Wanna stop a future AWB? Then get your butt in here now!

onebadv8 · 11-11-2008

The full discussion is at AR15.COM. I have reposted this with the permission of the original Author.

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Enough whining! Enough whimpering! Enough rolling over and simply giving up! Neither of those things are going to get us anywhere. But diligence and planning can.

Here is another suggestion for how we should organize to fight any new anti-gun legislation:

First and foremost, we must be highly organized. That doesn't mean just this forum. It means we all have to work to ensure that all firearms forums are interconnected and be capable of working together and sharing news if and when that becomes necessary. Obviously, this will largely fall to the site staff. But everyone can help. But to launch an effective counter-effort against the antis, this needs to be done.

How will this be beneficial? News travels fast online. The better networked we are with other like-minded people, the faster we can react to any new legislation that is introduced. But more importantly, by getting as many gun owner groups linked together as possible, it will allow us to develop and implement a particular and well focused strategy, then carry out that strategy. Without that sort of networking, everyone is just running around doing their own thing with no knowledge of what other groups may be doing. It makes any effort far less organized and far less focused.

Imagine if all the firearms boards devoted to AR rifles, AK rifles, M1As, FALs, H&K, Sig, Glock, Smith and Wesson, Ruger, and all other brands and types of semi-auto magazine fed weapons, had a sort of "panel" made up by staff from each of the individual forums to determine what actions to take, where to focus those actions and how to carry them out. It would make our efforts 100x more effective.

Imagine for just a moment that we needed to counter something in the Senate. Imagine how effective it might be if all the boards were connected, agreed on a letter writing campaign to Harry Reid, agreed on the general tone of what the letters should be (maybe even share examples), and contained a time line for when to send them. Rather than letters being sent a few here and few there to dozens or hundreds of people, you could have thousands upon thousands arrive in his congressional mailbox on the same day. See how much more powerful that message would be?

Being organized is the most critical element to winning our future battles. Rather than being like a bunch of independent little islands scattered all across a vast ocean going their separate way, we need to unite into a tightly connected network that shares info, resources, ideas, develops strategies and put into action plans to stop the gun grabbers.

I would highly encourage the site staff here to reach out to the owners and staff of other firearms forums (as well as all pro-gun organizations for that matter) and form a panel made up from key people with each group to head and direct such efforts. It doesn't even have to be anything overly formal. A simple forum where representatives from all groups can meet and plan would be sufficient. Those representatives could then brief their individual forum members about anything requiring attention. It needs to be done right now. Planning needs to start right now. Everything needs to be in place before any anti-2A legislation ever hits the floor. That way, if and when it happens, we can call up said network, pull out the proper battle plan for whatever situation we are needing to deal with and start an effective effort immediately to counter it. This will save time, it will pool resources, it will give us better command and control to steal a military term, it will allow us to better focus our efforts and it will make our voice 100x louder. Think of it as the NATO of gun owners. Any single European nation would have folded almost immediately if the Soviets had invaded during the Cold War. But with all of them and the US working closely together, the Soviets were never able to get that chance. We must do likewise when facing the gun banners. Alone we are piss ants. But together, we are millions of pissed off motherfuckers who can and will be heard.

Simply put, it is time for all pro-gun websites, forums and organizations to join forces in a highly networked community. Since this forum is one of the largest and most influential gun forums on the web (with over 130,000 members here alone), why not we be the one to lay the groundwork to start this effort? As they say, "if you build it, they will come."

And one final suggestion and question: Does the site staff have the ability to send mass PMs or emails to members? Lots of people on these forums never set foot into GD or the Politics forum. Many (and I am included) log straight into the actual forums and never look at the front page. So many people miss lots of important news. By having such a system in place, the site staff could rapidly alert every swinging dick that belongs to this forum of developing situations that require their attention and direct them in a unified manner on how to react to that situation.

Again, maybe I have spent too much time involved with firefighting and emergency management. But I see effective communication and partnership with outside agencies (or in this case, other gun nuts) critical to dealing with any major challenge that requires a unified response. Therefore I would love to see us start networking with other forums and pro gun groups as quickly as possible. It could mean the difference between preserving our 2A rights and political defeat.

Does anyone else like this idea? Does anyone have additional ideas that could be added? And for the site staff, how feasible are my ideas? I am so tired of all the hand-wringing and fear being displayed on this forum. I feel we could put those energies to much better use by being proactive and taking efforts to make sure a new ban doesn't happen, rather than running around screaming the sky if falling.

UPDATE: We now have a temporary chat room set up to discuss these issues. You can log in by visiting:

http://www.harrystone.net/chat

This is where everyone involved (all the various groups that have joined since the original post) can meet, for now, until the permanent forum and website are completed.

