Finding My Voice-Communicating With Congress

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Article by Mike Keleher

First let me establish I think I am a normal gun guy. I like guns. I own guns, and spend a lot of time shooting them, fixing them after I have broken them (I break more guns in a given year than most people shoot), and looking for sources of cheap ammunition to feed my guns. You know, normal.

So, when I see politicians mucking about with gun laws it is always raises the hair on the back of my already hairy neck. In recent days, the big national topic has been over the U.S. House of Representatives H.R. 32 Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.  The idea citizens of one state who are licensed to carry in their state could be able to carry a gun in every other state, seems like a good idea to me.  As it turns out, the House passed the bill along party lines and it is headed to the Senate.

Why can’t we acknowledge every state has done their best to regulate concealed carry laws and no one state is better at it than another? Blood has not run in the streets and we are all safer when more gun carriers are present.  I am apparently welcome to drive in any other state after obtaining an Illinois Driver’s license-but I am always subject to local laws and the rules of the road while there.  I can even practice being married in every state after paying the fees and registering me and my Adventure Wife in this state! This Concealed Carry thing seems like a good deal on it’s face and I would like to encourage my Congress People to participate in a like-minded way.

I first learned about advocacy and communicating with Congress from my pal, the immortal poet and philosopher Ted Nugent. Ted used to have a bow hunter’s organization which published a magazine a few times a year. I was always impressed with his ongoing letter writing and phone call campaigns to politicians, and every magazine would have a sample of a simple but respectful letter you could copy and send to your local politician related to hunting or firearms.

In the old days, you would call your representative to register your opinion. A staffer or an answer machine would take your information and hopefully keep a running tally of how “regular” people felt on the topic vs the number of people calling in wearing tin foil underpants reporting space aliens colluding in the last election.  You could also write a handwritten letter for that homey touch.

I previously worked with a politically active young man (his name escapes me, so let’s just call him by his nickname “Just Another Political Hack)” who had spent time on Capital Hill working for a Congress Person. I was very surprised to learn those letters and calls did have some effect in the office. Just Another Political Hack said the Congress Person would actually be briefed on the number of calls and letters that came in.

Just Another Political Hack also said, if you wrote (missives comprised in Crayon, cut and pasted magazine words, or lumpy smelly suspicious envelopes were not deemed effective in that office), were respectful and cogent and mentioned you were a voter in the district, this would elicit a response from the Congressman’s Office. The written letters were given more heed than the telephone calls. I was fairly impressed with this premise my elected official would communicate back to me on specific topics I wanted to talk about! My Adventure Wife won’t even do that!

Well, not so fast D’artagnan. Just Another Political Hack did not say the actual Congressman would become my pen pal. It would just fall on the desk of yet other Political Hacks in the office to put a letter together via letterhead, which might get signed by the Honorable So-And-So.  OK. Close enough. I started trying it out.  It works.  They don’t always agree with me, in fact most of the people I have written to over the years have a contrary position to mine on guns and gun rights, but they deserve to hear what I say. I think it’s good for them.

In this modern age, I don’t believe Congress can get together to vote on whether to turn a light switch off or on when it is dark, and they may still benefit from my participation. I know I do. It is now so simple to communicate it doesn’t even take a stamp. You can send email, texts and Facebook comments to your elected officials and I would encourage you to do so.

In print, I can come off as suave or thoughtful-they might not suspect I am elbows deep in guns and gun issues and most days smell faintly of Hoppes No. 9. I can look up my elected official on-line in nano-seconds without having to drive to the post office to look it up on the wall like I used to (man that horse and buggy took a long time to get to the post office, and I have somehow long since associated politicians and the political process with the sweet smell of fresh horse manure.)

I can pull up my elected official, select a portal to email, draft a quick note to include the fact I vote, I influence people around me to vote, and wouldn’t you like me to vote for you next time around-all in about 3 minutes when a gun related topic shows up.

Prior to the vote on the H.R. 38 bill I wrote to my U.S. Representative, and like most of you I don’t know this guy from a hole in the ground and certainly did not vote for him. I emailed and told him I supported the bill and wouldn’t he like to be smart and support it too. (Yeah, I think people who believe as I do are smart!)  On the plus side, he wrote back (via a staffer I am sure). It was an impressive color U.S. House of Reps letterhead letter and signature embedded in an email depiction. On the down side, he did not support the proposed law and thought national reciprocity could allow gun carriers to go onto federal lands and schools.

Through the magic of the internet, this was not over! I could write back-and I did, pointing out to the Rep and his staffer the information they provided was abjectly incorrect, and hoped they would understand state gun laws would not supersede federal law on prohibited land. Laws are passed and signs posted in areas that are just a no-go. Also, in added the citations where federal forests, parks and other locations have allowed concealed carry for years, and school zones nationwide prohibit concealed carry and post signs announcing this is a gun free zone…shouldn’t be much confusion there.

I also took the time to point out the whole process applies to LAW ABIDING CITIZENS. These are the people who have taken the time and trouble to follow the laws passed by their state legislatures and complied with all rules, training and payment fees to get some permit-not criminals. Funny thing here, turns out criminals don’t follow the law, no matter how well written or how well intentioned. Who knew? Legislators may be the last to know.

I wrote to one of my U.S. Senators, and they wrote back they did not like the reciprocity idea because other states were not as through as Illinois “keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.” Whew. Quick historical snapshot- Illinois was the very last state to allow Concealed Carry and the requirements were very onerous and some of the most restrictive of any state. As a result, Illinois only recognizes something like two or three others states right to carry concealed with a permit (even connected to that pesky Bill of Rights they still deny it!) Apparently, my Senator thinks when the other 49 states are as stringent as Illinois then and only then might they consider reciprocity….yeah right.  This is just anti-gun sentiment hidden behind a stated concern for public safety.

I will have to speak more with my Senator in the near future. She needs it. It’s good for her.

You can find your local legislator and their email portal at the top banner of the Guns Save Life website under “Contact your Legislator.”  You probably have three minutes to spare to advocate expansion and preservation of your gun rights and guns. It doesn’t cost a stamp, and you can even do it while typing in your pajamas….please at least put some pajamas on when writing to your Congress Person. Please.