Keep It Credible

Last October at an event called the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas, Texas, GUNS Magazine’s own Massad Ayoob — who happens to also be president of the Second Amendment Foundation — told the audience something grassroots activists should burn into their gray matter.

His advice to anyone speaking before a town or city council, county commission or legislative committee is to “keep it short, keep it sharp, keep it memorable; above all, have it logical (and) always press that common-sense button.”

“Even more important than that,” Ayoob stressed, “never exaggerate. Make sure everything you give them is true and verifiable. How much credibility has the other side lost with their exaggerations? We must avoid falling into that trap.”

Be Correct, Not Political

He was right then and his advice is still right today. It’s essentially what this column has been telling readers for quite some time. Have the facts, share them, and let the people make up their own minds.

The “other side” of the gun control battle makes a habit of exaggeration or playing loose with facts and the media never calls them on it. For example, nobody in the establishment media has ever challenged Shannon Watts at Moms Demand Action for her claim the “gun lobby” has a “guns everywhere” agenda, even though the allegation is demonstrably false.

In an email blast sent over her signature last fall, Watts lamented, “As ESPN recently reported, gun violence is on the rise at school sports events. Young people, rather than enjoying a night with their friends and classmates, are being traumatized.” It was a remark designed to demonize honest gun owners while playing on the emotions of parents who worry about their children.

While she tried to pin the blame for all of this angst on the “gun lobby,” nobody in the press challenged the statement as hogwash. Watts and her PR folks got away with creating a myth because no reporter had the temerity to ask, “Shannon, you do realize guns are prohibited on school campuses by law, right? You know law-abiding citizens don’t pack heat at a high school football or basketball game, because it’s illegal, right?
“You realize, Shannon, any teen carrying a concealed gun to a school sports event is violating any number of existing state and federal statutes, don’t you?”

“Shannon, did you ever hear of the Gun Free School Zones Act?”

“Shannon, can you point us to documents or statements from groups such as the NRA, SAF, CCRKBA or GOA that say they want guns everywhere?”
Yet there was silence from the press — the same media who would publicly demonize an armed private citizen for unintentionally violating a “sensitive area” created by an anti-gun Legislature. The same media, one might add, would invade your privacy by publishing your home address as a gun owner, if they could get hold of the information, just for a sensational headline.

Keep It Straight

Don’t try to outdo people like Watts when it comes to inventing “facts” out of thin air, or manufacturing hysteria where none should exist. They’re the experts because they have been doing it for years.

When you hear such malarkey, be ready to make the prevaricator eat it.

Point: Juvenile gun-toting thugs who come armed to high school sports events are carrying those guns illegally. They do not have carry licenses or permits because they aren’t old enough to get one. They are violating laws that prohibit guns on school grounds.

Point: Chances are the guns they are carrying will flag “stolen” with even a cursory check by police. Even if they’ve brought the gun from home, they can be expelled.

Point: The mere fact some teen is packing hardware is proof positive gun control laws pushed through by the gun ban lobby’s legislative lapdogs haven’t worked and won’t work. Criminals, regardless of age, do not obey gun control laws.

Reliable Sources

Handy facts are available within a couple of clicks on a computer. You just need to know where to look.

Want to find out about state constitutional RKBA provisions? Go to the Second Amendment Foundation’s website — SAF.org — and you can find each state’s provision.

Would you like to learn about genuine firearms safety? Visit the NRA’s website — NRA.org — which is loaded with gun safety information.
Interested in the number of active concealed carry licenses/permits in the U.S.? Check the website for the Crime Prevention Research Center — CrimeResearch.org — and read the latest report.

Find out how to quickly contact your U.S. Senators or members of Congress by visiting the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms — CCRKBA.org — and you will find links.

Need quick information on concealed carry laws across the U.S.? Go to HandgunLaw.us and you will find all the details.

Corroborating information from reliable sources may be boring, but in the battle to defend your Second Amendment rights, it is the ammunition you need to keep the other side at bay.

Principles

Something else Ayoob told his conference audience dealt with what he calls the “10-80-10” principle.

“In any polarized debate,” he said, “there are going to be 10 people who are hardcore with you, 10 people who are hardcore opponents and will never change their mind, and 80% in the middle who may be inclined to lean one way or the other (but) still have their minds open and are willing to listen.”

The quickest way to lose those people is to start making up things you don’t know and can’t verify. Rest assured, people curious enough to listen to anything you say will check it for accuracy, and if you fail the exam, you’ve just provided the other side with reinforcements. Since the other side typically gets a pass, you’ve got to be right every time.

This is especially important when dealing with politicians. By now, legislative sessions are well under way and if there are gun bills — pro or con — being considered with public hearings before legislative committees and you have an opportunity to testify, have your facts together. Make your remarks terse and on point; something I call “sound bite remarks.” If you wind up being featured on a news clip, you will want your remark to sound intelligent and informative.

If you have an estimate, say so. If you have a fact, always preface your remark with “According to …” because this gives your audience, whether it’s one person or a hundred people, a place to confirm what you’ve said.

Once you have the facts, there is no need to exaggerate. Let the other side do it — and then call them out. Don’t back down because the way liars get away with perpetuating their lies is to bluff or intimidate honest people into silence.

This is not the time for your silence.

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