We won't be in the chat 24/7, but I will personally make an effort to be in there whenever logged on, until the permanent site is built.

onebadv8 · 11-11-2008

A special request that was posted on Page 6 of that same post. Here it is.

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And with Ed Sr's approval, roll we will do!

So, for those who may belong to other forums which are not yet represented on the list above, and if you would like to invite them to join with us, I went ahead and created a basic invite message you can copy and paste on the respective forum. It will give everyone instructions on the goal of our effort, how to join and how to contact me. They will also have the option of PMing you if if they wish, so please pass their contact info along to me if and when that happens and I will add them to my contact sheet I am making. That way we can keep everyone well updated and invite them in when the website and forum are ready for use.

Here's the example invite message. You may alter it if you wish. After all, I am no English professor, just a hick who loves guns.

Quote:

Some members of ar15.com (to include me) have been trying to do something positive for 2nd Amendment rights since the results of this past election day rolled in. Lots of people are scared about our future. Some are even panicking. I realized something had to be done. So a bunch of us started brain storming and came up with the idea to begin an effort to unite EVERYONE who has an interest in firearms or freedom in general. The purpose will be the rapid dissemination of information if and when anti-gun legislation is introduced in Congress. Rather than having hundreds of pro-gun online forums or organizations which are scattered and fragmented, our intended goal is to have at least one representative from every firearms message board, shooting club, the NRA, the GOA, the Citizen's Committee, manufacturers, dealers, gun shop owners, firearms magazines and publications, gun smiths, and as many gun owners as possible, etc all together under one roof, where we can rapidly plan and counter any threats to our freedom. Each group leader will also have the roll of passing on news to the members of their group. The goal is not to replace or be an alternative to any of these entities that already exist. The goal is to simply make sure that any information or ideas from any one body makes it to everyone else. Our effort isn't about making a profit. We will all be strictly volunteers. And while money may become an issue somewhere down the road (we are discussing hiring a lobbyist), the goal is not to require anyone to pay to become a member at this time or make donations. Instead, send those to the NRA, GOA or Citizen's Committee where they will be best put to use.

As of right now, me and those who have joined with me in this effort are planning the design of a website and a forum. The website will contain news updates, as well as contact info for all Congressional members at the federal and eventually even the state level. The forum area will have a private section where each group representative will be able to discuss efforts, make plans and make decisions about our direction. It will be an equal partnership and everyone will have an equal say in group matters. There will also be a sub-forum for every state, where planning and coordination of activities can take place at the local level.

If you would like to see how this all began, how the effort began to blossom and how it evolved, you can read the thread here:

AR15.COM :: Forums :: Wanna stop a future AWB? Then get your butt in here now!

But in short, if you don't have time to read through that whole thread, we want to create the firearms community equivalent of the Emergency Broadcast System. By having everyone with a firearms interest linked together in a close network, we can rapidly alert all gun owners and freedom loving Americans the moment a bill is introduced in Congress. And then together, we can effectively direct the response to such a situation. Depending on the situation at hand, we will have the ability to send mass emails, mass text messaging, get the information and instructions posted to every firearms website on the net and have everyone working toward the same task in a unified manner to create ONE VOICE. We can swamp the House and Senate leadership with phone calls and emails all at once. We can write and call our own senators and reps. We can plan marches at the state and national level. But by having everyone working together, and that is the key, we can do all of this at a much higher level and with much better coordination and success.

If you would like to join with us to make a stand for our 2A rights, please either respond to me through an IM, send an email to george.tincher@gmail.com or sign up and post in the thread linked above at AR15.COM. Provide your contact info (email will be fine) and someone will let you know when the site and forum are up and running and you can join in. If you wish to represent your business, industry, club, online forum, publication or whatever, please let that be known so you can be granted special access to the private forum that will serve as the group's nucleus. Together we can prevent any future assault weapons bans or other restrictive legislation that threatens our freedom.

Thank you and God Bless.

-Your name or user name here

Since I have elected to go ahead and share my email, please try to post that only in places that are gun friendly. I am sure you might be able to guess why. I don't want to have to waste any more of my time that necessary dealing with deleting troll emails.

onebadv8 · 11-11-2008

Sorry, its a lot to read but well worth it. I will post updates as I get them. Feel free to post questions or ideas. There is an ongoing chatroom for those who don't read all of it above.

harrystone.net - chat

The main person behind it is Charging_Handle. He is usually in the chat room when possible.

Update: Webspace and Domain has been secured. I recommend reading the article on ar15.com to get a full grasp on what is going on and the common goal. The Chat room link does not require a login. Feel free to copy and paste the first two posts on any Pro-Gun forum or website.