  Those of a certain age can complete this line, while singing the melody. “You can take Salem out of the country but…” If you sang the rest of the line in your head, their marketing worked.  In the book the guns, alcohol and tobacco lobbyists all meet and talk about their work as “MODs” (Merchants of Death.) The tobacco industry’s savvy communications, PR, advertising and lobbying led to their primary goal. Sell more tobacco.

The NRA didn’t just “take a page from the tobacco industries book” they went deep into the hearts and minds of men (and women) and so they could keep answering the same question of their actions, “How will this help sell more guns?”

The methods of the NRA-trained operatives vary from the subtle–like ALEC bill authoring and strategic lobbying/threatening of politicians; to the crass –”Cold Dead Hands” bumper stickers and rhyming “logic” for the masses. The New York Times says they also have “virtually unmatched ferocity in advancing [their] political and legislative interests.”

Anyone who has ever engaged someone on this issue knows they can expect debate techniques ranging from aggressive, threatening logic that blames the victims for not carrying a weapon, to well-thought-out positions. I’ve  seen how they use clever parsing of words in laws they create and how they attack terms or definitions to defeat laws they hate.  ”It’s not an automatic, it’s a semi-automatic. There is no such thing as an assault rifle! You have no credibility with me! (unless you use the terms exactly as we have defined them…)”

Bringing Words to a Word Fight

Over the years the NRA has gone from selling ideas like the importance of gun safety to selling the idea that your identity is tied to your possession of a gun. Linking your identity to a product is a very powerful thing to do, and marketers try to do this all the time.  ”We say the product is cool, when you own it you become cool –and women will want to have sex with you.” (I just added that last part because it usually goes unspoken, but it’s implied.) Because of this linking of identity to product, people are willing to pay more for a product, as well as create multiple reasons why they must have this product. But the marketers at the NRA also recognize that it’s childish for people to say, “I want it because I want it!”  Therefore, they suggest quoting parts of the 2nd Amendment and hypothetical life or death scenarios where the gun owner is the hero to prove their case to anyone who questions them.

But what happens when the thing that makes you cool or defines you is taken away? That will make them angry. And when they are angry they stop using polite words and turn to threats.  I sometimes wonder if the reason pro-public safety people don’t like to engage gun enthusiasts is because of this unstated (or stated) threat. For every responsible gun owner who will explain to me, “I’m not threatening you with my gun, I’m just having a discussion.” there are two who will tell me about their “2nd Amendment solutions” to “anti-gunners.”

Will You Become Ferocious in Advancing Your Political, Cultural and Legislative Interests?

Now let’s say that people have finally had enough with the way the NRA leadership is driving “the discussion”. Let’s also say that words like mine and the new pro-public safety public starts having a cognitive impact on the public at large.  What can you, (insert your own name here) do, to make a difference?  Well to begin, start thinking of what you are for, as well as what you are against.

I’m pro-public safety so when the details about the latest shooting comes out, I apply that view to the problem. In some cases the shooter will have a mental health problem. A pro-public safety person can push the states to have better laws that get violent mentally ill into the National Instant Criminal background check System. My doctor hunting friends in the midwest could easily get behind that action. If their buddies, who are extremists in the NRA, call them “anti-gunners” they can make it clear you want to protect people from those who are violently mentally ill, even if they also were going to kill someone with a knife, hammer or car, (since they love to bring up those examples of other “killing tools.”)

If the shooter obtained weapons though a gun show loophole you could support state and federal efforts to ban specific items as well as support the need for better tracking in general.

Every shooting is an opportunity for change for a safer future, if we act.

Here are some specific actions you can take to match your personality:

Like to march? Go to the January 26th March on Washington.

Want to help pass better laws and close loopholes? Donate or volunteer for my friends at the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. I worked with them when I was trying to figure out how to get NRA board member Ted Nugent busted for bringing guns to the Pima County Fair, right outside the town Gabby Gifford was shot.

Want to help convince corporations, other than gun manufacturers, to get in the game? Try my friends at The National Gun Victims Action Council.  Personally I always thought that Mars Corporation should be donating big corporate dollars to end gun violence, after all, there were Skittles in the hands of Trayvon Martin when he was shot. They might want more kids to grow up to eat candy rather than a bullet.

Want to help change some of the “Shoot First” laws that got Trayvon Martin killed? Try the The Second Chance on Shoot First campaign.

Want to know what your city is doing? Check out Mayors Against Illegal Guns.  See if your city’s mayor is a member, (list) If not, drop your mayor a line. My friends at MAIG would love more member mayors. That’s a four minute doable action. Go!

Want to get educated on issues and on policy? Go look at the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence. Get on their mailing list, they provide great information if you want to engage a gun enthusiasts. If you want to simply go over the gun enthusiasts heads they have easy ways to help you go directly to people who can change laws.

