From Countertop, a long time gun blogger who lives in Northern Virginia:
Folks, I can’t hold Jim Scott’s gun banning ways against him anymore. He’d be a fool to be anything but a gun banner. We have no business complaining about his votes when in a District with diverse views on everything else, nearly 90% of his constitutents who care are against our gun rights. Until the large gun rights crowd in McLean makes their voice heard, his votes fall on their inactive hands.
But, this is the challenge, how do I get all those NRA/VCDL members, plus the republican’s to respond to his survey?
This is a problem we have in many places...we feel that our representative will not be responsive to our concerns so we simply don't bother telling them what those concerns are.
You may never ever be able to change the way they think or vote even if you write them every day and answer every survey they send out. But, when you ignore them, you allow them to live in the luxury of their delusions. They can legitimately rationalize their anti-gun stances by pointing to the fact that their constituents never voice opposition to them. In other words, by failing to engage with them we are actively giving them political cover.
Activism does work, not only when applied to those who already support our cause. Just look at what Illinois gun owners and activists have been accomplishing lately.
I urge you to read Countertop's entire post...and engage with your representatives no matter where they stand on the issues. They need to hear our voice.