Want to keep informed on the issue? Subscribe to The GVP Report -It’s a comprehensive, every other week e-newsletter. Sign up here or read it online.

I try to help a lot of non-profit groups in this area beyond the Brady Campaign because I believe in multiple strategies to reach difference audiences.   Donate or volunteer depending on your interests and how active you want to be. Remember, if you don’t do anything the terrorists NRA wins.

LLAP

Spocko

On May 30th, police believe Ian L. Stawicki was armed when he entered Café Racer in the University District in Seattle at 11 a.m. He opened fire, killing four people and wounding another.

About a half hour later, Stawicki shot and killed 52-year-old Gloria Leonidas at Eighth Avenue and Seneca Street, near Town Hall on Seattle’s First Hill, according to police.

Yesterday the ABC affiliate station KOMO ran a story revealing Ian Stawick had a concealed weapons permit and that Walt Stawicki, the father of accused killer, says he knew his son was troubled and was getting more volatile, but believed there was nothing the family could do to get the concealed carry permit revoked.

“The response to us was, there’s nothing we can do, he’s not a threat to himself or others, or we haven’t had a report of it, or we haven’t had to pick him up – call us when its worse,” Walt Stawicki said in a Thursday morning interview with KOMO Newsradio.

In the rest of the story you hear of a family that knows there is a problem, but doesn’t know what to do to protect the safety of others. The father was hoping there was some minor incident with his son that would allow an intervention.

♦ How would you help this father if he came to you asking for advice?

Instead of going to the usual experts I wondered what if Walt Stawicki had asked someone who strongly believes the best way  to protect his children involves arming himself and others like Stawicki’s son.  Imagine if  two weeks ago Walt took this son’s problem to Tim Schmidt, the head of the United States Concealed Carry Association.

“Dear Tim. “My son has a CCW. He is starting to act more volatile and I’m now worried for the safety of the people around him.  The police say, “There’s nothing we can do, he’s not a threat to himself or others, or we haven’t had a report of it, or we haven’t had to pick him up – call us when its worse,”

If he goes off and shoots someone I’ll feel terrible. I’m especially concerned when he is out in public with his CCW.  What can I do to get his CCW revoked? What is the process? After it is revoked, what can I do to keep guns away from him? What steps do you suggest? “

-Signed, Imaginary Walt Stawicki, Seattle Washington.

This is a scenario that I’m sure many families and communities have had to deal with.  I know the fear of a partner getting violent drives a lot of restraining orders, but how is the matter complicated when the person has a concealed carry permit? Read the rest of this entry →

My mom died this month last year. This will be my first Mother’s Day without her.

When I was a little Vulcan going off to school my mother’s last words were always, “Watch out for the cars!”  I could see cars and avoid them if I was watching and paying attention.

I wonder what the last words Sybrina Fulton said to Travyon? What could she have said? “Watch out for concealed weapons?”

Below is a video message from Trayvon Martin’s mother urging people to contact their governor to re-examine laws similar to Florida’s “Kill at Will” laws (which the NRA calls “Stand your Ground” laws). The video was put out by my friends at the Second Chance Campaign.

The effort is to re-examine the laws. But I also would like to think that this is a chance to  re-examining our attitudes.  Think about how attitudes toward drunk driving changed following Mothers Against Drunk Driving Campaign? Or how the attitudes toward smoking have changed? They both faced huge societal barriers as well as entrenched economic interests. But they did change.

I’ve been thinking about what it would take to change attitudes and then to change laws.  Often I think after the most recent mass shooting that surely THIS event would be the tipping point for attitudes to change.  Yet powerful forces push the fear button hard to stop any change, even a return laws that were accepted and that didn’t need an expansion. (The castle doctrine is long established and worked fine, it’s the new “Kill at Will” laws that effectively turn an entire state into your castle.  But it’s my state too and my rights to Life and Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness outside of my home need to count too.)

Speaking of attitudes that make responsible gun owners look like jerks, check out the Trayvon Martin targets for shooting practice.. “Be sure to hit the center of mass because you don’t want him survivin’ to tell his side of the story.” Here

I often read about gun enthusiasts and how they can be mobilized at a moment’s notice on social media, phone calls and letters to support their views. I wondered, what is the equivalent on my side? It’s not just people against something, we are also FOR something. What is that? Public safety? Life?

Perhaps we are developing, “public safety enthusiasts.”  We are composed of people who have been impacted by gun violence, but other kinds of laws that make us unsafe too. That way when we are accused of wanted to ban all guns, with the standard comeback “The gun is just a tool, what if there is a car accident, do you want to ban all cars?” we can respond, “We are for the safe use of all tools by the people operating them. We are for laws that makes everyone safer, not just one at the expense of others. Are you for the unsafe use of your tools? Are you for laws that make everyone unsafe? And if you are for the unsafe use of your tools and for laws where more people are unsafe, then you are outside of the norm for the majority of gun enthusiasts.”

I have two good friends who are gun enthusiasts. They are for the safe use of their tools. They are for laws that make everyone safer.The disdain that I see from them toward people who are unsafe and untrained with any tool is very strong.  When it comes to a tool that can deliver rapid death at a distance they are even more concerned for safety and training.

When I suggest that we fix laws to raise the bar on safety training and handling for getting CCW permits they are all for it. They have seen people who have no business carrying guns get permits in a state with weak requirements and then bring it to their state where they have to spend time and effort to train. It’s unfair to them and their training and the potential for negligent gun incidents goes up as training requirements go down.

They can’t say, “Watch out for these people who got their permits in Florida!” because they can’t see them.  But what they can do is take this attitude about lax permit requirements and overly broad laws and translate them to action.

What kind of action? Well the video above is about contacting your governor. When the governor hears from public safety enthusiasts on this they can know they have support for doing things like what New Mexico did on May 1st, which was to only accept CCW from just six other states that meet all of New Mexico’s requirements for reciprocity. Previously they recognized a total of 19 states’ concealed-carry permits.

This mother’s day I will be without my mom, but I’ll still, “Watch out for the cars.” when I go outside of my home.

I can’t know what Sybrina Fulton must be feeling this Sunday, but when I translate my own sense of loss into positive action  it helps. Maybe you will do the same.

May many more children Live Long and Prosper,

Spocko

Ted Nugent is performing at Arizona ‘s Pima County Fair on the Budweiser Stage on Saturday April 28th.

I wonder if Ted, who likes to refer to himself as a law-abiding citizen, knows an important fact about the Pima County Fair?

Weapons are not allowed into the Pima County Fair, with the exception of uniformed security guards.

Pima County sound familiar? Jared Loughner killed six people and left 14 injured on the Safeway parking lot on Saturday January 8th last year. This happened in Tucson, in Pima County. U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was one of the injured.

Will Nugent bring out his machine guns on stage during the show? If he does he will be going against the written directive of the Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc., a non-profit, private corporation who is paying him.

Will his security detail keep their guns locked in their vehicles?

Will they don uniforms and submit to the authority of the Sheriff of Pima County?

Or will they just ignore the Fair’s rules, strap on their guns to open carry or conceal carry?

Lately Ted has been complaining that he has to follow rules that “nobody knows about” (danger, Glenn Beck link!) You see Nugent just cut a deal for breaking the law while hunting black bears in Alaska (PDF Link to his plea to avoid jail time and $100,000 fine). I’m not a lawyer, but by reading this plea you can see that in exchange for a reduced sentence he is obligated to do certain things.

1) Be on probation for two years

2) Pay a $10,000 fine

3) Not hunt in the State of Alaska or on any United States Forest Service lands for one year

4) Make PSAs about the hunter’s responsibility for knowing the rules and regulations for the hunting activities they engage in

So now Nugent needs to REALLY pay attention to the rules, because if he fails it will breach his agreement and the United States which can them “withdraw from this agreement and may reinstate prosecution against [him] on any charges arising out of the investigation in this matter.”

I wanted to make sure that Nugent, his security staff and his roadies, knew about the weapons ban at the fair and if they would comply. So I contacted his PR person, Linda Peterson, and she said, “Of course.”‘

I asked, “So that means there won’t be people doing concealed carry backstage and he won’t be bringing any weapons on the stage?”

She said they’ll be in full compliance of the law.

There you have it folks. Nothing to worry about. Of course if anyone sees his security staff, his roadies or Nugent himself carrying weapons at the Fair they should contact Fair Executive Director Jon Baker or Launa Rabago, Marketing Manager 520-762-9100 jon or launa @ PimaCountyFair.com at the Southwestern Fair Commission about his violation of their rules. Maybe they will deduct the cost of his non-compliance from his fee.

But you should also contact his parole officer. Since I don’t who it is I’ll suggest you contact Jack S. Schmidt, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who cut the illegal bear hunting deal with Ted. Please send all backstage or onstage videos of Nugent with weapons or threats of violence toward people to jack.schmidt @ usdoj. gov. I don’t think these videos would show him violating his federal agreement, but  it might show his violation of his agreement with the Fair people.

You see I want Jack to be kept informed about all the other times that Nugent knows the rules and regulations for the activities he engages in, but still violates them. It will be good for the “preponderance of evidence” for the next time Nugent “stumbles” (his euphemism for breaking the law) when it comes to weapons.

Nugent’s biggest fear is that his law breaking will lead to a felony charge that would cause him to lose his weapons. (Note to everyone: The NRA has been pushing state by state programs where violent felons can get their guns back, but it isn’t implemented everywhere–yet. “Today’s NRA: Working to re-arm violent felons for Fear and Profit.”)

Jack might also want to read Nugent’s latest post, “Ignorance of the Law is no Excuse.” It’s not his obligatory PSA, so he didn’t have to run it by Schmidt for approval, but doesn’t this article and his appearances on shows like Glenn Beck where he discusses the opposite of what he will say in the PSA mean anything? It’s like addict celebrities doing a “Don’t do drugs” PSA while joking on the Leno Show about all the coke they still do. Will people only watch court mandated PSAs and ignore what Nugent says on nationally syndicated radio shows?

When powerful people like Nugent get caught breaking the law or defying the rules that they agreed to, they pay a fine and move on like Nugent did the last time he got caught breaking the law.

Question: How many times do you get to break the law before you stop classifying yourself as a law-abiding citizen?

“I’m a serial law-breaking citizen and I carry a gun. ” Is the reality for many gun owners, but they don’t want to classify themselves that way.

Some will, however, classify other people as law-breaking and suggest they be arrested for doing or saying exactly what they have done or said. Below is Nugent on TV in 2008 with his good friend Sean Hannity saying people on the left who make threats are “reprehensible” he takes threatening comments seriously and believes people should be arrested for them.

Ted Nugent gets death threats, takes them seriously, says people who make them should be arrested. Video link.

Now, before Ted starts whining about the “lunitic left fringe trying to force him to comply to rules” I just want to state that this prohibiting of weapons at the fair is not coming from the Government. It is coming from the private corporation, the Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc. They have the right to do this. And Nugent and his agents signed a contract that said he would honor their rules. If he doesn’t honor their rules why should anyone else? What is it about breaching signed contracts doesn’t he understand?

What Happens When Someone Brings a Gun to the Fair?

If someone comes to the Pima County Fair gate and says, “I have a concealed weapon that I’d like to bring into the fair.” The staff can say, no weapons is our policy and ask them to remove the weapon and “place it in the custody of the operator of the establishment or the sponsor of the event for temporary and secure storage of the weapon pursuant to section 13-3102.01″; (link) In practice they usually are told to place them in their vehicle.

Since I wanted to know the law about what would happen if Nugent and his non-uniformed security people don’t comply I spoke to Laura Cutilletta, an attorney from the Legal Community Against Violence. It appears that if someone has refused a reasonable request from the fair staff, the staff can call the Pima County Sheriff. What will the the sheriff do?

To find out I called Dawn Barkman, the public information officer at the Pima Country Sheriff’s office. She said that if the Fair staff ask the person to comply or leave and they don’t, then the Sheriff’s office would come and arrest the person.

Arrested for what? Trespassing.

Now would the staff at Southwestern Fair Commission, Inc. want to use their resources to monitor Nugent and his staff? Probably not. They are counting on Nugent and all his staff to be reasonable people who will honor the rules and regulations they agreed to. As my collegue David Safier wrote:

I hope Nugent is willing to surrender his arms like a good, law abiding citizen. And I hope the people running the Pima County Fair are consistent enough to insist he does.

David is more of an optimist than I am. Based on observing the actions of Nugent, he and his staff will probably defy the rules with the hope that nobody videotapes them and that no one from SWFC, Inc. wants to bust them. If they are noticed and busted, they will whine about how “the Government is trying to take away my 2nd Amendment rights” instead of, “I didn’t want to follow the rules I agreed to in advance because I’m special and a serial contract-breaker when it comes to guns at the venues I perform at.”

This behavior should be noted by Jack S. Schmidt, the Assistant U.S. Attorney. but especially for all the other county fairs and festivals thinking of booking Nugent in the future.

What about the Venue’s Rights?

When a fair doesn’t book Nugent they are not violating his First Amendment rights.

A venue has a right to have policies that say no weapons. By doing so and requiring the entertainer or customers to follow those polices they aren’t violating anyone’s Second Amendment rights, they are asserting their own right to control their venue.

Based on what happens at the Pima County Fair other venues can see if Nugent defies their rules, and can decide if he is worth the hassle to book. They also need to understand that fans who attend might not follow their rules either. Yes, they say they are law-abiding, but then again so did Nugent before each of his law breaking events.

Nugent said that at 63 he won’t “stumble” (aka break the law) anymore, “Especially as a representative of the honorable hunting lifestyle and gun owners of this country.”

We’ll see.

LLAP,

Spocko

Crossposted at Spocko’s Brain